Basement finishing COMPLETED!!!

[Chris (SilverUnicorn)]

Sure, we are amateurs. Sure, there are some areas that could be better. Sure, it took almost 4 years to finish. Sure we hired a contractor to do the drop ceiling. We know when we're over our hrad. Sure that contractor went crazy because my walls were not perfectly plumb. Sure I should have posted this a year and a half ago when it was actually completed ;)

Sure was worth it though! Criticize if you'd like, but I am very happy with the finished product. I will try to get more photos but here you go....lots of "along the way" photos for your viewing enjoyment.

My wife and I did everything except the electrical, soffits around the HVAC, and the drop ceiling. It's not perfect, but that's okay. We get lots of use and enjoyment from the space. I honestly thought I posted this before, but I guess I forgot :(

And we got a pool table for the room as well :)

We will get a bar for the bump-out area at some point, but for now, that is not a priority (since I have a beer fridge :))

Thanks for looking!

Chris

[benick]

Great job...As long as you're happy to hell with what others say...Thanks for posting back with the final product...Not many do...

[hrhofmann]

Looks great. What was the final finish of the floor, couldn't tell from the photos? Good-looking pinball machines.

[Chris (SilverUnicorn)]

Thanks :)

We are enjoying it alot.

Chris

[Chris (SilverUnicorn)]

.

Thank you again.

The floor is Mohawk laminate flooring. Went together great, and was $2 per square foot. Thanks for the comments on the pinball machines. I really enjoy them. It's an expensive hobby though :(

Chris

[Jay-T]

I am just curious...., are the bottom plates under the studs pressure treated lumber? They appear different in color than the studs. And how are they anchored to the basement floor? I am curious because I am thinking of doing a similar project and I am wondering what the correct way to do that part of the construction is.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Uh, we all are to do that job.

Good job for the rest of it though.

[Chris (SilverUnicorn)]

The sill plates are pressure treated. We anchored them to the concrete floor with Ramset fastners (powder charged).

Chris

[Chris (SilverUnicorn)]

Thanks. Not sure what you meant in the first line though :(

Chris

[Red Green]

"Chris (SilverUnicorn)" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

If you have the "Indian" machine that was at my tech college, I want your address.

[Lp1331 1p1331]

Looks great! It's huge. How many SF you got there? Now you have to get some "pot passers" and "meat stabbers" for your "fancy eatin table"(: You want an old Tx license plate- late 40s- early 50s- to add to your collection? I have some-- a basment warming gift. Larry

[Mike]

Awesome pictures. In one one of the pics, there were 2 guys and a lady. I assume one guy and the lady were you and wifey. Was the other guy from a show on the Food Network?

Mike

[Chris (SilverUnicorn)]

Thanks Larry. It si about 850 square feet all together.

Yes, it is. I am not sure how that picture got in the mix, but it's definately not in our basement, LOL. The picture is my wife and I with Alton Brown from the Food Network (I am on the left, he is in the middle). He is the host of "Good Eats" and "Iron Chef America". REALLY nice guy.

Chris

[Jay-T]

Thanks. I have heard people say that pressure treated lumber cannot be used on indoors construction. But it would make sense to me to use pressure treated for the sill plates along the bottom of walls in a basement since it is in contact with the ground/cement.

I wonder about termite access, so that using pressure treated lumber seems to be one way to help prevent that. Also, I wonder if there would be any benefit to putting tar paper or another type of barrier between the sill plate and the concrete floor. And, I wonder if the fasteners cause cracks or potential access points for termites, and maybe some type of tar papaer or other barrier would help in that regard.

[Tony]

Hello old friend! Nice job and I was just waiting to see the pins of course. If you hadn't heard I've been down in TN for about 5 years now. Not many pins down here but when I visit PA I usually have a few jobs lined up within a small group of *special* customers. Too bad you learned how to fix your own, I can't make any money off you anymore!!! ;-) Glad to see you have such a nice basement and especially the pins and the pool table! (pool table looks like very good quality)

Tony

[aemeijers]

Back in the olden days, before inspectors even looked at the 'finishing' in the basement, we often left the walls floating, counting on an anchored end, an 'L' in the wall, or a buried lally column, to hold them in place. Made later changes a lot easier. Not saying it was right, mind you, but it was common, and seldom caused any problems. Of course, basements were small then, and these were just dividing walls, not a studded out outer wall. Nobody did that back then. They were also paneling, not drywall, which was not used below grade when I was a wee lad, leastways not that I ever saw.

-- aem sends...

[Phisherman]

I used PT lumber on my concrete basement floor and against an underground poured concrete wall. I used Liquid Nails and a minimum of those expensive blue concrete screws, maybe one every 2-3 feet. I constructed the walls on the floor (the job went faster this way, no toe-nailing required and you are guaranteed the wall will be as flat as the floor), then glued/screwed the wall into the ceiling joints, bottom PT plate and PT wall studs.