Matt & Maria's wedding

After finishing the basement on Thursday evening, on Friday we moved in our guest beds just in time for two more Regent friends, Sarah & Kristin, to arrive on Friday afternoon to join H. Ross and us. It is great to have finished the basement and immediately have it used for one of its intended purposes, a guest room.

Then on Saturday morning, the 5 of us drove to Grand Rapids Michigan to witness the coming together of tow Regent friends in marriage. Then it was onto a spectacular venue for the reception - a cottage on Lake Michigan. The weather was perfect, the beers were exotic and plentiful, the company of Regent friends delightful and the celebrations for Matt & Maria joyous.

Check-out the wedding pics at:

flickr.com/photos/shadrachs

Basement Reno - in goes the flooring...

The flooring is in! We have put a similar floor in before (a click-in laminate), but in a much smaller room (our kitchen)... our basement is a big room, and this job took forever! Jess was such a trooper, 7.5 months pregnant, getting up and down so many times... we were both really glad to be done with it!

We couldn't have done it with out some help from Amanda laying several rows with us, and H. Ross who helped with some of the final cuts - thank you!!

Baseboards and quarter-round this afternoon...

Basement Reno - (a bump) in the flooring...

Yesterday we began the flooring... We started with the existing concrete floor - it is in good condition, but could certainly use some paint.

Like the precautions we took with the walls, we also need a temperature & moisture control barrier for the floor. We used a layer that promises to be The Warm & Dry Floor System.

We started to lay the laminate flooring, but when we read the instructions, we realized that the flooring needs to be stored in the same place as it will be laid for 24 hours or so to acclimatize to the conditions, so it won't expand or contract. A bump in our plans... we had to put the flooring on ice until today.

This is the look we are going for...

It's not all hard work... there's time for some puppy play along the way...

Basement Reno - window transformation

This whole basement renovation project is about transformation... which is what made us so interested in doing all the DIY work. We get to take a cold, dark, dirty and unusable space, and transform it into a bright, clean, inviting space - that is cool in the summer and hopefully warm in the winter - a space that can be used by us, by our child on the way, and as a hospitable space for guests.

Hopefully the transformative nature of the project is evident in all the photos, but I think it is particularly evident in the windows... see the transformation from start to finish...

1. remove the old windows

2. mortar in glass block windows

3. frame around the windows to create a window box support

4. cut wallboard out to reveal the window 

5. add wood panels to create a window box

6. add trim to the wall

7. putty and paint the trim and window box, cork next to window - DONE!

We finished the window boxes and the trim on the 3 windows last night. Now we move-on to flooring...

Color note: we have not painted the top-half of the walls lime green... that lime green color is a color cast from an incorrect white balance. Picture #7 above shows the truer green, the same color we used in our kitchen.

Basement Reno - in-built shelves & utility closet

As it turned-out, my tradie partner's flight was cancelled... so Matt returned to the basement to find it exactly as he left it (rather than returning to see it all of his great work finished)! Matt's return was a good thing, as it allowed us to add the closet doors to our big piece of in-built furniture. This was Matt's and my first attempt at hanging cabinet doors... its a tough job.... but with some patience, a few adjustments and the chalk line & line level that Clyde gave me for Christmas, we got the job done pretty well.

We decided to add this in-built piece of furniture to conceal the house's water shut-off valve and meter that lurks behind the utility cabinet (Matt felt that this great piece of craftsmanship was wasted on a ulitity cabinet...). The bookshelves hide the water pipe that was lower than the ceiling we put in.

This is a solid piece of furniture! 5 feet long bookshelves and a 3 foot cabinet from floor to ceiling (about 6.4 feet high). The bookshelves should come in very handy for the kiddos' play things...

Basement Reno - my tradie partner has gone...

Matt arrived in South Bend on 22 June. The next morning we started work on the basement project and we kept working for the next 17 days. Matt was excellent to work with and he did some great work... It is a a rare and wonderful thing for someone to be willing and able to take-off on a 3 week trip and dedicate themselves to helping others out like this... thank you Matt!

after 3 weeks, tradie cracks have emerged... time to get some Man-Show Crack Spackle...

working hard, straight out of bed... no time to do our hair...

Basement Reno - painting & cabinetry

We are well into the finishing stage... and Matt only has 1 more work day with us - our aim for tomorrow is to get everything done except the flooring.

Today the paint went on - a two-tone effect... but you'll need to see the final result to fully appreciate it.

We are also working on our in-built shelves and utility cabinet...

Big day tomorrow...

Basement Reno - drywall sanding, clean-up & primer

What is my least favorite task in this DIY project?
Without-a-doubt the drywall sanding!

After the joint compound is applied with tape to the seams in-between the wall and ceiling boards + on the screws, the excess compound must be sanded smooth to the wall. The dust is super-fine and it gets everywhere (I thought about getting a picture for you, but I didn't want the dust all-over my camera)... it is s miserable task - and it is now over with! The clean-up after the sanding is a task in itself...

Next step was to paint the thirsty (dry)wall and ceiling boards with primer (for the Aussies "the undercoat"). Because the boards have never been painted before, this takes a while and we will need two coats.

The finishing stretch has begun...

Basement Reno - recap & drywall finishing

RECAP: we are in the middle of a major DIY project.... finishing our basement. Jess and I did the prep work, and then for the last 10 days Jess' brother, Matt, has been helping me... often working long days, sometimes into the early hours... (Matt has been a HUGE help and has been amazing to work with - thank you Matt!!). 

You can see the transformation take shape through some photos at each stage on our Picasa photo album. All the blog updates can be found under our "DIY" category. 

The drywall finishing has begun... using joint compound to hide any gaps between the wall & ceiling boards and cover the many screw holes. Jess is great at finishing tasks (i prefer the building stage), so she has stepped-up with a baby due in 2 months to help out...

Until today, we had kept Ziva out of the basement (she had never gone down the stairs). Now she seems right at home in the basement, keeping a keen eye on her people as they work, from her bed.

Now we wait for the seams to dry and then we have a dusty and uncomfortable task ahead - sanding the excess compound away...

Basement Reno - the wallboards are up!

This stage was much easier than getting the ceiling boards up...

The existing concrete shell is taking shape to become  a finished room.

Next step, drywall finishing... then we paint!