Basement redo

The week we moved in to our house, there was about a foot of water in our basement. It’s an old house and I guess that’s pretty typical for this area (although being from the desert of Utah, this was a bit of a concerning thing to me). We figured we would never be able to keep anything important down there (at least not on the floor) and combined with the low ceilings, steep stairs, etc, wrote it off as much more than a dank laundry dungeon.

We knew we needed to get the radon fixed. When we had a consultation for that, the man suggested waterproofing the basement. That got the wheels turning and after about one year of simmering on it, we decided to go for it.

Here are a few before photos.

We started with installing a french drain system. Oh, and getting rid of the really awesome shower we had down there. What a sacrifice. To think we never had the chance to use it…

It got worse before it got better. Then went the framing, electrical, insulation, sheetrock, etc. Choosing the paint colors was one of the hardest parts.

We went for the green, which was a little scary at first…

And had to repaint the cabinets so they would actually be white…                                   

We were making progress and it’s amazing how something as simple as a laundry sink or a hanging bar for clothes can make you so pleased!

 

And finally after weeks, it’s practically done! Because it is a basement we didn’t try to make it the most luxurious room in the house. We painted the concrete floor and left the ceiling exposed for the sake of ceiling height (especially for Abe) but I’m pleased with the result, especially when compared to before.

 

 

So here’s the before and after results, side by side:

 

Anyone up for laundry? Now we just need to figure out what to do with the extra space.