Hi everyone, CJB here this morning. SMHRB is where we gather every Saturday morning to share frustrations, questions, possible solutions, and general wisdom about keeping our houses in good shape. Everyone is welcome and you should feel free to ask questions. Hopefully, the collective professional expertise and DIY experience here can help you out with your projects.
Well, the project we’ve been working on was aimed at this past Thursday when my sister and brother-in-law arrived from Jordan. We didn't get nearly as far as we'd hoped, but it's good enough for now. C’mon, I’ll show you.
When we found out late last year that my sister and her hub were coming for a month this summer, we knew we had to create more space for all of us if we were all going to come out of it alive. The only place to go was the basement. Now, this basement was your classic cement hole - dark, dirty, disorganized and generally disgusting. The previous owner had done two things: A) Improve one corner of the space for a (less-than-legal) bedroom and B) so completely frack up the electrical work that it took Mister CJB 6 full days of work (3 weekends) to sort out the tangle.
We didn’t get the space as finished as we would have liked. We had to wait until my nephew moved out in late February. But we got most of it done out to sheetrock. We scrubbed the cement floors and threw down rugs. We tacked some cheap carpet on the stairs (it was free). It’s liveable. We gave my sis and hub the second floor and we’ve moved into our new space. If you squint at it sideways and remember that everything you see is in various shades of temporary, it looks perfectly adequate.
Kid CJB sorta loves it. It’s like camping to him.
Here are some "before and after" pics. Or, I guess, "before and during" is more accurate.
The bottom of the stairs where the jacks were (above)
Now looks like this:
The east wall above is to the right in this shot of KidCJB's bed where you can see Peeves the cat:
Above is mister CJB working where the old bedroom was after the wall was torn down, and below is the remaining alcove where our bed is. A futon couch/bed will stay here after we're done. That back wall is 6+ feet closer than it was. There's a new storage room behind it:
And next is the new wall that creates an actual laundry room on the other side:
There's a pocket door in there. On the right where the dresser is, we'll eventually put in a bar with stools facing what will become less bedroom and more family room
Well, there you have it. As you can see, lots left to do. More tape amd mud. Sanding and painting. Flooring. We'll start in again when things calm down in late August. Many thanks to the many of you who have provided either advice or encouragement (or both!) through this phase of the project. The SMHRB gang has been wonderfully helpful and supportive.
Until we start up again, it’s going to be so nice to actually go outside on the weekends for a few weeks. We’ve be stuck in the dungeon since early March.
Shop’s open! What are you up to out there?