basement Archives - Page 3 of 3

Progress: Pouring the Concrete Slab was Pretty Easy!

4 min read I poured a mother freaking 28 square foot concrete slab in the basement this week … and it really wasn’t that hard. Here’s how I did it (hint: I roped my parents into some of the extra manual labor!)

I admit, this was one of the tasks I’ve been most excited about … and afraid of. I could, of course, have asked the plumbers to repair the slab they tore up when their work was done but I’ve never worked with concrete before and wanted the chance to try my hand. When I saw the size of the hole I had a few second thoughts in the end it was a really fun time to fill it back in.

With the right tools (another post) the job was really pretty simple. Continue reading “Progress: Pouring the Concrete Slab was Pretty Easy!”

Progress: There is a Huge Hole in the Basement to get at the Under-Slab Plumbing

2 min read Two weeks ago I took the most dramatic step yet in bringing the basement plans to fruition. A crew of plumbers showed up at 8 in the morning with jack hammers and tore up a big patch of concrete slab in the basement.

This is step one of removing the ridiculous open-to-the-laundry toilet and shower arrangement. They carted off the broken basement floor chunks, removed the old plumbing and then did the underground rough in for the new 3/4 bathroom. Continue reading “Progress: There is a Huge Hole in the Basement to get at the Under-Slab Plumbing”

Progress: Basement Measuring, Mockups and Making Final Checks

2 min read With the plumbers incoming the next day to tear out the concrete slab and old pipes, and lay new ones, time for a good old fashioned mock-up with blue tape lines and visualize it one more time.

Having finally (mostly) cleared the deck in the basement I took a moment to revel in the bare walls, exposed floor joists overhead and swept-clean floor. Then I got out my laser measure, a pair of tape measures, a sharpie and a roll of blue painters tape and marked the location of the new bathroom walls (and fixtures) on the basement floor. Continue reading “Progress: Basement Measuring, Mockups and Making Final Checks”

Minimizing Waste in Demoltion

3 min read Any remodeling project is inherently more or less wasteful. “Out with the old and in with the new” means that something is being tossed and new resources are being consumed. Here are the steps I took to keep limit the landfill content produced by my basement demolition.

From an ethical standpoint, I think remodeling is better than building new and even remodeling should always be justified by improving utility and energy efficiency to offset that waste. From a design point of view, the new work should be not only more aesthetically pleasing but more multi-functional – future proofed as much as possible.

I apply these ideas to all the design work I do, and I’ve been trying to use the same principles during my physical remodeling here. Continue reading “Minimizing Waste in Demoltion”

Basement: the Midwestern Ranch House’s Secret Weapon

6 min read A basement is the secret weapon of the midwestern ranch house
(This is one clear advantage we have over all those cool, glassy California Pinterest ranches.

Upper midwestern basements secretly expand square footage, storage and differentiation of spaces all without bulking up the house to the street or eating up the building site.

Sure, basements CAN be your extraneous junk space. They CAN be your quick and dirty work out or project space. But they they COULD be the inner sanctum – the most private and cosy spot in the house, insulated from temperature, sound and other people’s view. The secret of an effective basement is not to treat it like part of your home, not a second class space.

Progress: Basement Demolition and Discoveries

4 min read After a long winter of being distracted by design work and other projects, I got back to the fun of tearing apart the house again a few weeks ago.

[Actually I began some exploratory demolition by pulling down a few ceiling tiles at the end of January, only to be delayed by a the sudden memory that the building inspector hadn’t NOT said that the ugly acoustic tile ceiling could contain asbestos. I decided to play it safe and took a sample over to the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene for testing to confirm that it was safe. Thirty eight bucks and three weeks later I got the all clear and was ready to head back down the basement stairs.] Continue reading “Progress: Basement Demolition and Discoveries”