Basement Renovation: Phase 1

We officially broke ground on the basement project.  Let the madness begin...

To save some money, we have decided to do as much demo and framing as we can before calling in reinforcements.  And since we aren't going to be able to help with the electrical, plumbing and heating portions of the renovation, the demo and framing are the only parts that we can really contribute to at this point.  

Here is what it looked like after a full day of framing last weekend:

Part of the basement (near the boiler) is being left unfinished for storage space, so the wall being built in this photo has a door frame cut out (on the far left) so that we can have access to everything when the rest of the space is built out.  We are planning to use two bifold doors to give us the most amount of room to move large items in and out of the space (including the boiler, if necessary).  If we used french doors we would have to make the adjacent hallway that much wider, which wasn't ideal considering the small space we have to begin with.

In the photo above, you will see a space built out for a future wine/beverage center.  There was a great deal of real estate beneath the stairs, so we thought it would make the most sense to be able to tuck a little entertaining area in there there, along with some shelves for storage.  Instead of just boxing the space out, why not make use of it? 

We added this extra lolli (lalli???) column (the dark grey metal post in the center of the photo..haha) for added support to the beam above that is carrying additional weight from the wall opening in our kitchen/dining room area.  It was not required during the kitchen renovation (read more about that here), but it couldn't hurt while the area is all opened up.  A little extra support is always better than none, right? 
 

And here is that storage room doorway I was speaking of earlier.  It will help us to get some larger items in and out.  On a totally unrelated note, I can't believe how much STUFF we have in there.  Ugh!!  I'm pretty sure those 4 tote bins on the left are ALL filled with christmas things.  I used to have everything organized and labeled, but I think I rearranged some things when we moved in and nothing seems to correspond with its label anymore.  Whoops!!  I guess its a rainy/snowy day project for this winter!

Above you can see the side view of the under-stair storage space when we first started framing. 
And here it is after a few hours of working..... 

 

 
We are planning on adding a wine/beverage fridge on the bottom half flanked by wine storage cubbies on either side.  There will also be a stone countertop (hopefully we will find a cheap remnant piece at a local stone yard) and a shelf for some liquor or food.  We have high hopes of entertaining down here, but honestly I see this space as a playroom in the future.....so, more than likely, our lovely little wine fridge will end up being a juice box and milk fridge with space for goldfish and sippy cups on the nice marble countertop.  Haha!  I'm totally ok with that though....

These last two pictures show the long view of the basement (underneath the half bath and kitchen...to give you perspective).  It it wide open now, but it will eventually be an office/guest bedroom, full bathroom with stand-up shower, and a closet for the laundry.  Can't wait!!!!

The contractors have been in and out since we did our part, so I will have an update with their progress shortly!  Our target date to finish was Christmas, but I'm not sure that is still realistic.  We will have a better idea of the timeline once we have all the plumbing and electrical completed (today, hopefully)!!  It's hard having other people doing the work.  I feel like I'm not in control of the project and it drives me crazy.  I sound like a total control freak, huh?  I guess its just hard to let other people do all the work when we are used to handling it all ourselves.....especially since I'm home listening/watching it all.  The thing I have to keep telling myself is that we aren't qualified to take on these parts of the project, so even if we wanted to and learned how to, it would take us FOREVER to get it all done.  #1, B has been working like crazy lately, and #2 we can't ever work together since one person is always watching the peanut upstairs.  My my how things have changed. 

Hopefully I will go downstairs this afternoon and be totally wowed by the progress.  Updates to follow.....