Well, after much more time than I had anticipated, my winter project is done. A quick background is necessary on why I did this. When we bought this home two years ago, we saw potential in the basement/workshop that had a walk-out access, but for whatever reason, there was never an access to it from in the house. Since this is where my woodstove is, my tools (at the moment), and all of my archery gear, and storage for a variety of household items, it only made sense to have an access from the inside (not to mention helping heat get into the house in the winter better). So, my dad and I thought about, and considered where the best possible location would be for an access point from within the house, and we decided that putting it down along the back wall of the basement where the crawl space began would work out nicely, and put the stairway in a convenient location within the kitchen. A year ago, my dad had stumbled upon a great deal on a frefabbed set of yellow pine bull nose stairs, so we didn't even have to fab stringers or treads. We started work in January of this year, and while this isn't a perfect turnout, I'm pretty happy with the final results. I didn't document every stage, but it's interesting to see the transition in the pictures. Quick rundown of what was done: -Hole cut in kitchen floor, subfloor, and floor joists -Interior/Exterior walls framed for stairwell -Landing building and laminate flooring installed -Insulation installed -Crawl Space Doors Built -Lots of trim -Drywallwed interior/exterior walls in basement & ceiling in first section -Installed new lighting underneath stairs and over first section of basement -Rewired basement for several three-way switches to control new lighting -New PEX line and shutoff valve installed for plumbing that was moved -Lighting installed in crawl space -Closet framed upstairs where interior wall was cleared for headroom -Oak Handrail installed upstairs -Relocation of thermostats Here's where I started taking pictures: Interior stairwell wall framed, and staircase temporarily in position (no opening cut yet) Another view: Looking up to the kitchen subfloor: Exterior wall framed and landing in place: Dad hard at work: Hole cut in the floor and into the interior wall for headroom. The other side of that wall would eventually become a closet. I let my dad make the first cut so if he messed up, it was on him:D I made the second where the closet is. A view looking up to the kitchen (we left the joists purposely long so we could trim to final length when we figured out how were were going to trim out. Looking down the stairs from the eventual closet side. Temporary railing in during construction so no one falls through (does it get any more redneck?):
Closet framing on the other side of the stairs: Shot looking into the closet from the garage entry: At this point, I really stopped documenting, so we'll skip basically to the finish: Shots of the finished upstairs (railings in, new electrical, drywall, and paint): Looking down the stairs (stained and finished and trim all installed): Looking up the stairs: Downstairs finished:
We built two crawl space openings. One under the stairs and one on the landing of the stairs. Pretty happy with how this turned out: Looking into the crawl space (radon system was installed this winter as well...cleaned up nicely for storage): Finally, the closet upstairs finished: All in all, I'm very happy with how it turned out, although there are certainly imperfections. I think having the access should help the value of the home, but more importantly, I don't have to walk outside every time I need something down there! Thanks for letting me share.
Nice work Matt!!! I love the mirror, that is just plain AWESOME.... I'm a big fan of ANGLES, so that really gets me. I did all of my decking (all 1800 sq. ft) in 45* angled cuts because I like the look of it so well. You've done a very nice job, your wife should be happy. ERR-UH...Angled window.... I thought it was a mirror at first, still awesome, angles make things look better....
Great job and really nice upgrade to your home. OHbowhntr; I believe what you are looking at is a cut-out in the wall, not a mirror. Unless you are looking at something else that I am missing.?
Nice work! Looks good and much more practical with inside access. Two houses ago, I bought a house that had no stairs going into the basement. Just a hole in the floor and a step-ladder. A crappy step-ladder at that. Made doing laundry a bit of a workout. We did put stairs in, and then put a big old upright freezer down in the basement. Then when we drywalled, the freezer was too big to get back out in one piece. So when we put the house up for sale we said the freezer could come with the house. It had a bad latch tho', so we put a chain around it to keep people from opening it. Gotta wonder what the buyers thought when they went into the basement and there was a freezer with a log chain locking it shut. :D
Looks nice... If you two have children, how do you plan to block that staircase off? Your newel post is within your staircase opening. A baby gate wouldn't really work there since the gate would not be able to rest on the floor.
This stuff impresses me because handywork is something I suck at. Mostly, due to a lack of motivation. Now how about you come to my house and finish the basement?
Nicely done, but I'll echo Buckeye's question as well. It was the first thing I thought when I saw the finished product. We just tore down a wall in my house to expand our kitchen. I'll post some pictures as we move further along. Nothing is more horrifying than tearing down a wall in an old house, IMO. Luckily we didn't find too many surprises. Not to steal your thread or anything, but I guess I'll use this thread to post (show off) a few of my recent projects as well. Me and the wife are slightly obsesses with the natural texture of burlap, so it is prominent throughout the house. We bought several old burlap coffee sacks from some Mexican on the side of the road for $1. Here are a few things we made with the sacks: Pillow I wrapped the sack around a canvas: This was an old boring, dark stained cedar chest. So I painted white, then distressed, then we upholstered the top with another burlap sack: A few other projects: Table made by me and my Dad out of old barn wood: Our new bed that my wife designed, and built by me and my Dad: The middle boards are from the original community post office that was located on my parent's property. Solid pine. I'm quite proud of myself for building this cabinet. My first: Painted, then distressed for a bit of character:
Thanks, guys. OHbowhntr, that angled cutout isn't a mirror, it's just an opening in the stairway. I have to put in door stop material and build a panel door for there during the summer, and will be removed during the winter to allow more heat up into the main part of the house (unless you were talking about the mirror at the top of the stairs:D Buckeye, no plans on having kids in this house, or possibly ever , but if I do, I'll either custom build one, or there's always these: Or mount one like this (if I wanted to minimize the gap): http://images.buzzillions.com/images_customers/08/57/2711070_36437_full.jpg
Ahh.... Being a teacher I could see your reasoning for not wanting kids.... I never liked kids until I had one of my own. Funny how it softens you up... When I look at other little kids I no longer see loud, little nose picking dirt balls like I used to
Awesome! I would love to be able to do stuff like that. Do you do side work in the State College area?!!
Matt. Seriously, you've done an awesome job with that house. Does this mean you are free for work on mine? Kids.......don't count yourself out. It's totally worth it.
Scott, yeah I say no kids, but I know we'll have them.:D David, what's a permit? Fatsbucknut, thanks. I'm booked solid this summer:D I'm waiting for the weather to break so I can start excavating for the rest of the patio, and I need to rebuild the deck and possibly put a roof over it yet. Ben, thanks, bud. If you can somehow find a way to finish my summer projects early, I'm free:D Crick, thanks!
