The Saturday Morning Home Repair Blog (SMHRB) is where we gather to discuss the many and varied aspects of home repair. Some here are trained professionals. Some, talented DIYers. All are welcome. Please feel encouraged to ask questions, share successes, lament sags, drips and cracks and, as always, share any advice that you have for the rest of us.
Good morning, this week's installment of SMHRB is presented by laughingRabbit. I provide home repair and interior refresh services, working mostly by myself. I am fortunate enough to have a wife who is skilled and will lend a hand when needed. I've recently begun a new project, one that I have not done in over two decades, wait, make that three decades -- finishing a basement.
The client is a farmer I know, the house is only a few years old, and the space is being fitted as a caretaker's apartment to make it easier to care for her parents upstairs. The house was custom built by a very good builder who planned ahead, stubbing in a drain system and sump for a future bath. I spoke with him, and he passed along the name and number of the plumber who did the work. This is good, because even though I am fairly competent with engineering simple household plumbing, I have not dealt with pumping up and out.
I measured the space a few months back, discussed job scope, and then mulled the project over for a while. When the homeowner got in touch late in the summer, I gave them an estimate. I did not hear back for several weeks, and figured the price might have put them off. It didn't though, and I started the job a couple of weeks ago.
First I took some 2x4x8 to the site, laid them out roughly suggesting a design for the space. I then asked the clients and the rest of the family to look this over for a few days, then give me feedback. My design was approved, so I did a formal layout with chalkline, then began putting in the sill plates.
Sill plates are pressure treated, installed with construction adhesive and hex head concrete screws. After the wall framing is done, I'll come back and cut the sill plates from the doorway openings. I made sure not to put adhesive in those areas.
With the sill plates done, I caulked the junction of the floor and wall, then applied polystyrene foam to the concrete walls with adhesive and concrete nails. Once the foam was in place, the real fun began, framing. Since it is a rare basement where you can build walls on the floor, then stand them up, framing becomes tedious. Plumbing the top plate to the sill plate, filling in with studs (custom cut, with jogs and dodges), and toenailing, toenailing and toenailing.
The plastic on the floor in the foreground is my moisture test. I also have two on the walls. So far the basement is very dry, even after a week of rain. An errant water heater can also be a source of water, and here the heater was tight to the wall, had no stand, and no pan. Ceiling height is challenged, so I built a stand from my pressure treated scraps, moved it out from the wall, and set it in a pan. Hopefully I can put in a trap and drop it into the sump.
The client picked out a tub, I retrieved it from the store so I could make sure the alcove was sized properly, and the rough-in for the drain was correct. A nice fit, and the drain is good.
More wood, more walls, more toenailing. Once I get the back wall of the bedroom and utility room walls framed, I can begin working on the ceiling framing. That will require a few soffits to hide HVAC ducting, plumbing and such, some furring, and in the bath, I will have to drop the ceiling framing to seven feet above finish floor to accommodate the drain system for the bath above. Loads o' fun.
Here's where I leave you until the end of the month. By then, there should be drywall, electrics and plumbing rough-in to show you. I'm on the job site this morning, what are you working on?