There be Sheetrock here!

We're working on the basement again. Because of moving and changing jobs, we had a nice tax refund and decided to jump in and finish it up. We asked our home teacher, Val S, who is a contractor, to give us a bid on getting it finished to the sheetrock, which came back just under what we had hoped to spend. He came a couple of weeks ago and did some framing and then has been overseeing the rest. The electrician came and did wiring. Bryce (pretty much on his own while I was singing) strung a few miles of Cat 5 (phone/internet), TV cable, and speaker wire and then yesterday the sheetrock arrived. Bryce and I were just stringing a piece of thermostat wire when the truck came. That was a last minute thought, (my Dad's suggestion) moving the thermostat for the radiant heat closer to the smaller rooms.

It was really exciting watching the guys deliver the sheetrock. They brought a big truck with a boom on it, parked in the empty lot on the west, loaded the sheetrock pieces onto a sling and swung the boom out over the yard. They only had to unload from the sling and bring the pieces into the house through the downstairs door. They mentioned that they were very glad we had a walkout basement. I can't imagine carrying those fifteen foot long pieces down someone's stairs!

Here you can see the framing that Val did around the heating ductwork.

Here is the spare bedroom/storage room in the northeast corner. We had Val build a really big closet spanning the whole end of the room. We made it deep enough for my tubs of holiday china and decorations to fit lengthwise. When it is finished, it will have a twin bed in it for grandchildren to nap on. (The room, not the closet.) Hmmm, I'm thinking locking doorknobs on that closet!

Here you can see that we had Val move a wall. The wall was up against the furnace, making a jog in from the big room. We had him bring it out flush with the rest of the family room wall. I'll be able to grow my plants in the furnace room now, and there is plenty of room for the freezer as well.

This is how it looked when the guys left for lunch at noon today - the whole ceiling done! They're back at it now. I can hear them downstairs. I predict that they'll have most of the walls done by the time they quit for the night. I'm sure they'll be back tomorrow for mudding and taping. Those fifteen foot sheets cover a lot of space at once. Again, I'm thankful for a walkout door into the basement. I cleaned upstairs today, and I'm just keeping the door to the basement closed. The guys come and go through the downstairs door, no mess in the rest of my house! Poor Sara though, she has to walk through it to her room.