Our Home > Renovations > Ground Floor
We have decided that our "basement" should no longer be called that - after all it is was never really below ground, and now it is not dark, damp or dingy. So, we are going with "Garden Level" or the "Ground Floor" as the next floor up is still the Main Floor of the house. Whatever we call it, we have a lot of work ahead to turn it into something useful...
Saturday January 7th, 2006
Well, that was how it looked back in August, when the new floor had just been poured. Unfortunately, now being the middle of a very, very wet winter, by the time we started working in here the ground floor looked more like this, as storing construction materials outside was just out of the question!
So, the aim is not to have to move the piles of materials more times than essential!
Anyway, at long last (after months of cold outdoor work) it's finally time to get to work on the sub-floor...
Sunday February 5th
After a couple of weekends doing more fun things (skiing, hosting visitors), we are finally on a roll (having moved all the materials for the last time!) and things are coming along quickly on the subfloor
Sunday February 26th
A few more weekends at it, and the subfloor is finished!
Then March and April passed us by completely, with Glenn too busy
with work during March, and both of us off on vacation in April...Sunday May 28th
A few weekends of reworking some of our heating and cold air ducting lets us optimize our drop-ceiling profile in the basement. Meanwhile, Glenn has become a sheet metal pro, has taken out the walls from our old chimney, framed the extension to our main floor bathroom, rerouted the hot air trunk to the attic, and moved heat and cold air utilities out of walls on the main floor we want to demolish later... Sometimes finishing the ground floor can have some unexpected side detours along the way!
It's a little hard to tell what is what in this photo, as the shiny new heating trunk (behind the second stud) is reflecting the door frame and wall colour, and in the corner behind the wall frame, we have put in some cheap ply panel to cover the dirty old framing from inside the chimney. The floor and ceiling panels help you to see where the chimney used to be...
Saturday June 17th
Finally finished on the duct work, and on to framing,
with the new bathroom starting to take shape...
Saturday July 8th
With a few more weekends work, framing of the bathroom (right) and bedroom (with closet) are completed, and the central vacuum has been extended for an outlet on this floor...
Sunday July 16th
In the back corner, with some framing, insulation and a little bit of drywall in place, we're set to start building our new stairs down from the main floor!
Saturday July 22nd
With two days off work during the week, by Saturday lunchtime the stairs are done! (At least for now - we will be putting in proper oak treads and risers later, when everything else is finished...)
Sunday September 10
Well, August sped by, as we finished up minor framing details, and did a bunch of retrofit work on the electrical to separate existing wiring for upstairs that needed stay, from wiring on the ground floor that needed to be ripped out. Then we had to go out and find and buy all our lights. Finally, it is time to start all the new electrical wiring...
Saturday September 16
Here is how to mock up a bed in the new bedroom, to help visualize where to install the lights...
Sunday October 22
Still working on wiring! Trust us, we are going to have no shortage of light, sound, phone, video and data in this house...
Meanwhile, Mum & Dad are here visiting from Melbourne and are keen to help out. So they were able to make a good start on the insulation for us...
Sunday November 4
Details, details, details! To completely wrap up all the different parts of the process that have to be finished before the vapour barrier and drywall go in, it is amazing the number of fiddly little details that have to be dealt with - especially when you are preparing for future upstairs renovations before closing in the ceilings downstairs! November and December ended up being a painful drag of finishing up details - things that had been left on the "to do" list as they didn't need to be done right away, but now just had to be done...
Saturday December 16
While Glenn was working the technical details, Theresa was able to finish all of the insulating, right down to pipe insulation on our hot water pipes...
Monday December 18
Working overtime (not Saturday or Sunday) to try to make some progress, Glenn is wrapping the floor up with nice red tape for Christmas! No, not just for fun - a required part of the vapour barrier system...
This is a big weekend for us, having gotten sign-offs from the City building and plumbing inspectors during the week that we are "OK to cover" everything, and can start to drywall. The bathroom is first up, with Theresa cutting out the opening for our recessed medicine cabinet...
Meanwhile, on the inside of the room, things are coming along well...
Saturday & Sunday January 20 & 21
Our bathroom cabinets are ready early, and waiting in a friend's storeroom to be installed. So, we had someone come in to tape and finish the bathroom drywall during the week, and suddenly we are on to painting...
Saturday February 10
So, we got everything done in time for the cabinet installer to come and install our bathroom cabinets. (The countertop will come later.)
We have also been able to install our "art" glass window in the bathroom, to give some natural light to this interior room. It really is great to see things coming together at long last!
After a weekend off to relax and ski at Whistler, we are now into the second weekend of hanging drywall for the rest of the ground floor. The ceilings are just about done, with huge help from renting a lifter to help get the 75 lb panels up and overhead safely...
And here is a solution to laying a level ceiling on the underside of a sloped porch...
Sunday February 18
With the ceilings done, it is time to get started hanging the walls - starting with our new bedroom closet...
Sunday March 4
After 2 more weekends of work, things are really moving along, and the walls are all in on our new rec. room and front door...
Tuesday May 29
Yes, that's right, suddenly 2.5 months have passed with virtually no progress at all! In March, Glenn was working crazy hours at the office. In April, we were away in Cuba and Mexico for a very well-needed rest, then a few more crazy weeks at work for Glenn once we got back...
But back in early March, we had managed to get the tile-setter in to do the bathroom tile work. After that suddenly it is the end of May before we finally have the time to do the last couple of hours work required after tiling but before having the plumber back to finish the bathroom installation, before we can put up the last four sheets of drywall, before we can have someone come in and mud and tape the drywall for us!!! Anyway, eventually we got back on track, and the bathroom installation was finished (after which it became the new place to store all our supplies). We still have to install the shower curtain rail, which is parked in our dining room...
Saturday June 2
Hardly a flattering photo, but Glenn manages to get the electrical finished and the motor installed to get our new jet tub working!!! Woo-hoo!!!
Then the last drywall sheets went up outside the bathroom...
And finally we were ready for someone to come to tape and mud for us...
Of course, it took a couple of weeks to find someone available, and then the work was actually done while we were in New Orleans, so no "in progress" photos of the drywall guys. But when we got back, it was all done and smooth (and dusty)...
After a couple of days to clean up, it was finally time to get painting!!
Even just getting the primer on is enough to make things start to look somewhat finished...
(No, that's not colour on the wall yet, just different light colour.)
Sunday July 15
Suddenly we are rocking along again at great speed, enthused by seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (and the colours on the walls)! With Theresa painting some weekdays, and up both working on things in the evenings, two weeks later the laundry is done, complete with working lights, power, and new appliances that had been sitting in our garage for six months...
Plus, the bedroom is almost finished in terms of painting, and Glenn is working on the lighting there...
Plus, the ceilings are painted in the rec. room, and Theresa is getting a good start on the walls there...
With one coat finished by the end of the day...
Wow, after months of snail-like progress, it is great to be moving along so fast!!
BC Day Long Weekend: August 4-6th
With all the walls painted, it is time to start on the floors. The bedroom is the first room to get the finishing treatment. Flooring is a slow process to get started, and by Sunday night Glenn was happy just to have all the guide lines squared off between the different rooms on this floor, and to have the first half dozen rows of flooring down in the bedroom...
But, by Monday evening, the bedroom floor is finished, and looking great!
And just in time, because the next day, installers were coming to put in our bedroom closet...
Tuesday September 4th
Unfortunately, our brand new floor suffered some damage at the hands of the closet installer, which is one reason we prefer to do things ourselves rather than deal with the stress of tradespeople. But the closet company was good about it, and we hired a hardwood company to come in and replace the damaged area. But that slowed things down once again.
For Labour Day, we made it an extended long weekend, as we are really down to the very short strokes on the bedroom. We feel like we are going around in ever decreasing circles, filling nail holes and patching and painting the few dings our wall have suffered since they were painted.
Over the weekend, we have completed the last area of flooring in the bedroom, and extended the floor to the bathroom and out into the rec. room to give us "seam free" floor throughout...
...installed our oak ledges in the bedroom, the second external window frame, the last of our bedroom lighting, and most of the baseboards...
...and installed both doors for the bedroom...
We have a few pieces of trim left to do during the evenings this week, and then next weekend we are moving downstairs - at long last!!!
Sunday September 9th
Well, it was a really big day for us today! After a busy weekend painting doors and touching up nail holes in the trim, by late afternoon Sunday, our bedroom was finished enough that we actually moved in!!! Three years after drawing up our plans for the ground floor, and probably about five years after first talking about raising the house, we finally have a beautiful new bedroom!!!
Summer 2008
And to wrap things up, here is a shot of the great security bars we had made for the front window on our bedroom...
