Home Improvement Update - March 14, 2010

The basement is starting to show signs of progress. I got the heating vent moved and started framing this past week. It took longer than I thought to move the vent because we had to figure out how to add the vent without making the play area under the stairs look funny. What we decided to do was to make the whole wall jut out from the stairs about a foot and a half. That way the kids had a little more room to play in, and it takes care of the heating vent and the furnace vent pipes that stuck out. Jenny is going to paint the area so that it looks like a house.

I also started framing some of the other walls. I have all of the baseboard down for the room and around 1/3 of the top bard and studs. I ripped out the wall that used to divide the family room from what will become the master bedroom. The wall wasn't square to the rest of the room, it wasn't properly bolted to the floor, and since it was only half the thickness of a normal wall we wouldn't have been able to put much insulation in for soundproofing. Since that is where the TV and entertainment center will be, we want that wall to be insulated to deaden the sound.

Before I can get much more done I need to cement in one window. The window is directly under the kitchen window that we are going to replace with a door. Since it will be a door, we really can't have a window there. It will also cost a lot less to cement it in than to replace it with a new window. I should be able to get that done this week if the weather holds out. Currently the forecast shows Tuesday and Wednesday nights being above freezing, so I will try to get it poured Tuesday.

I also need to run the electric lines for the basement before I can finish framing. The electric panel is located in the garage on the other side of the north wall of the family room. With the way the floor joists run, I won't be able to access that area after I finish the framing on that side. Since I am planning on redoing all the wiring in the basement, I need access to the panel. My current plan is to put each room on a separate breaker. Thus, I just have to run one line from the panel to each room before I frame off the final wall. Then I can finish the actual wiring whenever I get to it.

The plan for this week it to fill in the window, finish framing all but the north wall, and run the electric lines to each room. If I get that done, I will frame the north wall and start installing the outlets, lights, and switches in the family room.