Basement Update November 2022

For the basement, I'm working on prototype for a rectangular side table to match the other tables we purchased for the room...since the manufacture does not offer one in that shape. It has to be of Baltic Birch plywood and exposed plies on the edge to match. The purchased tables look like they took 12mm and 18mm sheets and glued them together. Then put a 45-degree bevel on the bottom 18mm sheet. I put together a *very* simple prototype (without the bevels) to get an idea of how it has to fit the space. I'm currently working on proper dimensions, getting a beveled edge without plywood rip-out, and legs (color and their orientation). Here's some pics...

^--- This is the table shape I'm trying to mimic. 

 Notice the 12mm and 18mm (top/bottom) sheets of 

plywood and then the 45-degree bevel on the bottom 18mm.

^----- This is my simple prototype to see how it fits the space. 

I have 12mm and 19mm Baltic Birch plywood sheets together, 

but I have not attempted doing a 45-degree bevel.

 I will first try and find the proper size top to fit the space 

(probably 15"x30"). The current legs are Ash.

^----Playing around with some leg shapes. 

On the far left is my prototype. 

Moving to the right I have the beveled lower top (18mm/45-degree).

 On the far right are metal legs that I have ordered to see how they look.

^--- Every DiCarlo endeavor needs a fictitious company behind it.

Basement Update October 2022

 Our basement is not fully completed, but we have made progress.  We still have to paint/stain the cupboards we will place below the TV.  And we still have work to do on the stairs.  And we need to get a lounge chair to replace two old leather chairs.  But here are some pics of where things are now...

Materials Arrives for Basement Stairs

 

We decided to re-tread the basement stairs with solid red oak to be consistent with upstairs.  We used to go to open houses years ago for ideas, and one thing that always jarred us was rooms that were completely different styles from each other in the same house (ex: colonial rooms, but a European modern kitchen).  Our main floor stairs are solid red oak, so thus the consistency.  We now have the materials acclimating to the house's temperature and humidity and installation should be in the next few weeks.

^-- stairs as they are right now

^--- 13 Treads and 14 risers

^-- Solid red oak

^-- In basement acclimating to humidity level

The new ceramic tile floor has been installed in our basement. Here's some photos.  We bought the house in 1998 and installed two 4'x4' egress windows in 2003.

↑ Our basement in 1998

↑ The floor has been leveled

↑ Tile installed, almost ready for grout

↑ Molding painted and installed

2022 Basement Remodel - All Locked in Now

 Yesterday we went to the tile shop to make a deposit on the tile (we're going with 3.75"x23.75" sized tiles). At this point we're locked in on everything for our 2022 basement remodel: palette, fabrics/furniture, and flooring. Here's what it looks like. The sectional will be in the olive color and the ottoman will be in the striped fabric. The yellow ("Belvedere Cream"...love that name) will be one of the walls painted to act as an accent to the rest of the "Porcelain" colored walls. The project should be finished in July sometime.

Gas Insert Installed in Basement Fireplace

This week our remodel of the basement continued with installation of a gas insert in the fireplace there.  We went with a quarter-sawn Red Oak mantle to match our kitchen cabinets and wood floors throughout the house.

The contractor showed up at 8am

We never did anything with our basement fireplace in the 20+ years we've lived here.  We put drywall in the basement in 2003, but have used the basement mostly for storage that whole time.  The flooring still needs to be replaced (most likely with porcelain tile).

Before and after photos

Here's an example of what our kitchen cabinets look like (to give an idea of the color/shade):

Photo of Kitchen Cabinets being Installed circa 2007 (quarter-sawn Red Oak)

The contractor gave us left over stain that they used.  I'm putting it in here in case I ever need to add something in Red Oak and I want to match it.  The second photo has the color codes used.

2022 Basement Update

 Our big project for 2022 is updating our basement.  This will include new flooring, furniture, paint, and installation of a gas fireplace.  There is still much to be done/decided, but here are some diagrams of what we are working with:

Diagram of Basement Dimensions

Diagram of new furniture placement idea

Basement Remodel 2003

After posting pictures of the house taken when we just bought it, it occurred that it might be a good time to recall our basement remodel and the lessons we learned from it. When we moved in, our basement had 1/2 of it finished (approximately 14x30 feet). For windows there were two small single rows of 4 glass blocks each which let in very little light. The paneling was dark. The carpet was hideous. And the tiled ceiling was terrible. So when the time came, we remodeled the finished portion.

The only surviving picture of the ugly basement that was...
...notice the small window of four glass blocks and how little light it allowed in...

We established the following criteria for our basement remodel...we needed/wanted:

1. to be able to afford it
2. to allow in much more light...in the end we wanted two 4'x'4 egress windows
   
3. the windows to meet egress conditions (meet inspection)
   
4. a tiled or Pergo floor

After looking around at different egress solutions, we decided to use Bilco ScapeWEL window wells. Treated wood tends to rot over time. And corrugated steel was not pretty at all. The Bilco ScapeWEL has a terraced opening which functions as a step/ladder out.

An exterior view of a Bilco ScapeWEL...

Since we had a large picture window which sides were almost centered on where we wanted the egress windows cut, we decided to employ a structural engineer. The trusses go from the front of the house to the rear, so the front and rear foundations carry much of the house's weight. The weight directly over the large picture window is displaced to the sides. The structural engineer had some good ideas (enlarge structural engineer the images below). The cost was a few hundred dollars but it was worth every penny.

Simple diagram of weight being displaced into where egress windows would go...

Page 1 of 3 from the structural engineer...

Page 2 of 3 from structural engineer...

Page 3 of 3 from structural engineer...

We found a young local contractor who gave us a great price and was willing to work with all our stipulations, such as:

• full compliance with the structural engineer's specifications
• full compliance with manufacturer's specifications
• no subcontractors without our approval
• no substitution of materials without our approval
• no work would start until permits had been obtained
• windows to be inspected and approved by the city for egress
  
• sufficient dirt would be over the footing to prevent heaving of the foundation during winter
  

Construction was a fun thing to watch. It took almost 6 weeks (in retrospect we're not sure why). We did learn one important lesson, never dry cut cinder-blocks!

A video Paul Made some time ago of our almost finished basement...

For Every Action There is an Equal And Opposite Reaction..

 

...and in our case, it cost us $10,000.  A couple of years ago, we tore cut down a large Douglas fir tree that was about six feet from our house. It never occurred to us that there was a large root system.  It didn't occur that just as there consequences to keeping the tree, there would be a consequence to removing it.

^-- The big Douglas fir that was

A couple of years later, my wife noticed cracks like this on the basement walls near to that corner of the house where the tree was:

^-- Staircase-like cracks in the cinderblock basement wall

Actually, there are a lot of houses in Rochester with foundation problems.  In particular, the neighborhood where we live.  We would often go on open houses in our area to see what kinds of improvements and such people did to their houses...as sort of a guide to what we ought to do with ours.  And more often than not we'd see basement foundation repairs.   So we called in a basement/foundation repair company.  They recommended putting the side of house on hydraulic piers to correct the foundation footing which had cracked/broken.

^-- The company that we had do the work

^-- Digging an 8' deep trench along-side the foundation

^-- All he way to the footing

^-- Checking for level as they lift the foundation

^--- They had hydraulic piers on the outside...

^-- ...and hydraulic piers on the inside

Big Douglas Fir Comes Down

We had a large Douglass fir was growing very near to the side of our house when we moved in.  We decided to take it down.  Here's some photos of it.  Little did we know this would cause us a problem later on...