A Finished Basement!

The “hard part” is over with!! YIPPEEEEE!! Seriously, we’re that excited.  This basement  has been one of the more drawn out projects we’ve had since we did our 3 month flip.  It feels like we’ve watched an ugly duckling turn into a beautiful swan.  A basement we used to tip toe through to get into the laundry area, is now an area that we kick our socks off in and play with the kids.  We are smitten.  We have a lot of decorating/furniture figuring out to do, but the more expensive pieces to this project are over with.

This is our very first picture of our basement from when we purchased the home.  The light colored patch near the steps was actually just the beginning to a long crack dividing our basement in half.  We knew that it would have to be fixed eventually, and that time had come.  But goodness forbid we just fix one thing and let it be… we have to go over the top.

 The floors were dug out, and new concrete was poured.  A hefty project, costing us a whopping $2,300.  (Believe it or not that is pennies compared to what most companies would have charged.)  After letting our account breathe for a few weeks, we busted out our windows and put in new ones.  I am shocked we did not do this a long time ago, I think a strong gust would have pushed the old ones in.

Dan and John were able to get the windows done on a sunday morning, and that following week they busted out the stud work along all the walls.  It was so nice to see our basement taking on a new look!

As you can see above, our fireplace did not have any stud work done above it.  We had big plans for this fireplace.  It was obvious that it had not been touched in who knows how many years.  So, our game plan was to get everything cleared from a chimney company to make sure it is safe to use, and then begin our fabulous brick work we had planned to go to the ceiling.  After we got the fireplace checked out, dollar signs were flashing in our  face.  Just to get it cleaned, checked with a camera was creeping up to the $200 mark.  Not mentioning all the other bits and pieces.  It was turning into a $800-$1,000 job.  NOT HAPPENING! At least not for now, we still had so much more to pay for.  So, we stuffed that bad boy up like a turkey to block the draft and covered up our fireplace with drywall.  Thankfully, if we decide to stay here for many more years and want to invest in it, we can simply remove the drywall and rebuild.  Until then, we’ll put the money in other places!

This is the official point where Dan and I got a little ahead of ourselves, and got serious about our “deadline.”  We wanted this basement complete by March 1, Brody’s birthday.  So after comparing prices with carpet, we called Empire to come over and price it out since they were having a 70% off winter clearance.  The guy kind of laughed at us as we shook our heads at eachother over the prices he was telling us.  “Well, your not going to carpet a room for $400.”  We knew that, but we also wanted to get the best deal possible.  After him giving us his never ending sales pitches, and “calling his people” to see what he could do for us, we got the price down to $1,300.  We were pleased with that.  “Okay guys, so with this deal,” He said,  “The carpet will get installed tommorow morning, can you have the painting done by tonight?” WHHHHATTTT!! We almost always manage to dig ourselves into a hole we cannot get out of.  The “deal” would only be good for that very day because of how many loops he had to go through to cut the price down.  So, there we were, awkwardly sitting at the table as I am scrunching my face at Dan, angry and stressed while the man was filling out paperwork.  What was I going to say, “Can you excuse us?” As we step three feet back into our sunroom to discuss this, in “private”?  I was hoping that this guy was going to come over, give us a price and we would call when we were ready.  Instead we had Dan in the sunroom evaluating the funds, seeing if we could hand over that much money.  I wanted to throw up.  I hate spending money so quickly.  We said yes, we usually do.  We gave the man his money, and the moment he left we threw the kids into the car and ran to Home Depot for paint.  Gotta do what-cha gotta do right?!

We don’t have any pictures of just the new paint, because it was all done in one night.  And quite honestly, we were to occupied with our liter of wine and paint brushes to get through the night.  We got it done though, and by 9:30 am the next morning, our basement looked like this….

Furniture shopping kicked up the next day, where we found ourselves circling the store a number of times.  We bickered back and forth over two seating arrangements that we could not agree on.  Then dan planted himself on this giant leather sectional, and his dimples were screaming from the roof tops of the furniture store.  So, he won.  He doubled our furniture budget, and I, like a true smart ass said, “I don’t want to hear it, you make the money, spend it as you will.” I was being sarcastic to a point, but he does work hard for his money, so I figured if plopping himself onto a leather couch at the end of his work day makes him feel good, then so be it.  Happy husband, happy home. (haha) I’ll save you the hour long story of us getting the furniture home.  We decided to pick it up to save $100 delivery fee, and this is how our morning went.  3 cars, 5 hours, RAIN, curse words, scratched walls, and wine by 5:00.  NEVER again!

All and all, this basement journey was a long and expensive one.  After all the hard work, and the money was spent, we both must say we do not regret our decision to finish it.  We have spent more time this past week down there, than anywhere else in our house.  We are in love, and know when the day comes to sell this home, hopefully this will help! Plus, we got it done in time for this little mans birthday.  THE BIG 3!!!

Happy Birthday Brody!! No really, this is your birthday present, the basement.  We cannot afford a gift.  JK.  ha, we love you!!!!