New Home Project - Finishing The Basement

[Ian]

As you guys know, my family moved back in July. While our new house is bigger than the last one, I lost my office and toy room. Everything that was in these two rooms got shuffled down to the basement.

With the weather getting cold, I figured it was time to start finishing the basement. This weekend we framed the walls for my office and what will be my toy room/second family room.

The electrician and HVAC guy comes this week. After that I have to run CAT5 and speaker wires. In November we'll be putting up the drywall. We probably won't mud and put up the trim until the spring though.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with the CAT5 from upstairs. It's all wired for phone right now and ends up by the circuit breaker. I'll probably put in a small patch panel and then run cables from there to the utility room where I'll be terminating all the new wiring.

[Dartman]

I would kill for a house with a good basement for my junk... The rental I'm in now is about 900 SF and no extra storage for anything we've collected over the years except the garage that is a walled in ex carport. I added shelves all the way around but it's pretty full now.
That looks like a nice area when finnished, make sure its sealed up well and dry...

[Ian]

We're also planning on putting a bathroom, bedroom and storage room down there. When its all done, it should almost double the square footage of the house. We'll probably finish it just in time to move again.

[stix]

Cool. Hope you didn't have to do the insulating yourself, I hate insulating. Looks like you need a carpet remnant and a fridge.

Aren't you missing a few dozen cd/dvd burners and a bookshelf full of media?

[Spazmogen]

Is the bathroom roughed in, in the basement?

If not, you'll have to rent an electric jackhammer and punch a hole to run the drain line from the toilet/sink/shower over to the 4" sewer stack.

I did that last year, and managed to punch several holes in the main sewer stack in the process. Can you say" f*ck"! You can't flush a toilet or run the tap in the whole house until you patch a hole in the sewer stack.

It took two guys (who new what we were doing) nearly a full week to complete the construction phase. Then the wife 2 days to paint and decorate etc.


Lighting in your shop: I suggest some 36" or 48" florecent lights right over top of the work benches. It makes it a lot easier to find that dropped screw on the motherboard during a build.

[Ian]

Aren't you missing a few dozen cd/dvd burners and a bookshelf full of media?

lol.. the shelves full of media didn't fit in the picture. My drives are all over the place too. I didn't even unpack most of them when I moved.

[Ian]

Has anyone used Pass & Seymour's Home Network Center?

http://www.shop.com/op/~PASS_SEYMOUR_HN ... d-11135348

This would be ideal for the existing phone and cable jacks. If need be, there's also an ethernet module.

[Ian]

Just an update on the project. After the electrician and HVAC guys came in, I had to run data cables. I have about 8 runs of cat5e to the living room area and 6 to my office. There's also another two runs between the utility room and the small data closet in the office.

I also did two runs of coax to the living room, one to the office and one between the utility room and the data closet. I really want to get our cable box out of my office.

[Ian]

We decided to go ahead and finish off the office before Christmas. This is where we are now. We're pretty much done with the mudding (gotta sand it). I need to paint it all this week and put down the floor on Saturday. Once we put up the doors and trim, we'll pretty much be done with the office.

[Ian]

At this point, we're pretty much done with the office and family room. I need to put down some transition strips for the laminate foor and install a patch panel for the network but that's about it for now. Here are a few pics.

[bill]

The rooms look fantastic, Ian. It's always nice to see natural finish on wood, paint is ok but I love to see wood grain. Did you build the column wrap or find it in a store? I like the slim profile, doesn't obstruct the view like so many that I've seen.

[Wesociety]

congrats! What a project!

[Ian]

Did you build the column wrap or find it in a store? I like the slim profile, doesn't obstruct the view like so many that I've seen.

It was actually a kit. The main section came in two piece that you glued together. It wasn't finished though so I spent many afternoons sanding that sucker. The trim pieces were harder to do as they came in separate pieces.

[stix]

Looks great! I especially like the tent and cookie monster. Who plays the piano?

What drive is the Plextor PX-755UF based on? I see the box up on the shelf.

Do you teach the students to keep open soda-pop cans all over their desks, next to sensitive equipment? Just teasing.

[Ian]

lol.. normally I have alot more cans on my desk. I had to move it so I tossed a bunch out. My wife plays the piano. My son thinks he can.

The PX-755UF is based on the PX-755A.

[Wesociety]

soda is bad, mmmmk