Basement Transformation

jphillip5

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For about 3 years now, I've been transforming half of my unfinished basement into a bar/kitchen area, tv area and game room. I didn't really accomplish much unitl about October when I really kicked it into gear. Here's some pictures of the framing:

This will be the game area:

storage_room_wall_1.jpg


windows_wall.jpg


exterior_wall_1.jpg


This will be the TV area:

exterior_wall_2.jpg


The far side of the pole will be the bar/kitchen area:

stairway.jpg


And yes, the cheesy ceiling fans will be removed!
 
I put down a subfloor with a layer of Platon underneath. The Platon raises the floor off the concrete and allows air to circulate. It's similar to dri-core but much cheaper. You get a little better space definition in the pictures:

Bar area:

bar_area_drywall.jpg


bar_area_drywall_2.jpg


TV area:

tv_area_drywall.jpg


Game area:

game_area_1_drywall.jpg


game_area_2_drywall.jpg
 
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Drywall taped, sanded and primed and ceiling texture applied:

Bar area:

bar_area_primed.jpg


TV area:

tv_area_primed.jpg


Game area:

game_area_1_primed.jpg


game_area_2_primed.jpg


Ceiling texture:

ceiling_speaker.jpg


I should be painting the walls this weekend. And hopefully starting the floor the following. I've struggled with a flooring choice but finally decided to go with Pergo. This to be exact.
 
That is quite a change around. Plus I noticed that your window there is pretty big for a basement, its almost like its just the first floor.
 
Jealous!, I've got a pretty big basement, Prolly around 800 sqft, But the ceilings are so low, that even if i finished the floor/walls, I'd never be able to do the ceiling. I want to do a game room down there, But just can't figure out a way to make it look nice with the exposed ceiling, There is a 400+ SqFt room down there that would be Perfect, but I have to deal with the ceiling height, Moisture and heat first.
 
Basement gameroom

Looks great,

Got a sump? Def get a backup if you do, vacuum kind. Mine has been put to the test and worked fine. I just put a generator box on the house to avoid the issue anymore.

Basements are great as bonus rooms
 
Looks great,

Got a sump? Def get a backup if you do, vacuum kind. Mine has been put to the test and worked fine. I just put a generator box on the house to avoid the issue anymore.

Basements are great as bonus rooms

Yep, got a sump pump with a battery backup. Just replaced the sump itself last year. I test the battery backup every 6 months. There's also a floor drain about 4 feet away from the sump pump that goes into the ejector pit.
 
Yep, got a sump pump with a battery backup. Just replaced the sump itself last year. I test the battery backup every 6 months. There's also a floor drain about 4 feet away from the sump pump that goes into the ejector pit.

Sweet almost time for these?
 

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Looking good, I like to see others work/progress. I've been doing my basement off and on for the past month. Finally started drywalling the ceiling last night. At my buddy's advice I ran speaker wire through there first, glad he mentioned it. It would be a total pain in the ass to try to do it later.
 
Drywalling ceilings suck big time. Been there done that. Now I'm working on finishing the attic. I still haven't figured how I'm going to do drywall at an angle!
 
Drywalling ceilings suck big time. Been there done that. Now I'm working on finishing the attic. I still haven't figured how I'm going to do drywall at an angle!

Next to flooring, what to do with the ceiling was a big decision. I just don't like the look of suspended ceilings other than the very pricey designs. With that, it came down to cost.

Hanging it is a #!(#@$. Shooting the texture was a mess (lots of plastic)! There are no pipes in the bar/tv area. I wanted to put the games on that side of the basement but had to make some concessions with my wife. If there are issues with the plumbing at some point, all of the pipes are contained in the soffit area.
 
Drywalling ceilings suck big time. Been there done that. Now I'm working on finishing the attic. I still haven't figured how I'm going to do drywall at an angle!

I'm confused, how is installing on an angle different than installing on a normal ceiling? If you aren't using a lift, you should be.
 
We rented one for the basement. Didn't know it could go at an angle, but if it can, then that's what we'll be using! However, I'm at least 6 months away from doing that. I'm just passing time during the winter by laying down 3/4" flooring for additional storage at the moment.
 
I used the poor man's drywall lift. Two ladders, two buddies, two 2x4 braces and a case of beer. Buddies lift drywall to ceiling while you put up 2x4 braces. Buddies then drink beer while you secure the drywall in place. :)
 
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How long until the tv area becomes more game area? :D

I need a few more pins! Only have one and it's in rough shape. I'll probably take over the bar area first...the TV area gets the newer games (xbox and wii).
 
Looking good!

Do you have outside access to that area? I imagine hauling games down the stairs and making that turn would be a major pain in the ass.
 
Looking good!

Do you have outside access to that area? I imagine hauling games down the stairs and making that turn would be a major pain in the ass.

Unfortunately, no basement access other than the window and stairs. The full wall along the stairs used to extend much further until I angled it back. Look at the last picture in my first post and second picture in the second post.

Getting games down isn't too bad. I haven't found anything that I can't swing around the corner after making the cosmetic changes to the wall. Usually, I take the monitor and all the heavy parts out of the cabinet in the garage to make it as light as possible. I then recruit a buddy to help carry it down (see beer comment above). It's easier to swing manually than with a dolly.

I can guarantee that I will never own a cockpit or sit down driver..... (at least not in this house and my next move is to the old folks home or a vase on the mantle) :(
 
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I used the poor man's drywall lift. Two ladders, two buddies, two 2x4 braces and a case of beer. Buddies lift drywall to ceiling while you put up 2x4 braces. Buddies then drink beer while you secure the drywall in place. :)

I've used this method of construction many many times...
 
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