Halfway There

We made significant progress this week on the basement.  With my mom's help we were able to install all the 12 foot sheets of drywall on the ceiling.  We also installed all the drywall on one of the long walls and started putting on some mud (of course there's much more of that to come).

 

Our list of things to do in the basement is finally getting shorter:

1.  Clear out all items
2.  Pour self-leveling concrete
3.  Install insulation
4.  Install Dri-core subfloor
5.  Remove basement boiler lines 
6.  Frame (95% complete)
7.  Install HVAC ducts
8.  Install electrical
9.  Drywall (50% complete)
10.  Mud (25% complete)
11.  Prime
12.  Paint
13.  Install doors
14.  Install trim
15.  Get carpet installed

Of course this list doesn't include the work on the stairs - that's another list entirely!

The finished room will be larger than half the width of the house so of course we had to work around the beam and posts (and heating pipes).  We built a bulkhead for the beam and framed around the posts. 

The bulkhead area needed lighting but the large can recessed lights kept interfering with the boiler heating pipes.  We had to go to buy some smaller lights for this area but we compensated by installing four of them.


Before we can just throw up (HA!) sheets of drywall, we have two small areas to finish framing - one near the stairs (includes a small bulkhead) and the other near the fireplace (where we have to work around the heating lines from the boiler).  We hope to have all the framing completed tonight and drywall complete on Wednesday.

It was great having my mom here for the week - she was such a big help!  And of course she got to spend some quality time with Samantha.

We actually got to have some fun this week too.  Chris and I went out to dinner for Restaurant Week, Chris went to a beer tasting, I went to a dinner/wine tasting, I went to a camera class, and we all went to an Irish benefit concert.  Now that I realize how much we were out of the house, I'm surprised that we were able to accomplish so much!

During the Irish concert, Samantha kept dancing to all the music (particularly the Irish Pub music!).  Quite a few people commented on her being a cute Irish baby.

While Chris' parents were here last weekend, Nana taught Samantha how to stack rings.  She enjoys doing it a lot now!

 Of course she doesn't always get them in the right order!

Next week the basement should look more finished...the birthday party is only two weeks away!