In November we started shooting for finishing the basement by Christmas. We knew it was a long shot, but decided it couldn't hurt to shoot for the stars. We didn't make it, but there was a ton of progress:
The framing was finished (with a few small exceptions) with special thanks to Mike Ritchie, Dad J, and Nate. After it was finished we had an electrician (Mike's old home teaching companion, Beecher) come in and wire everything up for us. The plumbers also came back to rough in the fixtures for us. While they were there I had a whole new list of things I wanted done before we closed up the basement, so they also added a culinary water line to outside, a gas line to the stove area, a gas line to the dryer's new location, moved our water shut off for the house, and a few other things.
After all that stuff was done, we got to insulation.
We didn't do the insulation ourselves- it cost less to buy it from an insulation company and have them install it for us than it would have been for us to buy just the insulation. Anyway, the difference in the basement once it had insulation was crazy. It was warmer than upstairs and was so un-echoey that I kept feeling like I needed to pop my ears whenever I went down there.
I realize the name of this post is "December: the house addition," but I think I may as well go on through what we've done so far this year.
In January there was sheet rock by Mike Ritchie. He deemed my Mike incapable of lining up the screws well enough, so we were just his helpers. So thankful he was so awesome and knew everything about what he was doing. It would have taken just Mike and I FOREVER.
 |
| {Mim's room and closet.} |
We were set back a little bit in sheet rocking the last wall when we discovered a leak from a crack in our foundation. Luckily my parents pointed us in the direction of a pretty simple and inexpensive solution. A foundation repair company came and forced a poly-something plastic through the crack from the inside under pressure. And voilà- fixed. Good thing the weather was so weird and cruddy; it melted enough that there was a pool of water right against the crack and that's why it leaked. If we had had normal weather, it wouldn't have leaked until spring, after we finished everything. I can't even imagine what a headache that would have been.
 |
| {The plastic stuff is that grey stuff on the concrete.} |
The day after the leak was fixed and the last wall installed the mudders and tapers came.
 |
| {Textured.} |
The day after they were finished texturing, we had our bannister installed.
 |
| {I know the craftsman style posts are much more popular right now, but it just didn't seem right for the house. Plus, now this little ball finial matches all the ones on the fence outside.} |
The stairs are still crazy steep, but they seem much safer thanks to the railings. I can let Mim go down by herself now without worrying that she'll somehow fall sideways off the edge and onto the cement below.
So, now our new much-too-ambitious goal is to be done by our anniversary on the 15th. We've started priming and hopefully that will be done in a few days. Next will be painting (ceiling, walls, trim), then tiling (bathroom walls, then floor), then installing trim, then having the carpet guys come. Like, I said, way too ambitious, but I don't even care. It might not be by then, but it will be soon!
