Basement Underpin: Week 22 - 99.9% complete

Almost there!  Four things left for the contractor to do:

1. grout the new marble transition at the top of the stairs (we had to replace it to make the new stairs and foyer floor seamless)
2. caulk the new stainless steel back splash (no shelf until I can find a reclaimed piece of timber, I haven't even started to look for one)
3. install door hardware for utility room (we ordered pulls from summerhill and they were supposed to come in July 9th...we wait)
4. paint the stairwell and touch up any dings

Since we are 99.99999% complete, I think its time for before and afters...Lets keep in mind that this set of 'afters', will become tomorrows 'befores' as we finish decorating and make it home.


Landing:

Staircase:

Bathroom:

Bar:

Open family room:

Laundry room/Storage1:

Sorry the photos don't all line up snazzy like...

1. My laundry room 'after' is almost as bad as my before...we are going to install cabinetry this fall and make it a beautiful oasis (well, ok, it wont be a "a small fertile or green area in a desert region, usually having a spring or well" but hopefully it will be "something serving as a refuge, relief, or pleasant change from what is usual, annoying, difficult, etc.".  We will install built-ins, the next best thing to paradise when you need storage...In the meantime, we are getting more matchy matchy Rubbermaid bins

Basement Underpin: Week 21 Wrap Up

This week I drew up a TO-DO list and the guys tackled it head on...at first it felt as if we were adding more work to the list than they were able to cross off...we are now SO CLOSE TO BEING FINISHED!

We have some electrical (install new outlet in upstairs hall, install timer for bathroom fan, connect telephone wires, and hook up movie screen), some general stuff (brick in mail box, parge under the exterior of the windows, install stainless steel, install hardware on utility room door, fill in forms for sump pump rebate, complete a bit of caulking around desk, and remove old marble transition and install a new one at top of stairs), and painting (bathroom, stairwell, bar area, foyer), staining and touch-ups.

Here are two of the biggest jobs that they completed this week (in addition to the plumbing)...

#1 The exterior door was clad in aluminum (bottom step), and caulked, with new hardware installed (they no longer have a key, we changed the locks!).  I think the door looks pretty.  I will paint it yellow/ochre to make it extra special pretty. The mailbox/milk box to the left will be bricked up (I doubt the bricks will match), and we will put a wall mounted mail box over the spot.  The light above the door needs to be replaced with a pretty motion detector (or one that isn't covered in crud).

#2 The IKEA Godmorgon sink cabinet was retrofitted (chopped up and re-assembled) in order for the drawers to close. A large section was carved out of the top drawer, and the back of the bottom drawer was notched.  The plumbing stuck out more than the Swedish designers intended because the plumber refused to use the white plastic trap that came with the sink (he used the white drain and overflow tubes). 

There will definitely be a Week 22 post, but hopefully that will be the last one. Then we will turn our focus toward decorating!  The problem is, I feel burnt out!  All my creative energy has been channeled into the basement.  Even now I have a bunch of plans in my head: I want a cork wall for children's art, 4 IKEA lack tables, floating shelves, poster (art) wall, 3 or 4 sturdy mdf boxes on casters to be used as a media console, coat hooks and peg board in the utility room, area rugs!....that's just for starters!  *sigh*

Basement Underpin: Week 20 Wrap Up

We still aren't finished folks...crawling along...
This week the tiles were installed in the bathroom (and the lights)

I decided to go with dark grout on the floors, and a medium grey grout on the walls.  We did a tiled baseboard around the cubby, and wainscoting everywhere else...a chrome strip caps off all the exposed edges...the floor tile is looking a little brown, but I think that's the leftover grout that needs to be washed away...it sure is a dirty birdie, but gorgeous!

This week they also cut the hole for the bar sink (but not for the faucet?)...

The glass guys are supposed to be here tomorrow to install the glass shower wall...then the bathroom fixtures and vanity will be installed on Monday. 

Here is the ikea odensvik sink on top of the painted godmorgon vanity.  (I don't think I have the drawers sitting on the track properly.)

Part of me wants to repaint the vanity and completely change the colour...another part of me likes it...and another part of me is lazy.  I know I originally wanted a colour that closely matched the floors, but the dang floors wont decide what colour they want to be (light grey, dark grey, brown, depending on their mood)...I will live with the current vanity colour for a while and see...on its own its a lovely shade of grey.  The way I see it, both the floor tile and the vanity are very neutral...so I am willing to put them in the same room and see if they will get along!  (Yes, I did dump the vanity drawers into the bathroom and stared at them next to the floor, I then went away and peeped in on them every once and a while, but I just can't get a good sense until the bathroom is cleaned up, and everything is put in place. Weird eh? You would think it would scream CLASH to me if that was the case...)

On paper, it seems like there is one more week to go...

Basement Underpin: Week 19 Wrap Up

Not much to show from last week...a few supplies were dropped off, but that was it... 
The stainless is on site...(and I am in the middle of painting some stuff black)

The tiles have arrived

time to pick a grout colour...darker or lighter? hmmmm

the contractor says we will be finished in about a week and a half! They have their work cut out for them...here is what the bathroom looks like right now...

Week 18 Wrap Up

We have started using the basement!!!

The contractor, carpenter and electrician were at the house on Friday to install the tv, the movie screen and finish up some odd jobs....They wrapped up around 2pm.  Once gone, I pulled up the paper from the floor and vacuumed it clean!

The floors look better than ever under the white white, crispy, low voltage track lights (definitely more grey than black).  And yes, they do show every spec of dust.

After cleaning up, my DH and I assembled the IKEA kivik sofa.  Here's the thing: its scratchy and makes me itch...I am super sensitive like that.  My DH thinks the sofa just needs to be broken in...I think it needs a gorgeous cashmere throw that I can bundle myself into. (I feel itchy just thinking about it)

Nothing happened today. Tomorrow is our final inspection, and the stainless & bathroom tiles will be delivered to the house. 
 

Three days late - carpentry complete!

Today they swept up the sawdust - one last time.

Slat screen done!!  LOVE IT!!

It creates close quarters in the stairway - then BAM! you come into the huge open concept family space!

They added a piece of bullnose poplar (poplar bullnose?) to the landings. The bullnose replaced the joint where two rough edges of plywood previously met.  It was a lot of work to retrofit and they did a fantastic job!

The trim around new-old-door was replaced...its a bit wonky, but I blame that on the wonky walls, not the trim. (They also installed the door handle on this door, and the basement bathroom door)

Tomorrow the painter comes. The contractor has requested a quote from the painter for staining the slat screen. This will allow me to decide if I want to do it myself or not. I'm nervous that its going to cost more than the screen itself!

As soon as painting is finished the electricians return.  Then we will mount the TV and the movie screen, pull up the paper from the floor and its all ours!  The bathroom and bar will be finished in July, but we can start using the space as early as this weekend (in a perfect world).  I predict world cup soccer on an 8 foot screen.

One day late

What a difference a day can make!  Look at the screen!  I LOVE IT TO PIECES!!!!!!!!!  It makes me sooo happy!

It looks a little slat-slat-slat-block-slat-slat-slat-block, which is better than jail cell floor-to-ceiling-slat, however staining should bring out the true slat-over-slat-over-slat-over-slat-ness of the screen (this 'sentence' would make more sense if you could see my hand gestures).  The carpenter used glue and brad nails...he will fill each nail hole and make it disappear.

Its soooooo incredible!!!!!!!...I hope I am not the only person in the world who thinks its ah-mazing...I fear it could be the type of thing where the next owner, or Vern Yip, says "nice house, too bad about that awful waste of lumber downstairs"

Speaking of lumber, the contractor ordered about five times too much of it...do they take returns?  I shouldn't have to pay for unused supplies, right? This could work out to be pretty substantial savings. (Update, there is a fee to return it, so savings were not so substantial, oh well)

In other news, the painter was here for half a day ...

No idea when we will be finished...

Due date came and went...

Our due date was Friday June 18, and of course we are not finished.

Dryer installed...new hot water tank installed...radiant floors ready to go...

...and the best part about Friday was....TA DA!  My track lights are in!  The electricians showed me how to twist the heads into the track so I put most of them up myself during baby's nap time.  I want to take them all down and plug them in again, this time using a measuring tape (Maybe I just want to play around with them, OKAY?).  IT'S BRIGHT DOWNSTAIRS!  We love it!

We put two pot lights and a junction box in the bar area (I didn't want the pots to be centered, I wanted them flanking the JB; JB supposed to be centered on the room)

The electricians need to come back and fix a few things...

Monday the painter comes back to paint, and the carpenter comes back to carpent...I can't get a sense of what else will happen, or when things will be finished....they need to paint, build screen, pass final inspection, fix electrical, install stainless steel countertop for bar, redo the landings, install hardware...and the bathroom.