There wasn't a really good title for this weeks blog post, since mostly we did a random array of things in order to finish up lighting, electric and framing. So that's way I just titled it "loose ends," since we are tying together and finishing up the things we've been working on the past 3 weeks. Therefore, this post will be a bit boring and random. Enjoy! =)
First thing we did this weekend was cut a hole in the side of our house! YAY!
Here is the long story as to why this had to happen. Dry wall sheets come in 3 sizes, 4x12, 4x10 and 4x8. The larger the size of drywall the cheaper it is to have it hung and finished (they charge per sheet), the better the finished product looks (less seams) and the actual dry wall is cheaper. So, we obviously wanted the 4x12 sheets of drywall. However, they would never fit down our stairs with the sharp turn at the bottom. Can you imagine the wheels turning in my dad's brain? Leave it to him to come up with this one. "Let's just cut a hole in the side of the house," he said. Cue, Chad and I's wide eyes and scared faces. But it really did work out perfectly.
Our dry wall was delivered Saturday morning. Luckily the rain/snow/sleet held off. What is up with this weather? Seriously, it's almost April! I've had enough of winter! Sorry, back to the basement.
One of the guys Chad works with was amazing and kind enough to come help us move the drywall. We set up long pieces of board as our "slide" and just slid the dry wall down. My dad and I were at the bottom to catch and stack them.
It only took us about an hour to slide all 55 sheets of drywall down into the basement. It was pretty neat! Props to dad for his ingenious idea! Once it was all inside, he fixed our house. Don't worry, it looks just like it did before, siding-mold and all!
Then we built the back wall where the built in shelves, TV and fireplace are going to go (above).
We finished up all the lighting (FINALLY)! Above are the two small can lights by the TV.
Side note: We changed up our lighting plan a bit. Instead of 4 lights by the TV (2 in front of the TV and 1 on each bookshelf), we decided to eliminate the two on the bookshelves and do lighting INSIDE the bookshelves. This is mostly because of the ceiling drop we have on the one side, there was no where to put the light for that bookshelf. This will look much better.
We also decided to eliminate the 2 small can lights above the shelves in the bar area. This is mostly because the window is not centered and anywhere we would put lights in the ceiling would be off center and look funny. We will just have the track light, 3 large cans and also lighting on the shelves themselves It will still be plenty of lights!
Something fun: We randomly found a wire in our ceiling that was just dangling there (above). Upon further inspection it had the word "Island" written on it. Apparently, when the house was built it was supposed to have an island in the kitchen with an outlet in it. Well our kitchen was NOT built with an island, but when we remodeled it last year we put an island in. We have always thought, "we should have put an outlet in the island". So when we found this, it kinda made our day! All it took was drilling a hole in the floor. (Okay, it took a little more than that). Now we have an outlet in our kitchen island!
Back to the basement! I really keep getting off track today, don't I! Sorry. We ran all the cable wires and secured them near the breaker box (above).
We ran the ducting for the exhaust fan (above). Sorry that's a "before" picture and I didn't take an after. Shame on me! Just imagine a big shiny metal tube coming out of that black hole and going to the outside of our house. So, I guess we cut 2 holes in our house this weekend, geeze!
Other things we checked off our list: I filled all the holes from wires going from our basement outside our house with this fun foamy stuff. Another side note, (sorry, I can't help myself) don't get that stuff in your hair, it doesn't come out easily! We ran the two heat ducts. We pulled speaker wiring, in case we want to do ceiling speakers, if we have surround sound. I cleaned, as usual. But my cleaning paid off because I found some stuff we can return! Yay (see below)!
This Weeks Costs
Speaker wire - $19
Ducting - $55
More electric stuff - $24
Studs for the fireplace wall - $70
Insulating foam (a.k.a fun foamy stuff) - $5
Returns
5 small can lights - $95
10 feet of copper piping - $10
PVC - $3
Gas line pipe - $7
Free Things that were we already had
Nail gun
Ducting tape
Labor
Exacto Knife
Wire cutters
This weeks total - $173
Returns - $115
Project total - $2,589
Things I learned this week: Don't get the foamy stuff in your hair! Chad says, "dry wall sheets are extremely heavy and awkwardly floppy!" Note: I did not carry any of these, because I'm weak and a wimp! Perks of being a girl! =)
This weeks plans: All our hard work this weekend was in order to get the basement prepared for the dry wall people. They are coming on Tuesday and they should be finished by Saturday. Chad will get to spend his spring break baby-sitting them. Yay!
I am not a professional and all my advice and tips are purely from my own experiences.
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