And so the basement story continues...

For a reference on our previous progress renovating our basement, go here.

A few things have happened since I have written last.  One, we had a daughter!  Isn't she cute????!??

She is now 3 months!!  My my, how time does march on.

Little miss has slowed down basement progress some.  Juggling new baby and creating a room for said baby to live in at the same time is no joke!  I don't recommend it.  We intended to have it done before she came but it just didn't turn out that way!  Finding time to do (loud) basement projects in-between the naps of a toddler and infant (a sensitive, colicky one at that!) has proved to be quite tricky.  We couldn't have done this without the help of my generous parents!!

At this point, the space is really taking shape!  There was a lot that took place behind the scenes down there...so many details to think about before closing in the space!  Here's a recap on plumbing work we have done: Gabe re-routed/replaced almost all the in-efficient copper plumbing with PEX, we moved the water heater from one end of the house to another, and added a bigger water pump.  And Gabe did it all--minus the initial pipes that were added underground for septic.  I was very impressed with his thoughtfulness, planning and ingenuity in the whole process.  We now have better water pressure and a quieter, more updated system thanks to Gabe's research and dedication.  Here's Gabe in action with a blow torch:

Here he is moving the water heater:

And then installing the new, bigger water pump a week later:

Mind you, this work was going on the week we decided to try and potty train our toddler boy.  THAT was an interesting week!!!

So many pipes!

Gabe was forever adding things to the list for what needed to be done before we could schedule the drywall guys to come and work their magic.  On top of the plumbing work, Gabe also did most of the electrical himself, with me being consulted on location of boxes, type and size.  He put in all the vents and we added an exhaust fan in the bathroom--that will be nice, there isn't one in the upstairs bathroom, so we have to open the window in the middle of winter ;) We had to cut into the exterior wall, through brick to fully vent.  That was a noisy day!  Also, I must add, our 2 1/2 year old son is pretty sensitive to loud sounds--he doesn't yet love the sound of his daddy's drill.  It seemed like there was always one more spot to frame (having something on which the drywall would attach!  Just another thing I wouldn't think of!!)

For a good 6 months from the time we started framing in February, there wasn't a whole lot to see--minus minor details only a specialist would notice!!  At the end of August, Gabe and my dad worked on insulating the space.  This was an exciting step since it starts to feel like an enclosed space.  The sound started to deaden a little bit--in a 1960's home with squeaky wooden floors this will be much appreciated!!  The insulation was placed around the exterior wall and in the ceiling, upon my request.  I'm so glad we did!  Here are a few pictures:

After installation, we needed to have one more inspection before we could drywall.  Almost there!!

The night before the drywall guys came, Gabe was rushing around finishing last minute things.  It will be easier to add a light fixture to the stairwell before the drywall goes up, so he took the opportunity to go up to the attic crawl space (yuck!) and do a little guess work on where the fixture would be dropped.  He got it right on the first try!  That's ma man!  :D  Our son was so excited daddy was going up the ladder to an unknown, un-explored space--he wanted to come too (he couldn't--too messy with insulation).  I was rushing to make room for all the little things that were in the room outside of the room.  Gotta be organized or it gets chaotic real quick!

Pics the night before d-day:

Just to note--we have no general contractor.  Gabe and I source and gather materials before the guys come and make sure they will be as efficient as possible.  In this case, we bought 38 sheets of drywall and buckets of mud.  I'm sure there are more details, and we have additional help from my mom and dad too.  My mommy brain spins at times!

Three weeks ago is when we were able to schedule a couple days for the drywall guys to come out and get the job done.  It ended up being a 3 day process stretched over a week timeline.  He came on a Tuesday, with a buddy, and hung the drywall, taped and mudded.  He was here another time over the weekend to sand and mud again and then one final time the next Monday after that to do one more mud and sand.

We had 2 sheets of drywall left.  Better too many than not enough when you are paying someone else for their time and labor.  There was just enough time to take back the last few sheets in Gabe's pick up truck before we sold it to fund more of the project :)

Pics of drywall!

in the mud room from the basement door

from the bathroom

looking into the bathroom

The bulkhead looks a little rough because the guys didn't put drywall there.  Gabe wanted to clad it with something different so he could access the pipes in this trunk line.  So he put 1/4" primed plywood in it's place and we will do some sort of trim piece to hide the cracks showing at the top.  Not my favorite idea, but I guess it's a necessary thing.

Since I didn't get pictures of every. single. step. you can see that it has been primed (with a spray gun) and ceiling paint is already done on top of that.  It is Sherwin Williams "High Reflective White" in a flat finish.

We have since moved the freezer out into the "mud" room where the water heater used to be.  It just fits!  Although it is not in its final location--there will be some switching around of utilities to come.  Just not a priority right now like having a bigger bedroom so we aren't all tripping over one another and all our furniture in our current bedroom!

Freezer's new location:

Basement bedroom without the freezer in the middle:

Now for an especially fun part.  Finishes and fixtures!

Last weekend, we had another subcontractor come out (thanks for the reference Dad!) to tile the bathroom.  Know this, it kills my husband to have to hire someone out to do this.  He wants to do EVERYTHING!!  :P (i love you Gabey)

They came on Saturday, completing most of the shower/tub surround and flooring.  They were there until after 10pm that evening! And they came the next day around 8:30 until around 1pm and laid the rest and grouted.

I'm very pleased with my tile design:

The pink that can be seen around the edge of the tub is part of the waterproofing membrane and can be scraped off easily.

Here is a detail shot:

And the wood look flooring + vanity (uninstalled):

Few more shots:

You can see the paint color options I'm mulling over on the above picture.  I'm looking at some variation (lighter) of Behr "Dolphin fin", "Rhino" and "Sage Gray".  "Rhino" was used in the bathrooms in our first house flip.

Here are the color samples:

Dolphin fin

Rhino 

Sage Gray

Here is the tile on the floor in the bathroom:

I had them lay it in a wood staggered pattern with 3/16" grout joints.  The grout color is "Truffle" from Home Depot.

Here is where we ended up sourcing our wall tile since it went discontinued at Home Depot during our project and I had only bought one box as a sample!  It is a 4 1/2" X 10" matte white tile.  There was one box total out of 11 boxes (120 square feet) of breakage and they were kind enough to send us that replacement free.  This is laid in a brick pattern with a 1/8" grout joints.

This is the accent tile:

I had them cut it down to 4" wide for the band.  We had to do some planning in order to make it fall neatly where we wanted it in relation to the niche.

We haven't installed this yet, but here it is:

Here is the laminate (not my first choice!) flooring we ordered for the bedroom.  I guess hardwood and/or carpet isn't a good idea for a basement.

I made a mock up of the vanity mirror to see how it will fit.  It was tricky to find a mirror that will fit between the sconces.  It's up high because I have a tall husband :) and also because we are putting in a "chair rail" of tile on the north wall to act as the backsplash.

Here is the mirror we bought:

Here is a pic of the vanity sconces:

Here is a pic of the lighting fixture in the hallway of the bathroom, in front of the linen closet:

This weekend, we are hoping to install the doors and some trim.  Gabe bought them a couple days ago:

The floor trim we have ordered in keeping with the rest of the house:

We are also hoping to install the flooring in the bedroom.

Here's hoping it's done soon!!  We sure are ready.

I'll be in touch for the conclusion of the matter!

Moving Right Along...

Since I wrote last, trim has been started upstairs.  A few of the interior doors have been hung as well.

Before shot of interior doors:

I had never seen this before: seeing the doors come with the trim attached.  I still have no idea how our sub-contractor Rene (Dad and) did it.

The second bedroom door, from the inside and outside, into the hall:

Baseboard detail:

The block at the bottom corner is called a "plinth".  We have done basic, squared off trim, in a post and beam style to be in keeping with the characteristic of the house.

Here is a photo of the original trim on the doors and windows of the house:

Sorry to remind you.  :)

And master bedroom door:

Notice how the beam at the top overlaps the posts on the sides by about a half an inch.


And by this time, the flooring had been completely laid as seen in the next picture, along with the cement board we laid last week (as underlayment for tile):

The next task will be to sand the floors down so they are level, and the existing low spots of varnish are removed.  Mom & Dad took it upon themselves to champion this while Rene used the large sander.

Exhibit A:

Notice the dark spots on the floor where the varnish remained.  That is what Mom is focused on removing, as well as evening out the edges of the boards; they didn't always lay flat.

While they did that, Gabe and I worked to prepare the master bathroom upstairs for the tile subfloor.  This included sanding down plywood at the seams.

He also cut the opening for the jacuzzi motor:

Pretty soon we were all working on sanding down the wood floors, getting ready to have Rene seal them tomorrow.

My, my, it sure was noisy and dusty in there!!!

Looking good!  It was only 9 pm that night when we left....


The next day, Rene took a little bit more time to make sure there were no snags and splinters left on the floor.  At areas that were still high, he did some hand scraping!!  That was really neat to watch.

Here's a pic right before he started sealing the floors (of course he vacuumed it really good first!):

While Rene was finishing up the floors, Gabe brought 400 square feet of slate tile inside so it could acclimatize.

What a hoss!

I'm pretty excited to get started laying the floor!!  But, we can't begin today because we still need to fix up the seams of the subfloor.  Besides that, the sealer Rene was about to use to seal the floor was very stinky!!!

Rene begins....

Yay!!!!

So we left for the day and let him work his magic.  A few days later Rene did a top clear coat, and then another one.  Somewhere in there we got to see a few pictures:

From the front door

Looking into the kitchen

We didn't get to see all the floors in person before the protective paper was put down to cover it, but we got to see it in a few spots.

In kitchen

Gabe finished putting paper and cardboard down, that we picked up from the recycle center.  My back started giving me problems, so I just supervised :)

The next task was to prepare the kitchen for base cabinets.  We didn't have enough reclaimed flooring to run it entirely under the cabinets, so we needed to fill in the gaps with a plywood subfloor.  They matched the 3/4" thickness of the wood floors.  We started by using scraps that we had around and about.

Look at that handiwork!

This is the right corner of the kitchen, where the dishwasher will go.  The pantry that is only partially visible is sitting where the refrigerator will be.  Speaking of the pantry, we had a little bit of trouble getting it to stand upright, since it only had 2 inches of clearance from the wood floors...whoops!!  So, we had to find a high spot in the ceiling (hey, it's an old house!!) and use that to angle it up.  Whew!!  Dodged a bullet.

Next piece, moving right along:

This is under the sink.

Gabe is filling the cracks with gap filler:

First base cabinet installed!!

Next, is the 9" base cabinet that will sit in-between the corner and the sink:

Voilaà!!

The next day, we had some light on the subject.  The boys continued laying plywood subfloor for the gaps under the base cabinets.

First, the corner cabinet:

Then the 12" base drawer/cabinet in between the corner and the sink:

Make sure it's just right!!

In above picture, the plywood is the location of where a 36" base cabinet will go, and in the area where there is wood flooring, the range/oven will be placed, since it might be replaced during the life of the kitchen.

Adding the drawer:

The 36" base added:

Something bizarre....Gabe was screwing sink holes for the screws, and the screw bit reversed on itself:

CRAZY!!

Here, Gabe is trimming flush the wood slats so a plywood patch can be placed under the future pantry.

Notice the water connection for the refrigerator will need to be routed from the lower shelf of the pantry to its left where the refrigerator goes.

It took a little jigging to get the water pipe in the right location, and we soon discovered we were going to need another part to make it work, and the hardware store was closed.  So we would have to install it next week.

But Gabe was still able to cut the hole in the back of the pantry for the electrical outlet:

Starting to look like a proper kitchen!!

Still a bunch of tools hanging around, and the pantry is turned around, but it's getting there!

Mom and I had our own projects we were working on.  Mom was busy sanding down the primed walls, getting them ready for paint.  I laid out the slate floor tile pattern in the upstairs master bath in preparation for installation next week.

I'm so excited about our slate tile!  The natural variation is so rich.

The first weekend of March, at the house on Friday, we saw that some of the trim was done downstairs as well.  The closet door was installed:

Gabe and I worked on adding Durock to the closet under the stairs.  We also added tape to the seams of all the cement subfloor, and then added Thin-set on top to secure it.

Upstairs

Downstairs

The space under the stairs:

We spent Saturday laying slate tiles upstairs.  First, we laid the grid with a chalk line:

Gabe tested the tile saw that we got off Craigslist, and it worked beautifully!

Before we got started setting the tile, we realized we probably should get bigger spacers for in-between the tiles, since we only had 3/16" ones.  Since Dad was out and about, we asked him to bring us some 1/4" spacers.  It ended up helping out a lot to have the larger size, since the slate tile has slight variation in size.

While we waited for Dad to bring the spacers, Gabe adapted the water valve for the pantry cabinet and fit it in place.

Here it is in place!

These are the site lines from in the living room:

The plywood was all laid and ready for the remaining base cabinet installation:

So when Dad got there, they brought the pertinent cabinets downstairs so they could be installed soon.

No more monster stack in the master bedroom!

OK, now we could get started with laying the tile!!

I selected the tiles, brought them to Gabe, and made sure they were oriented appropriately keeping in mind the thickness of the tile and the patterning.

The first one is the hardest!  It's important to start from the middle and work towards the edges.

The back of the tile needs to have a thin layer of Thin-set mortar on the back, and the Durock needed also to have Thin-set applied, but with grooves, acquired with a grooved, float trowel.  

Moving right along...

We had to move quickly!

He's worked himself into a corner...

Starting in on the second half of the room:

Yes, I was actually doing something:

Yes, Gabe is sitting in the location of the throne:

The homestretch for today....

We will need to finish laying tile for this room next weekend.  Then, we will seal it, to protect the natural stone from getting scratched and damaged from the grout, add the grout and seal it again.  Whew!!

This next week is my Spring Break, so I will be getting my relax on.

And that is a wrap for now!!!