Ron Patton's Basement Transformation

 

 

Framing

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The back walls of the basement are underground so they're concrete. This required covering them with plastic (to prevent moisture from coming through) and then building a wall in front of them. Insulation went in later.

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This is the bathroom. The vanity is sitting there as a sanity check to make sure it will still fit once the sheetrock goes up.

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Ever wonder why your house is dusty? Some existing sheetrock had to be torn off and this is what was found behind it! Actually there was much more than this. Over time the small particles get sucked into your heating system and them blown throughout your house.

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Pinball machine will go in this corner.

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The phone booth goes in here.

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Back wall of the "lobby".

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Big double-door closet at the end of the room.

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Had to box in the ductwork. 73 2x2's!

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Some tricky soffits.

MVC-374F.JPG (61340 bytes) Completed soffit.
MVC-373F.JPG (60127 bytes) Oh, this existing wall must have been built with the cheapest 2x6's they could find. Ron's shown putting spacers on the studs to straighten them out. Some were 3/4" out of straight!

 

Once the beam was in place framing could begin.

There weren't any real surprises here, other than just how much work was involved.  Unlike in a new house where there's lots of room to work and no existing plumbing or electrical, building these walls took a bit more planning.