Finally getting my basement remodeled.

[waggy]

Finally got people in to remodel my basement. it was fucking bad (ok i did it and have no skill! lol it was ok for a few years). Now that my kids are older I want it done nice.

we have 3 rooms. 1 is storage, heater and water heater. 1 is going to be a playroom/gym and the last is another living room type with teh wood burning stove.

also getting the roof done. woot!


now my office will be all mine! WOOOO!

 

[Born2bwire]

Oldsmoboat finally let you have the go ahead to put down a rug in your cell?

 

[waggy]

Oldsmoboat finally let you have the go ahead to put down a rug in your cell?

And a window..

 

[Born2bwire]

And a window..

Oooooooooh! Word of warning though, he electrifies the bars.

 

[waggy]

Oooooooooh! Word of warning though, he electrifies the bars.

he also does the toilet set cover. the sneaky bastard!



from these.

(playroom)

living room and woodburning stove.

so far all they got done is

 

[waggy]

they are tearing out everything.

Also we aren't having a carpet put in but getting a foam padding type thing put in.

 

[MotionMan]

The TV show Househunters, Holmes on Homes and the like have made me realize that those of you who live in locations that have basements that can be finished have no idea how good you have it.

When you buy a house in LA, it has X bedrooms, Y bathrooms and a couple other rooms. With a basement, you also get additional bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, TV rooms, etc. - it is like getting two houses for the price of one!

You really have no idea...

MotionMan

 

[DrPizza]

Wow, I love your hearth around the wood stove. (I've gotta put in a pad next week in our garage.)

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm looking forward to doing my basement. First I need to fix the weeping tiles and outside wall seal though. Had some water leaks in spring after a huge rain storm. That's 13k I don't have. I might try to find someone with a tractor and do it myself. The job itself is easy, it's the digging that's hard.

 

[Doppel]

What is a "foam padding" type thing instead of carpet? Will be nice when it's done, though! It's a great job to take on yourself if you have the time and the motivation, but there's nothing like coming back from a day at work and two guys have been going to town for the past 8 hours, you can really see things move along quickly.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Probably to help insulate a bit so the carpet is not so cold.

 

[Imp]

Probably to help insulate a bit so the carpet is not so cold.

Risk of major condensation + mold if you do that. Warm moist air hits cold floor = condensation, which is now stuck in a carpet trying and failing to dry. On the other hand, I am drunk right now... so good luck regardless.

 

[Doppel]

Carpets have some padding anyway, but I've not come across an insulated one (beyond whatever minor R value the carpet has by itself with the pad). Only on Mike Holmes do people actually put extruded foam on the floor covered by ply and then their flooring service. Makes it warm but kind of overkill.

----

In a basement with controlled moisture I'm not really so sure how much mold is a major concern for flooring. A dehumidifier should always be set to keep humidity at a certain level, and if water isn't coming into the walls typical carpet should be fine, it certainly is for a lot of homes. If it were, though, insulation would reduce that.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Carpets have some padding anyway, but I've not come across an insulated one (beyond whatever minor R value the carpet has by itself with the pad). Only on Mike Holmes do people actually put extruded foam on the floor covered by ply and then their flooring service. Makes it warm but kind of overkill.

Since this would make the ceiling too low, Holmes will start by digging it out an extra foot. It's what any of us would do, really.

 

[Imp]

In a basement with controlled moisture I'm not really so sure how much mold is a major concern for flooring. A dehumidifier should always be set to keep humidity at a certain level, and if water isn't coming into the walls typical carpet should be fine, it certainly is for a lot of homes. If it were, though, insulation would reduce that.

Foam on the inside of basement floor slabs is actually the biggest concern if the foam is vapor permeable. An unheated floor slab is actually "heated" by the air, but once you insulate the top, it becomes even cooler. If the vapor gets through, condensation happens, and because the floor is cooler, it's harder to dry. Ideally, one would insulate below the floor slab to avoid this issue, but good luck jackhammering your floor to put in some insulation.

Emphasis is on "risk" though - it's not guaranteed and the actual surface temperatures, air composition matters, and climate matters. If you actively heat the room, that helps too to reduce risk of mold. Also, mold eats the sugars in wood products, IIRC. No wood, lower risk of problem. Still drunk...

 

[waggy]

Wow, I love your hearth around the wood stove. (I've gotta put in a pad next week in our garage.)

yeah we love it. the family would spend a lot of time around it in the winter.


I was thinking something like this

If someone has a better solution i would love to hear it. Remember this is a playroom and 2nd living room. not something we are going to spend a ton of time in. well the kids will but meh they can deal with whatever.

 

[waggy]

sigh. I won't be useing this company again. fuckers are slow!

Anyway still NOT done. though its about 90% done. They need to put the trim up.

They asked for the last payment (roughly $2500 ..this after nto showing up for 2.5 weeks) and got pissed when i laughed and said they won't get shit until its done. Got a phone call that they would be here today to finish.

at least the company that did the roof was fast heh.

 

[3chordcharlie]

sigh. I won't be useing this company again. fuckers are slow!

Anyway still NOT done. though its about 90% done. They need to put the trim up.

They asked for the last payment (roughly $2500 ..this after nto showing up for 2.5 weeks) and got pissed when i laughed and said they won't get shit until its done. Got a phone call that they would be here today to finish.

at least the company that did the roof was fast heh.

Well done.

ALWAYS owe a contractor money until EVERYTHING is done!!

<-- contractor

 

[Doppel]

sigh. I won't be useing this company again. fuckers are slow!

Anyway still NOT done. though its about 90% done. They need to put the trim up.

They asked for the last payment (roughly $2500 ..this after nto showing up for 2.5 weeks) and got pissed when i laughed and said they won't get shit until its done. Got a phone call that they would be here today to finish.

at least the company that did the roof was fast heh.

I had a bunch of work done recently. To my surprise the contractor had no interest in a contract, which was ok for me because I paid $0 up front, so the risk was always, 100% his. In fact, I had to stay on him at the end of each week to send me the bill for the prior week's work. I could then gauge progress and was able to cut him off at the very end when budget was hit. His estimate was not bad, though, although we came in right at the top of the original one

 

[waggy]

Well done.

ALWAYS owe a contractor money until EVERYTHING is done!!

<-- contractor

we put a small deposit down. then paid 1/3rd again when he was half way. i know better then to give it all before the job is ok'd.

i'm having people (friends) that work in construction and know what he is doing. he has come over a few times to check the work and tell me what is right or wrong (had to have them correct one or two items) and how to deal with them.

he is coming over Sunday night to see if they did everything right and make sure the fallowed the contract. just costing me dinner and beer! heh

 

[BrokenVisage]

It's about time you worthless sack!

 

[waggy]

they need to trim it up and clean the floor. They didn't do floors but offered to do it but the price was insane.

after looking at teh drop down ceiling tiles i think i will replace them this summer.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Can you expand the tracking to handle 2x2 tiles instead?

There are some decent looking ceiling tiles available; generally they drop through the ceiling track by 1/4" or so, which really helps it look less industrial (it makes cut panels a lot more work though).

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Well done.

ALWAYS owe a contractor money until EVERYTHING is done!!

<-- contractor

Owing them money is not sufficient. You have to owe them more than the value of the remaining work.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Owing them money is not sufficient. You have to owe them more than the value of the remaining work.

Unless it's a LOT of work, you really only need to owe them enough for a good steak dinner. Regardless, beyond the initial deposit/start of work stage, the customer is usually 'ahead' on work, and behind on payment, until the job is done.