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| SP = Sump Pump HWH = Hot Water Heater W = Washer D = Dryer |
Builders these days have gotten smarter and are placing the mechanicals near a wall so it's out of the way. Since my house was built in 1926, when it was a custom to place mechanicals in the center of the basement, I had to work around these. And since it's very costly to move mechanicals, I've been working with what I have.
My original plan was to break my basement into three rooms; a mechanical/laundry/storage room, a yoga area and a play area.
After some thinking, I didn't want to break up the basement into a bunch of little rooms. I've walked through dozens of houses and found that basements that had several little rooms felt very small and chopy. I was afraid if I split up 800 square feet into three separate rooms it might start to feel like a bunch of little rabbit holes. Instead, I chose to close off only one area for the mechanical/storage/laundry area. I would then differentiate the yoga area and the play area with two flooring options rather than a wall.
Now, imagine my rectanglular basement as a large, block letter 'L' shape that takes up about 550 square feet of the basement. The vertical length of the 'L' being the play area, and the horizontal area of the 'L' being the yoga room.
And, just for fun, here is how I plan to lay out the rooms. I struggled with what to do with my basement since I don't really need the extra space. I work out at the gym five blocks from my house and since I live alone, there wasn't much need for an extra living area.
I reset my brain to think a few years ahead. What if Justin moves in? Since this feels like my place, I want him to have a "man space" to have friends over and not have to worry about spilling something on my white rug.
What if we stay here for 5 years and start a family here? My home office is currently in the 2nd bedroom, so I would have to move my office to the basement to create space for a family.
Here is what I came up with. This plan doubles the entertainment space in my house and provides much more livable area. And I can easily convert one of these spaces to an office if life calls for it.
Besides hiring out electrical, I also hired out the drywall. I have worked with my drywall contractor for about 18 months now, and he is very good - so I worked it into the budget to hire him to install the drywall, sand and mud. It took him less than 4 hours to cut, hang, mud and sand the drywall.
About 3 weeks ago, the walls were installed. Here we are with walls and closets and doors!! This is all very exciting - it's actually starting to look like a livable area. Prior to having this wall here (below), you would walk down the stairs and see a chimney right ahead of you. And now it's hiding behind drywall. The closet straight ahead provides direct access to the front of the water heater. We made the closet wide enough to work with or remove the water heater if necessary.
Here is a view from the far corner of the play room, on the wall with the stairwell. The closet on the left provides direct access to the furnace panel. Keep in mind that both the water heater and the furnace are fully accessible in the mechanical room. These doors just provide access so that work can be done rather easily instead of trying to squeeze into a tiny space.
And below is what will be the yoga room. The door on the right provides access to the mechanical/storage/laundry room, and it is wide enough to move out a washer or dryer if need be (with out removing a door).
Here is a look at the yoga room. This makes me happy that I kept the area open rather than placing a wall here. There is quite a bit of natural light that comes in, and had I closed off this area, I would be missing out on some much needed lighting.
See the cheapo paneling on the two "old" walls in the yoga room? I thought it would look alright, so I didn't initially plan on drywalling these, but after painting and installing flooring (which you'll hear about soon) these two walls just became and eyesore in a beautiful room. An additional $50 and I can have clean walls. Worth it. So, I called back my drywaller and he is coming by Wednesday evening to drywall these last two walls.
This wall below existed before, but it wasn't finished and it also didn't go all the way to the ceiling. I had this wall re-faced to make it seamless and clean.
And there you have it. The basement is coming together pretty quickly. In case you're wondering, that carpet is getting pulled up. I am going to miss my drop cloth...it was so easy just to throw a frame on the ground and spritz it with spray paint and not worry about having to throw down a drop cloth. Then again...doubling the entertaining area in my house? Maybe it's worth it :)
Here's the updated basement to-do list.
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- Select color and paint walls
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- Install floating floor in yoga room
- Select and install carpet in play room
- Paint and install base trim
- Paint asbestos tiles (yes, PAINT!) in new laundry room
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- Create workshop with pegboard
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Mary
Just in case you missed previous steps and find out why I am completing a basement renovation, you can find that all here:
Step 1: Electrical Inspection
Step 2: Basement Plan of Action
Step 3: Remove Dropped Ceiling
Step 4: Electrical Approval
Step 5: Adding Light to the Basement
Step 7: Walls
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