The first $200 has been spent, all on lumber and some concrete screws. Phase one is to frame in a few walls, leaving it all open to run wiring. Phase 1 ends when my $250 budget runs out, then I can save up for phase 2.
Already had all of my own tools, and some faint memories of how to build stuff. Last time I did any major construction, I was about 17. Going to separate off half the basement and build it into a man cave. The other half of the basement is the washer and dryer and stuff... woman's bidness.
These are the before pics, right before I cut the first board:
Looking to the right from where the door will be:
That off-white rectangle high on the wall is styrofoam covering the entrance to the crawl space that contained that big ass hornet nest. Black tape on floor is where I am putting the wall. Tape was to help visualize during the brainstorming phase. I also installed those glass block windows myself the first year I moved in. Used to have ancient glass pane windows, and I was getting snow drifts inside the sill that first winter. The tiny hole to the left of the window is where an outside spigot used to run. Last year when I decided I was going to do this project, I moved that spigot higher so the plumbing wouldn't be in the way of my wall. Was part of a different project to fix a burst copper pipe, so I was doing a plumbing project, anyway.
Black thing on wall is access to a different crawl space. My house is a hodgepodge of room additions, and I have 4 separate crawl spaces with the only access to each from the basement.
Looking left from the door, my pile of lumber. 50 2x4's, 5 sheets 3/4" ODB plywood. I chose the ODB because it was less than half the price of regular plywood... and I figure with the money saved I could actually double it up on the unfinished side if I want further sound proofing. Also 4 2x2 squares of underlayment, to go unter the wall, in case the basement seeps. It has a rubber coating with feet on the bottom so if my basement does spring a leak somewhere, it won't get the wood wet. I'll post pics of that in the next post. You can see them from the side in the bottom left of the pic, leaning up against some stuff.
I already have a day of work done, but I am just now getting around to making this post.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I left a little notch in the top corner so I could run conduit. I plan on lots of Cat-5e and speaker cable going through the room, and I want it to be future proofed.
Anchored to the basement floor with Tapcons.
This is the underlayment. It comes in 2x2' squares, about 7 dollars per. I may or may not do the entire floor with those... kinda pricey at 17' x 12'.
Looking back at this pics, I see some small mistakes I have made... I am thinking "Why did I do it that way?" Seemed right at the time.... I'm pretty out of practice, but it isn't like this is a load bearing wall. Hell with it.
I have gotten more done this afternoon. Pics later.
Edited By GORDON on 1287519656
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Here's today's progress. The wall to the right of the doorway is done, except for sound proofing (which will probably just be another layer of 3/4" OSB, possibly sandwiching a sheet of drywall. I read that works well).
This is the unfinished side facing the man cave. Again, leaving it open for the running of wires.
The open spaces at the top of the new plywood aren't really open. There's a floor joist up there. I will probably stuff that area with insulation and put a strip of plywood straddling those 2 joists for further sound proofing.
The black line on the floor is the other part of the wall... on the docket for tomorrow. I will also be enclosing a small room down there for a pantry (and it also contains the house demarc). I will need to move one of the fluorescent lights into the pantry... I may also do that tomorrow if the existing wiring is long enough. If I need to buy more wire it won't be done this week.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
This is the same wall opposite of where the door will be. Base plate/underlayment is in place and achored to the floor. The stud against the wall is anchored down. Have the top plate in place. All that is really left is to put in a couple studs.
Because of the overhead air ducts, the ceiling on this side of the room will be coffered by about a foot. This is the side I planned on having the big screen TV, so it will work out well.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Another fuller schedule today, so not a lot done, but here it is:
"Main Wall," opposite side of the door.
The header over the doorway is kind of funky, but that is a cold air return vent and it has exactly 6'2" of clearance. I was trying to leave as much room as possible for whatever ceiling/door frame ends up going there. Door is probably going to be custom, since they don't make pre-hung doors 6'2" high. I'm thinking of recreating the Tardis out there... see, you walk in and it's bigger on the inside....
The area where those racks are is going to be the pantry. That is the next set of walls I'm building, hopefully tomorrow.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Worked on it a couple hours this afternoon, and then a few hours this evening.
This is the pantry/demarc area. I had a basic idea of what I wanted to do, but hadn't gone as far as planning the details of it, so I spent a good hour today figuring out how I should proceed.
The original plan called for a door, but I didn't like how small and confined it was when I laid it out that way, so I decided to skip the door and bring the wall out at an angle. This gives me a basic enclosure for food stuffs and network equipment, yet is still open and easy to access. I will be finishing the walls inside as this area is directly between the furnace and the man cave... noisy when it kicks on and is blowing air. A couple finished walls should deaden most of the noise.
That's the house demarcation point (demarc) in there. Phone, cable TV, and internet all come into the house at that point and I have them split off from there. The switch is dangling from the wall. It slipped its screws when I leveled that existing wall. The big white thing on its own shelf on the left is the dehumidifier. It has been sitting on a box for about 2 years since the basement was waterproofed... I finally have a permanent spot for it.
This is the wall to the right of the entrance to the pantry, and the man cave behind and to the right.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
If you think insulation will deaden sound you will be wasting your money. It really doesn't. You might want to look into other options. I have none to give but know for a fact insulation is a waste.
Without looking it up what does OSB mean?
In marriage there is always one person right. And the other one is the husband.
unkbill wrote:If you think insulation will deaden sound you will be wasting your money. It really doesn't. You might want to look into other options. I have none to give but know for a fact insulation is a waste.
Without looking it up what does OSB mean?
Offhand don't know OSB.
I read a long time ago a good sound proofing method was to layer 3 or 4 layers of plywood and drywall, alternating.
This is an interesting idea; 2 layers of drywall with copious amounts of silicone calk in between to dampen vibrations. That seems quick and easy.
Having been in insulated attics trying to drop cable down through a wall and trying to communicate with the person below you. . . I can assure you, insulating is a VERY good sound proofer. Screaming as loud as I could, and the person still couldn't hear my instructions.
Cakedaddy wrote:Having been in insulated attics trying to drop cable down through a wall and trying to communicate with the person below you. . . I can assure you, insulating is a VERY good sound proofer. Screaming as loud as I could, and the person still couldn't hear my instructions.
Are you talking about blown in insulation or fiberglass. He is installing fiberglass and are you sure your worker wasn't just ignoring you?
In marriage there is always one person right. And the other one is the husband.
I had an extended project come up at the end of October, and by the time it ended in December I had lost my momentum.... but I was always thinking about it. Specifically, whether or not I trusted the basement waterproofing company I hired, "Everdry," to have done a good job laying down new concrete on the floor along the wall where they put in new drainage tile. The concrete they put down developed hairline cracks every 4 feet or so, and it sounds very thin when I walk on it.
In the end I decided I didn't trust it enough to anchor the wall plates with the Tapcons, and made the decision to put the underlayment down on the entire floor. It is doubling my materials cost, but I just think that concrete is too thin to take the torque of a Tapcon without crumbling.
I had another $100 in the budget a few weeks ago, so I bought a couple new tools and $80 worth of underlayment. I got the first row down against the concrete wall, and framed most of a new wall:
The little window-looking thing is a crawl space access. I am going to frame the inside with a 1x10, and then I can build a real weather-sealed access panel. As it is a get breezes from the crawl space.
I was only using the existing 2x4's I had, so I had to skip a few studs, because I really need to get the other crawl space access weather sealed. It is covered with black plastic held on with duct tape, but it gets so cold the duct tape stops sticking and then I have strong, cold wind pouring into the basement. As it is I go down twice a day to restick the tape with the heat from my hands.
I used my last 6 2x4's to get it to the point where I am ready to go get the finishing stuff for that access hatch.
I mentioned the underlayment...
2x2 foot squares, the last batch I bought were $6 each. I have to prop up a portion that you can see that picture because the basement floor tilts to drain leaking water into a sump that is on the other side of that wall.
So that is it for now. I have no uncut boards in the basement. I'll post again when the next bit starts, which will hopefully be soon.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
