BASEMENT!!

When we bought our home a year-and-a-half ago, our original plan was to build a big shop in the backyard right away. We were/are going to build it with an apartment on top to bring in some rental income, so we figured the sooner we could build it, the better. But then we went through the process of trying to pull the permit with the city...and it took WAY longer than we expected...and then Hallie was born...and then covid hit...and then lumber prices skyrocked...so we reevaluated our plans and decided to finish our basement first and focus on the shop later.

We made the decision to work on the basement last fall, and the goal was to have the it finished by Christmas. Here is the timeline of how (quickly) everything happened:

Oct 15: We got a storage unit & started moving things out of the basement

Oct 19: Submitted the permit (the city said it would take 2 weeks for approval)

Oct 21: The basement was completely empty & clean

Oct 26: Lumber was delivered & Curt started framing!

Nov 14: Curt had all the framing, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC finished...and had to wait for the permit to be able to schedule the first inspection

Nov 17: We finally got the permit issued!! (and scheduled the inspection for 2 days later, haha)

Nov 19: We passed the 4-way inspection!!

Dec 1: After a week of the basement sitting (during Thanksgiving)...drywall finally started!! (the only trade we hired out)

Dec 9: Drywall finished! and Curt started working extra crazy hours, busting out all the finish work

Dec 23: Passed the final inspection!!

So Curt officially started on Oct 26, and we had the final inspection on Dec 23...which means he did it all in less than two months!!!! And even with only being able to work in the evenings and Saturdays!! He is amazing. Seriously, SO amazing. I'm so grateful for him and all his construction skills.

Here's the floorplan:

(It's so fun to think that Curt & I designed this all on our own...and now it's a reality!)

And now for the BEFORE/AFTER pictures...

Here are some progression pictures, all taken from the same angle:

Such a mess of toys & wires:

All cleaned up:

Framing:

Insulation:

Drywall:

Mudding & Taping:

Paint:

Flooring:

Trim:

And here are some time lapse videos during the process:

Insulation:

Shiplap Wall:

Flooring:

Curt documented every single day of the process on his Instagram stories, and they're all saved under his highlights. It's crazy and fun to go back to watch it all take shape, day by day!!

Finally, here are the fun "extra" projects that Curt built--he worked on these during the first few weeks of January, after the final inspection. Again, his talents and abilities are seriously so amazing.

We love, love, LOVE having our basement finished--and every day we talk about how grateful we are for it. The biggest things are probably that Curt now has a legit office to work out of (instead of having to work from our master bedroom...), and that Tucker & Calvin have a room downstairs (which moved Bronco into Hudson's room with him, and allowed Hallie to take over the boys' old room so she doesn't have to sleep in a closet anymore, haha). It's also SO nice to have the extra finished space to hang out in, and after covid is all over, we hope it will be a good place for the boys to have their friends over. Curt loves having the snack bar right outside his office, haha, and I love having the barn door to be able to close off the cold storage--it was always such an eye sore to walk down the stairs and see that first thing.

We are so grateful we had the money to be able to do this, and we're so grateful for Curt's skills that the Lord has blessed him with, that allowed him to do it all himself--which saved us a ton of money (and time!). 

We love our house!!!