Basement Remodel - Part 1

When we purchased our house a few years back we were excited about our basement and possibilities of it! It had a large living area, 1 bedroom and a 1/2 bath. 

 

When we moved it, we did not do anything to the basement area except put in furniture. 

Through the last two years this space has been utilized in different ways. 

Overall, the space was fine. And functional. It was pretty dark....and cold. But it was usable.

Nik and I saw potential for the space - a few different ways - but we were not completely sure how to make it a reality or when the right time was to make changes. 

As you know, we are still completing some projects upstairs and have plans for more :)

Well, 2021 was the right time!

For the past few months Nik and I noticed some new cracks and felt like the house was shifting some. After talking to a few neighbors with the same problems, we decided to have it looked at. We had a foundation company take a look (yes, the house had shifted) and give us a quote to place piers in our basement to stabilize the house.

In order for the company to place the piers, we had to do a a little demo. The flooring had to come up (carpet) and the bottom of the walls had to come down (paneling).

  

Our wonderful friends, Rusty and Diane, were here to walk with us through this project. By "walk with us" I really mean - help think through what would work, and actually do (a ton) of work alongside (and even without) Nik and I. Pretty great, huh? 

We all had our "normal jobs" we had to do, plus parent and make sure our two kiddos were fed (for the record: we only forgot to feed them once!) and this was a pretty big undertaking. But we all did what we could, when we could. There were some bumps and changes along the way...but we are a great team and we taught/learned from each other along the way. And laughed. And made messes (have you seen Diane and I paint?!)

All that to say, we now we have a beautiful, bright, functional "apartment" in our basement! It is one bedroom, 1 bath with a living and office space. 

Currently, Rusty and Diane are residing in the new "apartment". (For those of you who do not know, they are missionaries and will be eventually headed back overseas, since getting stuck here during the pandemic). We love having them as "housemates" for the time being though!

 Over the next few blog posts I will show you the space - stay tuned!