Sunday, July 6th, 2008
I have been telling Laura that it just feels better to watch TV down in the basement. I explained that I always felt kind of guilty just sitting around upstairs in the living room. Having everything, “entertainment” downstairs feels much more “right.”
I must say, it’s quite comfortable down there. I set up the dehumidifier in the other room and cut additional vent holes in the wall. I also set up a fan for air circulation. Because it’s a basement, it stays much cooler than everywhere else. That, coupled with dryer air, results in a pleasant experience.
We already set up the small couch (with cover) along with the little end table. I have the lamp and phone nearby. I have the lamp on a timer so it doesn’t get forgetten about at night. I also set up all the electronics down there. We now have four speakers with some bass on the way. I still have some Circuit City gift cards I need to use up. The bass box cable is already run.
Next week, my brother is going to help me carry the large couch down stairs. Actually, we will take the couch outside and back in through the basement door. Once we get an area rug and a coffee table, I think we will be set up. Well, that and the pellet stove, which should be started at the end of this month.
Hmmm…you know, I just realized that this whole project has left a big empty living room that needs to have the floor done and walls painted. Hmmm…weird.
Related posts
Posted in Home Improvement | No Comments »
Friday, June 13th, 2008
As I am sure I have mentioned numerous times, we needed to replace the doors downstairs in the basement. There was some rot at the bottom of the framing. Just this morning, I realized why. Remember that big long post (directly below) about rain gutters? Well, it now all makes sense.
When it rains, the back gutter overflows. The water falls, hits the ground and splashes. Guess where the water hits. That’s right, the bottom of the basement door. Good thing I am working of the gutter project. These new doors are vinyl and the exposed framing is inside the house, so that should help things.
I had Lowe’s do the install. Actually, it was a contractor that works with Lowe’s. I was a little nervous about the whole thing because I really didn’t know how good a Lowe’s contractor could really be. I have zero experience with them. It ends up that this guy did a better job than I ever expected.
This is the old door. I removed the door knob and all the other goodies I put on it, like the automatic closer. These were French doors. I don’t really like French doors because they are a bit more difficult to deal with. There were no screens on these and I kept thinking they were going to open by themselves. I really like the sliding glass door we had installed.
This is the rot at the bottom of the door. This and the fact that one of the outer panes of glass was broken prompted the replacement.
These are some photos of the installation. A nice guy who immigrated from Poland about 20 years ago did it. We talked about Communism and Socialism and all that stuff. It was pretty fun. We talked about the ups and downs of different types of government. He said he really loves this county and there is no other like it anywhere. See, I even found a little first hand education in the process.
When you make an appointment to have a Lowe’s contractor come out to measure the job, they also take note of any extra work that needs to be done. Since this door is a few inches shy of the previous door, there was some work that needed to be done. When Lowe’s calls you the next day to give you the price on the job, they give the price for the materials, the standard installation and any extra work. In this case, the extra work cost over $500. That was more than the installation price.
When he was here, he kept telling me that he was going to make it look nice. After I got the price, I was wondering what in the world could be costing an extra $500. After he finished up, it appears that he did all the trim on the inside. He did all the caulking and waterproofing too. This stuff, plus the reframing of everything was the cause of the extra money. He even got rid of all the junk. I was pretty impressed.
Overall, the installation was a bit pricey (probably double of what it should’ve been), but it is a complete job. All I need to do it paint up the trim on the inside. I would definitely use the service Lowe’s offers again and probably ask for this installer.
Related posts
Posted in Home Improvement | No Comments »
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Just a few minutes ago, I finished painting the basement. I feel like this is breaking news or something. Well, with the way I dread painting, I feel like it should be some sort of news.
I have been doing a little bit each day…chipping away at it. Luckily, the walls were in great shape. There were some pin-holes here and there, but no real spackling. I didn’t even have to sand, I just used a wet sponge. That is so sweet.
For this painting project, we bought two gallons of color and one gallon of white. When I began to paint, I noticed that I was going through the color pretty fast. I also noticed that I had no idea how much white I was going to use. We went back to the store and grabbed two more gallons of color and one more gallon of white. Now that the project is done, I have exactly two extra gallons of color and one and a half of white. Isn’t that funny? Not really. Now I have to decide which room gets to be the same color as the basement. I think my office may benefit.
It’s not too much of a change from what was here before. Just a slightly different color. I also changed the trim and doors to white. I love that contrast. It looks soooo HGTV.
The door guy is coming (hopefully) this week to replace the basement door. Also, the tile guy is coming out on Wednesday to give me a price on doing the floor. If everything goes smoothly, we should have a brand new basement in a few weeks. Then, I can call the pellet stove place and have that whole thing set up.
I wonder if I am the only guy on the planet thinking of a pellet stove when it’s 94 degrees outside.
Related posts
Posted in Home Improvement | No Comments »
