Renovation Update: Framing and the Mess

Ok- so we're in week 2 of the basement renovation project. Both the contractors and us are working steadily, and we seem to be making significant progress.

Them:  The contractors have been busy this week framing the basement. All of the exterior walls are framed for insulation and sheetrock. They built two closets, one in the main hallway and one in the bedroom.  They moved the door for the bathroom into the bedroom, and they closed off the stairs so that we can access storage from above. Things are taking shape quickly. I'm a little worried that we created a long narrow hallway that will feel super tight once it's closed in, but we'll have to wait and see.

The living room/new kitchen all framed in

 

looking towards the back of the house - stairs framed in on the left, new closet on the right

from the bedroom, a new opening to the bathroom

 

new bedroom closet

 

bedroom exterior walls get framed

 

Us: We have been focused on managing the ensuing mess this week. First, we took the opportunity to organize the utility closet that's halfway up the stairs by adding some shelves and a hangy thing for brooms. While we were at it, R fixed the stripped screws that were attaching the door to the frame and causing us to need two hands to hoist the door in place to close. Now you close the door with just one hand easily, which seems very fancy somehow.

Utility closet before - a mess of randomness

 

utility closet after- 

two new shelves, a hangy thing and a camping light make for a nicely organized space.

 

Then, we emptied the kitchen pantry and moved everything to the dining room. The old pantry is about to become a new half bath, so all the foodstuffs have to get out. Unlike the rest of the mess, this is a semi-permanent problem because we won't be getting a new kitchen pantry for a couple years. I don't think we fully appreciated how big the pantry was, so now it's clear we need to downsize and minimize. I guess we don't really need 5 shapes of pasta, but it still seems disappointing to lose them.

empty pantry is ready to become a half bath

 

new pantry area in dining room

destroyed dining room is full of pantry and basement crap.

Next up: It's time for the contractors to start working on electrical and plumbing for the basement, which will be slow and unimpressive, but very important. We need to start with the basement bathroom and shopping, since we haven't bought a thing yet. Also need to find a way to better manage this mess. I guess our dinner party days are over for a while.