I’ve been blogging about basements, basement ideas and basement finishing for more than a year now and I thought I’d seen everything.
My basement ideas Pinterest page has 30+ boards and over 240 pins, but I’ve never seen this done.
Big props to Tony for sharing this idea and the photos – this is his handy work [click to continue…]
Finishing my basement would have been quite a bit easier with this.
The tape measure(er). Wait, is it tape measure OR tape measurer?
Regardless, it’s a fun but frustrating little device. It never seems to be quite right.
When I was finishing my basement I would measure a 2 x 4 then walk to my cutting station and mumble to myself something like “80inches and 4 ticks plus a hair”.
I’d say it over and over instead of writing it down ’cause I’m lazy and always forgot my pencil. “4 ticks plus a hair” – what the hell does that mean?
Of course, each of those little tick marks has a name and I feel like a total dumbass when I can’t remember what those names are, especially when another dude is around. [click to continue…]
Even though this website is all about finishing your basement with your own two hands of glory… I completely understand that not every wants to do this.
So I hope this will be the first of many “virtual basement tours” where you can learn first hand the good, the bad and the ugly in the world of basement finishing projects.
This first tour hits close to home because in a way, it is home! I’ve slept in this basement many times, it’s my parent’s basement!
Here’s a tour of their basement. Hi Mom! Hi Dad!
They finished their 700 square foot basement for about $38,000. My parent’s basement took about 8 weeks to complete. If that’s sounds a little steep for just 700 square feet, hang with me till the end, they had some unique issues to deal with – one of which required a saw blade that was the size of an oven door.
My Mom first saw the company they eventually used in the local paper and some of those advertising inserts. Their website had a lot of good reviews and they [click to continue…]
Maybe you’re thinking;
“I can’t really finish my basement on my own, because I don’t know how to do electrical stuff. I don’t even know what wire to buy!”
You say “stuff” because you really don’t have a clue what it’s all about.
Well… I would say back to you - “That’s a really lame excuse.” You haven’t even investigated it yet.
You haven’t read an article like this that reveals to you this 1 simple fact:
14/2 – The White Wire – used for wiring lights and light switches
12/2 – The Yellow Wire – used to wire plugs
14/3 – Same as 14/2 but with an extra red wire in it so you can control the same lights with 2 different switches (like for hallways and stairs) [click to continue…]
How many recessed lights do you need for your finished basement? That’s what you’re wondering. Right?
I thought about scouring the internet for that perfect illumination calculator that GE probably built. I’m sure it has some crazy complicated math that hinges on the light spectrum, what phase the moon is in and the color your eyes… but then I thought, “F” that.
I’m going to shoot a video of me, walking around my basement, showing you how many recessed lights I put in and where I put them and then I’m going to give you 5 awesome tips to help you finish your basement with recessed lighting.
Here’s the video
The truth is that there is no universal basement lighting truth. Everybody has an opinion and to a degree they’re all kind of right.
So please allow me to sprinkle some of my insights into your basement dreams and desires (in regards to lighting). These aren’t the end all be all - these are just 5 rules of thumb to consider when designing your lighting. If you follow these, you’ll be pretty happy with how things turn out. [click to continue…]
