The extended director's cut...with new scenes never before released.
Showing posts with label Basement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basement. Show all posts
09 October 2012
08 October 2012
Playroom Videos
Here are a few videos of the kids seeing the playroom for the first time. At first they don't know what to think, since the room was entirely redone. I guess this was our little version of Extreme Home Makeover. They were initially most excited about the tunnel and the tent, but after a few minutes they started to discover the other things, one by one. Julia kept telling us thank you and Jonathan was visibly enjoying it all. According to Julia, the old playroom had become boring, so it was good that we stepped up our game...
07 October 2012
Playroom By IKEA
We spent all day Saturday finishing up the kid's playroom, and for that matter, the basement. Although both of us were fighting colds and already tired, we dropped the kids off at my parent's house with my Mom and Michelle, and drove up to IKEA, the Mecca for yuppie home improvement. We wanted to finish this area up before the weather turned too much, so we'd have an area this winter for the kids to play this winter.
We loaded our loot into two shopping carts, then the entire back of the car, and then our basement. We made a few impulse buys (who doesn't at IKEA?), but for the most part we stuck to our original idea and just picked out the things that best fit.
I had already painted the wall and trimmed out the opening to the playroom.We cleared out a lot of the old stuff. Although it was easy to put all of the furniture together and decorate the room, it still took us about eight man hours to set it all up. We finished the room up while the kids were asleep, at about 10 o'clock.
I included a picture of the room before we set things up and Stacey's car loaded with stuff. We unveiled the playroom to the kids this morning and took a lot of video. They were very excited and have been playing in the room the entire morning. I'll post the video of their reaction soon.
We loaded our loot into two shopping carts, then the entire back of the car, and then our basement. We made a few impulse buys (who doesn't at IKEA?), but for the most part we stuck to our original idea and just picked out the things that best fit.
I had already painted the wall and trimmed out the opening to the playroom.We cleared out a lot of the old stuff. Although it was easy to put all of the furniture together and decorate the room, it still took us about eight man hours to set it all up. We finished the room up while the kids were asleep, at about 10 o'clock.
I included a picture of the room before we set things up and Stacey's car loaded with stuff. We unveiled the playroom to the kids this morning and took a lot of video. They were very excited and have been playing in the room the entire morning. I'll post the video of their reaction soon.
10 October 2008
A Finished Basement!
It's finally complete! I know, it's been done for a few days but I just didn't get around to posting this until tonight. Thanks to those of you who asked about it.
This project went really well, all things considered. We're very excited we now have a place to hang out and relax. Although our house was about 2,000 square feet before the project, the layout of the house didn't allow us much space. You may read that and laugh, but it's really true. Our main living room wasn't exactly spacious. All this to say that the basement in this house was meant to be finished.
The smaller room will be Julia's (and future child) playroom for now. All the toys and dollhouses will be kept there. As they grow older, we will probably turn it into a workout area. Across from the playroom is a full bath and two closets for storage. We have additional storage under the stairs, and the main room will be used for working out and watching television, relaxing, hanging out, etc.
The project took a little over a month to complete. We'd like to thank Matt and Chris from Craftsman Basement Finish Company for their great work, responsiveness, and all-around professionalism from start to finish. They did a great job in matching the rest of our house.
I hope you enjoy the slide show. I intentionally placed a picture of the unfinished basement directly before the same shot finished. The before and after view is amazing. I hope you watch the entire video - there's a surprise photo at the end!
Music by David Crowder Band (Neverending)
This project went really well, all things considered. We're very excited we now have a place to hang out and relax. Although our house was about 2,000 square feet before the project, the layout of the house didn't allow us much space. You may read that and laugh, but it's really true. Our main living room wasn't exactly spacious. All this to say that the basement in this house was meant to be finished.
The smaller room will be Julia's (and future child) playroom for now. All the toys and dollhouses will be kept there. As they grow older, we will probably turn it into a workout area. Across from the playroom is a full bath and two closets for storage. We have additional storage under the stairs, and the main room will be used for working out and watching television, relaxing, hanging out, etc.
The project took a little over a month to complete. We'd like to thank Matt and Chris from Craftsman Basement Finish Company for their great work, responsiveness, and all-around professionalism from start to finish. They did a great job in matching the rest of our house.
I hope you enjoy the slide show. I intentionally placed a picture of the unfinished basement directly before the same shot finished. The before and after view is amazing. I hope you watch the entire video - there's a surprise photo at the end!
Music by David Crowder Band (Neverending)
02 October 2008
26 September 2008
24 September 2008
5 For 1 Special
Hmm…I hadn’t realized this until I was talking with Josh today at the gym. We are finishing the basement mainly for space reasons. We’ve always known that it will increase the value and equity in our home, but those were secondary reasons. Anyway, today at the gym I realized that we are increasing the living space in our home by 50%, yet it’s only costing us 10% of the purchase price of the home. Not too shabby. I won’t try to guess how much of a money making venture this will be, but at least it’s good to know we’re pretty much guaranteed to get this money back in the long run if we ever decided to sell the house.
23 September 2008
Day 15
For those of you who might be getting tired of seeing these updates, take heart! We're really close to being done with this project. Really, the only major things left are to install the shower tile, toilet, sink, and faucets in the bathroom and the carpet. There really won't be any more pictures worth taking until the bathroom is done and then when the entire project has been completed.
Today the electrical trim was installed...which I was surprisingly happy about. We can finally see everything now, and with the exception of carpet, the place pretty much feels complete. We also had the flooring in the bathroom installed. We're about a week away...
Today the electrical trim was installed...which I was surprisingly happy about. We can finally see everything now, and with the exception of carpet, the place pretty much feels complete. We also had the flooring in the bathroom installed. We're about a week away...
22 September 2008
Day 14
They painted the trim and walls today!
The basement is really starting to look like a living space now. We choose to have the same color as we have in our kitchen and up the stairs, because it was a warm, subtle color. Additionally, we knew that although it was a light color on the main level/stairs, it would seem a lot darker in a basement. The pictures don't do the color justice (lighting), but in person it looks really nice. The window sills look great too. We like them so much that we'll probably add sills to the rest of the house at a later time. I pretty sure I can cut and nail a board and a piece of trim to the wall and paint it!
The basement is really starting to look like a living space now. We choose to have the same color as we have in our kitchen and up the stairs, because it was a warm, subtle color. Additionally, we knew that although it was a light color on the main level/stairs, it would seem a lot darker in a basement. The pictures don't do the color justice (lighting), but in person it looks really nice. The window sills look great too. We like them so much that we'll probably add sills to the rest of the house at a later time. I pretty sure I can cut and nail a board and a piece of trim to the wall and paint it!
20 September 2008
Like A Kid Again
A few weeks ago I heard a noise outside. I peeked out of the kitchen window and saw one of the boys (7 years old) from next door on his front porch. I had to watch him for awhile because I couldn't figure out what he was doing. He would grab something, stick it into something that made a grinding noise, and then would neatly place it in a box next to other "somethings". After about a minute or so I made the connection that school was starting in a few days and he was excitedly and proudly preparing his school supplies (sharpening pencils) for the upcoming school year.
Tonight I felt like a kid again. I had forgotten how much fun it is to draw on cement. Although I didn't have any colored chalk, an old pencil and pencil sharpener did just fine. I happily sketched out my masterpiece, using half of a pencil in the process. It was also fun to manually sharpen a pencil once again and watch the shavings fall to the floor. Tomorrow I am going to proudly show the drawing to my Mom. I guess some things never change.
Tonight I felt like a kid again. I had forgotten how much fun it is to draw on cement. Although I didn't have any colored chalk, an old pencil and pencil sharpener did just fine. I happily sketched out my masterpiece, using half of a pencil in the process. It was also fun to manually sharpen a pencil once again and watch the shavings fall to the floor. Tomorrow I am going to proudly show the drawing to my Mom. I guess some things never change.
18 September 2008
Day 12
Over the past few days a fair amount of progress has been made. The drywall was hung, the corners rounded, and after all the mud was completed it was textured to match the rest of the house.
At this point, we've moved past what I would call the construction phase and moved into the finishing phase. Matt and Chris did some trim work today and hung the bathroom door. Additionally, they trimmed and built/hung the window ledges. By the end of next week, the walls will be painted and the carpet/flooring laid. We're getting very close!
At this point, we've moved past what I would call the construction phase and moved into the finishing phase. Matt and Chris did some trim work today and hung the bathroom door. Additionally, they trimmed and built/hung the window ledges. By the end of next week, the walls will be painted and the carpet/flooring laid. We're getting very close!
17 September 2008
Samsung 50 Inch Plasma
Every good basement needs one. For the past few years I've had my "pulse" on the television market. I knew that at some point in the near future I'd have the opportunity to setup our family room...aka our own movie theater...aka O'Slicky's Sports Bar and Grill.
Sunday was that day. I checked out Best Buy and saw this television on sale, 25% off the listed price. A few days after we bought it Best Buy increased the price $300. Very nice. Anyway, it's full 1080p, and has an astonishing 1 million to 1 contrast ratio. After looking around for awhile it was very clear that you get much more size for the money with plasma versus a LCD. In my personal opinion, the picture on a plasma is just as good if not better then an LCD anyway. HD television and my Playstation 3 (games and Blu-Ray) look amazing...and that's an understatement.
I realize it may seem weird to pose for a picture with your television, but the reason was so that you could see the proper scale. I know all the guys will appreciate this post. Once we've got the basement finished we'll have to have everyone over for a movie night or for the Superbowl.
As a funny side note, check out the picture with the white Toyota truck in it. I've never seen another white Toyota pickup with the same Toyota emblem in the center of the tailgate. Considering I added mine 12 years ago, I think this guy copied me. Amazing coincidence it was on the television at the same time we were taking these pictures.
Sunday was that day. I checked out Best Buy and saw this television on sale, 25% off the listed price. A few days after we bought it Best Buy increased the price $300. Very nice. Anyway, it's full 1080p, and has an astonishing 1 million to 1 contrast ratio. After looking around for awhile it was very clear that you get much more size for the money with plasma versus a LCD. In my personal opinion, the picture on a plasma is just as good if not better then an LCD anyway. HD television and my Playstation 3 (games and Blu-Ray) look amazing...and that's an understatement.
I realize it may seem weird to pose for a picture with your television, but the reason was so that you could see the proper scale. I know all the guys will appreciate this post. Once we've got the basement finished we'll have to have everyone over for a movie night or for the Superbowl.
As a funny side note, check out the picture with the white Toyota truck in it. I've never seen another white Toyota pickup with the same Toyota emblem in the center of the tailgate. Considering I added mine 12 years ago, I think this guy copied me. Amazing coincidence it was on the television at the same time we were taking these pictures.
13 September 2008
Day 8
The drywall was hung in one day! The next day, Friday, they finished the corners and put on the first coat of mud. We now have walls.
09 September 2008
Day 6
A lot has happened in our basement in the past few days, but it's not as noticeable as the first few days. Our electrical work has been finished and passed inspection and the speaker wire for the surround sound system was run (by yours truly). On Monday we went to the design center and picked out the tile, linoleum, carpet and pad.
Today the ceiling insulation was blown. We opted for blown cellulose making the basement smell and sound like a Barnes and Noble (that is, a bookstore). Take a whiff of a paperback book and that's what it smells like down there. Personally, I love the smell. It makes me want to grab a book and a cup of coffee.
This morning as I was finishing my waffle the drywall was delivered. Tomorrow they'll start hanging the drywall. Over the next 4 days or so we will be in the drywall phase. This portion of the project takes a little bit longer because the seam mud and texture take time to dry. The exciting part about drywall is that it's the halfway point in the project and once hung, the layout/structure of the basement will "feel" more complete.
Today the ceiling insulation was blown. We opted for blown cellulose making the basement smell and sound like a Barnes and Noble (that is, a bookstore). Take a whiff of a paperback book and that's what it smells like down there. Personally, I love the smell. It makes me want to grab a book and a cup of coffee.
This morning as I was finishing my waffle the drywall was delivered. Tomorrow they'll start hanging the drywall. Over the next 4 days or so we will be in the drywall phase. This portion of the project takes a little bit longer because the seam mud and texture take time to dry. The exciting part about drywall is that it's the halfway point in the project and once hung, the layout/structure of the basement will "feel" more complete.
04 September 2008
Day 2
Heating vents installed - Light switch boxes, light fixtures, outlet boxes installed - Tub placed - Toilet drain moved - Water lines installed
03 September 2008
01 September 2008
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