Creating Basement Living Space

With so many people working from home, having additional living space is a priority for many homeowners.  No one really wants to do a zoom call with their bed in the background.  It's so much nicer if there is a dedicated space with a door that closes to keep everything quiet.  We have a nice big, dry basement that can provide some great office space. 

But it's an interesting challenge to figure out how to best utilize the space.

The biggest challenge in the staircase.  The steps are NOT to building code.  They're not even close.  They're very narrow and steep and pretty scary!

But it's not easy to figure out how to fix them.  Option 1 - extend them into the kitchen to make them safer.  But losing a couple of feet would dramatically alter our kitchen plan and make it much less desirable.  Option 2 - leave the steep steps from the kitchen to the landing for the exterior door and update the lower part of the staircase to be code compliant.  But honestly, it's really not safe for any of the steps to be left as is.

Which brings us to Option 3 - which I know is going to be controversial.  We are going to remove the door to the exterior.  Normally I would be loath to remove a door from the basement.  But this door is on the far side of the house, away from the driveway (oddly, it's next to the neighbor's driveway).  This isn't a door that would be used frequently, probably just on rare occasions.  And the landing when you come in the door is very small, so it's not particularly helpful for bringing in large items.  So reluctantly, we've decided it has to go.  That way a safe stairway can be properly installed.  The silver lining is that we will replace it with a window that will bring more sunlight into the basement.

End of life furnace has been removed

Next, we had to decide how to divide up the living space.  There were already some walls in place, but we tore most of them out when we had the waterproofing system installed.  We also removed the old furnace and oil tank - which freed up lots of space.  Now we have a blank slate!

Basement 'Before'

After lots of thought we came up with 3 distinct areas.  1) the utility space which includes the laundry, hot water heater, electrical panel and storage.  2) a home office space, with doors that can be closed to provide privacy.  And 3) a bonus room that can be used as a playroom for kids, exercise room, or whatever else the new owners might want.

The guys have framed up the space and spray foam insulation has been applied.  Next, the drywall team installed the ceiling.  

The electricians have installed the lighting and the rooms are starting to take shape! 

Future home office

Future Bonus Room

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Primary Suite Update

This house didn't originally have a primary suite.  One bedroom was slightly larger than the others, but it still wasn't big or spacious.  My goal was to find some adjacent space that could help us create a much larger space. It wasn't an easy or quick job - there were a lot of steps that had to be done - but totally worth it.

We were lucky the house had a really big upstairs hallway - with a chimney/flue taking space in the middle of it.  Removing that chimney was the key to making the hallway smaller and the bedrooms bigger (the chimney was for an old furnace that we removed). 

Removing the chimney allowed us to more the door to the bedroom and gain 3 additional feet

We were able to make the primary bedroom about three feet wider - a huge change from our starting point.  When you couple that with the new, 9 foot ceiling height, it looks and feels dramatically different.

Additionally, we were able to carve out enough space for a half bath, from the former giant bathroom at the top of the stairs.  

Changing the layout of the second floor was a huge job - here's the primary suite in process

What other changes are we making?  We were able to add a closet that's more than twice the size of the original one.  In an old house, that's a huge update!

This room faces east, so there is a lot of light pouring in every morning.  But with just one window, it still wasn't as bright as I wanted it to be.  So we added a skylight, which brings sunlight throughout the room.  And because summer sunrise is so early in Maine - we added solar powered blackout shades in case someone wants to sleep in.

Cutting away the roof sheathing for skylight installation

With the new drywall installed, look at the difference!  By going taller and wider, this room feels like it's from a different house than we started from. 

The half bath might not look like much now, but stay tuned, because it's a really nice addition that makes this primary suite so much better.  The angled ceiling was a bit tricky to integrate into the design, but we put the toilet in front of it and will build custom storage in the slanted section.  A vanity will also provide some nice storage space.  

We insulated all the bathroom walls to provide privacy from the bedrooms

It's a lot of changes in what was once a low ceilinged space without a lot of sunlight.  Stay tuned as we get it done! 

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Update to the Really, Really Bad Flip

Ten years ago, our daughter and her family bought a really, really bad flip.  And every time we visit, we help with a project to fix a problem.  Yup, that’s right, it’s been 10 years and there is still more to do (if you’re curious, here’s the link to see what it looked like when they bought it.  I'm not joking, it was really, really bad – https://www.sopocottage.com/2015/06/the-really-really-bad-flip-aka-little.html) 

This holiday visit’s project was to fix a leaky shower in our tween granddaughter’s bathroom. 

 

We weren’t really surprised to discover big problems (because this house has had lots and lots of big problems!).  The shower base was formed on particle board, so as it started to leak, the particle board had fallen apart and the water also destroyed the floor sheathing beneath it.  Obviously, this wouldn’t be a quick fix!

 

My husband and SIL got the structural issues solved so I could start creating a waterproof shower pan. We didn’t have time to redo the entire shower (and the wall tile is in really good shape), so decided to focus on the shower pan and first row of tiles to complete the repair.

It will be so nice to have a waterproof shower base! 

 

Our granddaughter picked out a simple mosaic tile for the shower floor that compliments the tile in the rest of the bathroom.  For the lower wall, we used large white subway tile for the lower wall.  This ties in nicely with the white vanity and fixtures in the rest of this small bath (it’s 4’ x 7’, so it’s pretty tiny).  She loves a simple white color scheme. 

 

To update it even more (because I don’t trust the shower curtain to keep everything dry) we added a new glass sliding door.

 

The result?  A very happy granddaughter who has already added a slew of hair products and LED lights to bling it up!! 

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What's Behind the Walls is Important

This is the point in every project where people get bored with following along, because they don't think all the systems in a house are interesting (HGTV rarely talks about it on their shows!).  But if you want to buy an old house, this is the most important part of your home. It's where a huge percentage of the budget gets spent and will have an impact on your costs to own the home for decades to come.

So let's start with electrical.  There was no knob and tube wiring in this house, which was a refreshing change.  Instead it's all armored cable (with cloth wrapped wires inside).

 But there wasn't a lot of wiring.....period.  The living room had 2 outlets.  The kitchen had 2 outlets.  That's not enough for modern living and it also means lots of extension cords everywhere (which have their own safety issues). The wiring is ready to be replaced!

Cloth covered wires fray over time....this needs replacing!

So once again, we're starting from scratch.  The guys pulled out all the old wiring and have replaced it with new, up-to-code electrical.  

Because electrical demands are increasing all the time (heat pumps, EVs, fancy appliances, etc), we decided to upgrade the electrical service to the house from 100 amp to 200 amps.   We also relocated the electrical panel to the new 'utility' room in the basement. (there was a sub panel in the upstairs bathroom that needed to go, it would not be attractive in our brand new bathroom!!)

Brand new 200 amp service!

This might sound odd, but when the electrical is going in, you need to know what type of fixtures you will be installing.  Maybe you don't know the exact fixture, but you need to identify if it's a pendant, sconce, recessed light, etc.  That means the kitchen and bathrooms need to be designed, so all of the light fixtures will be in the right place.  So while we won't install those things for months, we need to know the electrical requirements now!  (and sometimes I don't like the fixtures I picked out.....it's better to decide that now, so I can find something different).

This fixture looked great in the Pottery Barn store - but it is too big for this space

And there is something so exciting about seeing all this nice, new wiring throughout the house! 

Be still my heart - look at that gorgeous new wiring!

With all this new electrical capacity, it's time to talk about heating and cooling.  We'll be installing heat pumps into this house.  These are the cold weather ready heat pumps that can handle extreme cold.  The lines get roughed in now and the indoor and outdoor units will get installed later in the project.

I still hear people say that heat pumps can't handle a Maine winter.  They must be talking about previous generations of heat pumps.  Or they may be in houses that haven't been insulated and air sealed - we will be doing both. The units we are using are good down to minus 20 degrees (my own home has only heat pumps and they're great!).  And of course you get the added bonus of air conditioning in the summer!

Another key 'behind the walls' element is all new plumbing.

It's starting to look like a bathroom!

I've learned over the years that it's just easier to pull out all of the old plumbing and replace it with new.  That way you know you're in great shape for the future.  And of course with an additional bathroom and a redesigned kitchen, we need new plumbing anyway!

Finally, we are air sealing and insulating the house.  The first step is to spray foam critical areas that don't do well with traditional insulation.  I have a love/hate relationship with spray foam.  It does a great job of air sealing and insulating (with a very high R value), but it's not great for the environment and it's hard to install.  So I use it sparingly, where it's absolutely necessary.  For this house, it means spray foaming the sills in the basement - including the walls 2 feet below the ground level outside.  The floor of your basement will be at 55 degrees.  But as you to upwards and closer to ground level, the temperature will be similar to the outdoor temperature.  In the winter, that can mean some really cold walls. So this keeps everything nice and warm.

We also spray foamed the ceilings on the former porches (the sunroom and the powder room) and the floor below.  With its high R value and air sealing, it ensure we will have nice warm spaces on a cold winter day.

Finally, we used dense pack cellulose for all the walls and sloped ceilings.  This is my favorite insulation - it's environmentally friendly (recycled newspaper), has a good R value and does a great job of sound suppression.  The first step is to put a mesh web up on all the walls.  Slits get cut into the web and the cellulose is pumped into the cavities.

It's a messy job, but as soon as they're done, the difference is amazing! 

We have passed all our inspections, so now it's time to start installing drywall.  That's always a huge milestone - can't wait to see the walls go up!  Pin It

Kitchen Design for the Craftsman Cottage

It might be surprising, but before the plumber and electricians can start, we need to have the kitchen design completed.  The exact location of the sink, cabinets and the light fixtures need to be defined so they can begin their rough-in.

This kitchen will change a lot!  And it's certainly ready for some updates. 

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - Before

We got started by opening up the wall to the dining room - and also the wall to the old half bath.  This will give us a lot more cabinet and storage space, as well as an overall feeling of spaciousness.  And with access to a new deck, it's easy to grill your dinner and eat outside or in!

Here's how it looks now:

The new design has cabinetry around the perimeter of the room.  It will be painted maple in a soft taupe.  It's a great neutral that goes with everything. 

For the island, sink base and pantries, we are using cherry cabinets that reflect the original woodwork that's found throughout the first floor.  

And we are able to include some great storage next to the refrigerator.

I'm still working through the countertop and backsplash - but I'm thinking a quartz counter on the painted cabinets, around the perimeter of the room.  I'd like a wood top on the island.  The backsplash will be a combination of subway tile and a calacatta marble (I love this marble penny tile for behind the stove!).

Our plumber is getting all the water lines and drains in now for the kitchen and the bathrooms above it.  And the electricians are getting the new electrical service installed.  It's a great start to getting our new plan completed! 

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