Free and Not So Free Labor

It's been awhile since I've done a basement update because we kinda got stalled alittle from the mudding process. It needed 3 coats plus a day for sanding plus Thanksgiving being in there which meant it was a boring 2 weeks of not much exciting happening. But, that part is now done so all that is left is finishings - hooking up the electrical, installing things like the doors, toilet, etc. and then Mike's finishings of painting, staining, carpet etc. So last night I had my Free Labor over to help. My 'Free Labor' was Josh & Laura who were priming the bedroom for us while Mike was working at Domino's. And my 'Not So Free Labor' is David. He has been working on building us this built-in bookshelf which will be in the family room. He was over varnishing that last night. It really is looking great. I guess even my free labor wasn't so free because we did buy them pizza afterwards. Either way, I don't care cause work is getting done!!! I feel bad not being able to help but keeping Bennett out of the way is a job in itself. Mike also painted the bathroom the other night which is a light green color. I'll post pictures of that when everything is installed in there. Hopefully we are on the home stretch!

Basement - Day 6

This morning they finished sheetrocking. The bedroom and laundry/hallway area are now also done! Now we just need to wait for the taping & mudding to get done and then the finishing touches. I am very pleased and happy with how this is all turning out!

When we were looking at everything this evening, Bennett decided he needed to do some measuring. He was such a mess by the time we went upstairs from all of the sheetrock dust! His navy blue pants were white. Here are the pictures of the bedroom. View looking in from the doorway Closet Looking out into the family room

Basement - Days 3, 4 & 5

Here is a quick recap of the past couple of days.

Monday they did some finishing work for the framing and also the window.

Tuesday morning the plumber was here and in the afternoon the electrician came.

Wednesday we had the building inspector and also electrical inspectors here. As soon as they were done the sheetrock was brought in and they started hanging it. The bathroom is completely sheetrocked & they started the ceiling in the bedroom. We have official rooms now!!!

It's hard to take decent pictures but I told David I'd post some tonight so here you go...

Two different views of the bathroom. It's small but yet for a basement bathroom, it's not too bad and has what we need. The shower is the only thing installed right now though.

Bedroom

Basement - Day 2

Today they did all of the framing for the bedroom and bathroom. It is so much easier for me to picture what this is all going to look like now. I've been telling Mike for the past month that I just couldn't see how this was all going to look and we kept getting frustrated about it because I just didn't get it. It's so much more clear to me now!

These pictures on the other hand aren't really that clear - at least not until the sheetrock is up. It doesn't make the rooms look very big right now.

Bedroom

Bathroom

Tomorrow they are at another job site and will get back to our place next week with the plumber and electrician. The guess is that by next Friday they should be done and then it is up to Mike & David to finish in time for the baby.

Basement - Day 1

The basement remodel is officially underway. Today they put in the egress window. Bennett especially enjoyed watching the backhoe come in and dig down about 4 feet of dirt. I think he was pretty confused by everything going on and all of the noise. He must have been pretty tired though because he still slept for 1 1/2 hours which was during the noisiest part of the day.

Here are the picture updates from today.

Basement Before

We are getting our basement finished! We have been talking about doing this since we moved in 4 years ago but haven't gotten to far. Basically because of time and money. Since we are running out of room upstairs we decided that this is something that should get done this fall still before the baby comes and our whole upstairs gets taken over by baby and kid stuff. Mike has done small projects in the basement during these years but he has never had enough time to really get going at it. Plus we would need an egress window in the bedroom which he doesn't know how to do. Since we'd have to hire that part out anyways, we figured we'll just hire out all of the main things and get it done with! They are supposed to be starting tomorrow!!! Mike and David are still planning on doing the finishings like the paint, carpet, trim etc. to save on a little money and also give them some "fun" to do too.

Here are some before pictures of our basement. I'm going to try to update every day or two with new pictures.

This picture is looking out the doorway from the completed office. This will be the family room. Mike has mudded these walls already and installed the lights.

This will be Bennett's bedroom. This is off of the family room to the right. The egress window will be the one on the left side of the picture. Walls will be going up separating the furnace and bedroom and family room and bedroom.

This back area will be the bathroom and storage room. (My washer/dryer is cut off in this picture.) The bathroom will have a wall separating the laundry area and then another wall in the back separating the storage area. The bathroom will have a toilet, sink and shower.

Mike's Family

We don't get a chance to get together with Mike's family very often since most of them live further away. But, this past weekend we had an 80th birthday party for Mike's Grandpa Leo (his mom's side). And an added bonus was that it was in NYA which is only about a 10 minute drive for us! Here are a few pictures from that day!

Bennett sitting by Grandpa Leo & Marlene

Bennett with his cousin Devon. He was really intrigued by his game!

Grandpa Leo with his two Great-Grandsons

Most of the Zaback family. (Mike's sister Sarah is the one sitting by Devon and Mike's mom Leann is standing next to him)