The deep, dark dungeon (aka, our basement)

Our lovely unfinished basement has been awaiting finishing in various stages since...well probably since the house was built. Someone in the 70s thought it would be a good idea to put in a bedroom with bright orange wood paneling. Someone else thought it would be a good idea to put in a golden throne toilet. Someone else thought they knew how to do wiring and put in some sweet can lights. Mostly we thought it would be a good idea to take that all out and do something right. Our upstairs is a comfortable, if not extremely spacious, 810sq ft and this would give us another 810sq ft of daylight basement, effectively doubling the size of our house.

The orange bedroom. Before we even bought the house.

(aka, that is not my bedspread)

We started with replacing some ductwork. Matt took it apart, and then realized Home Depot didn't have the stuff we needed to put it back together. Then he left for Arizona for two weeks while I contracted hypothermia. Actually it was September, and I was only kinda chilly. But I found the stuff at McClendon’s while he was gone. I love McClendons.

Then we punched a hole in the chimney to move some more ducts around. It was New Years day and we had to leave the heat off for 24 hours while the cement dried. That one actually was cold. Quite cold. Thanks Mom and Dad for the heated blanket.

New Years Day punching a hole in the chimney

Then Matt did some framing. Then he had to re-do some of it. Then he had to re-do more of it. Mostly its gone now, but that was good practice, right honey?

Then we invited some tough manly men over to help us tear out the infamous throne, jackhammer a large hole into our foundation, and jackhammer up a portion of our patio.

The original Golden Throne

Almost gone

Tough manly men

I played the part of the good wife by making 5 trips to Home Depot that day and  going to the store to buy these men some pizza and beer.

Then Matt and I dug a 6.5 ft deep hole on the side of our house so the plumber could replace the water main. Good thing I can curl up in little balls and fit in tight spaces to scrape out dirt. (This is about the only thing in the whole remodel that I have been good for).

And then along came an angel from heaven. By the name of Ron, who is our contractor who likes to argue with us, who we love. He has completely gutted and remodeled two of my parents houses over the years and done a fantastic job at a fantastic price. While Matt and I wanted to do most of the basement ourselves (read: didn't want to spend $$) putting in a bathroom was not something that was ever going to make it onto our heretofore non-existent list of expertise. Ron to the rescue.

New bathroom!

He did all the hard stuff for the bathroom like move the laundry and hot water heater, change the plumbing for most of the house, pour cement, and install the shower. Then he decided that before he could do the sheetrock he needed to wire the rest of the basement correctly because it would be hard to do after the sheetrock was in the bathroom. And you have to have framing to do wiring.

New bedroom

So he framed. And he wired. And he's gonna finish the bathroom. All for one fantastic price. Which is why we love him even though he doesn't always like our harebrained ideas about the way we want things. So here's a little photo tour of how it’s coming. Doesn't it actually look like something is happening?! Finally?!

...aaannd I just found this picture on his website. This is Ron.