Basement project - part 3

I haven't posted here in a while, but I've been lurking around on everyone else's blogs.

I hope all is well in your part of the world.

The basement project is coming along quite well. Rick and Cait have accomplished a lot! Rick's Dad has been a big help and we all found out what a real drag spackling and sanding is.

It really sucks.

People who do this for a profession make it seem so easy and effortless.

Pfffftttt - it's not.

We glopped and schmeared and scooped and sanded and glopped some more and sanded some more. It's a dirty messy crappy job. The first day I have to admit I got into a "zone" and just had the radio on and once I found a rythym it was ok. After a while though your arms start to shake, you curse every screw hole you missed and have to go back and cover and generally start hating it more and more as you go along.

But enough about that!

This weekend Rick is hoping to lay the grid for the suspended ceiling. Everyone who has ever done this tell me it's a breeze.

I'm glad Rick is doing it and not me!

I am very impressed on how Caitlin and Rick have managed their expenses on this project.

Margie and I told them we will pay for the basics to get this project done and anything above and beyond the basics will be their responsibility. I told Cait that they have to keep in mind that this is NOT a permanent place for them and not to go too crazy with fixtures and paint and carpeting. The whole idea behind them moving it was to start saving money for their own space someday. (And to also not let them get TOO comfortable so that they never leave! Love ya guys, but we all must leave the nest sometime.) The expression "bargain basement prices" have really applied.

Here are a few pictures to show you how it's coming along. There is still some clean up to be done obviously, but it's much better than it was a few days ago trust me. I still have white foot prints all over my house from the spackle dust, but the worst is over - I hope!










To give you and idea of how dusty it is down there. I moved a tarp to get a better shot of the bar Rick is making and when I took a picture the flash captured all of the particles floating around.



Nasty!

Whew!

I got this little idea in my head to build me a raised garden.

Talk about your random thoughts!

So I scoured the Internet for ideas and I found several kits I could "buy" and a few little hints on building my own.

The kits were way too expensive and the build your own types were not what I was really looking for.

Then the idea popped in my head to build a little garden based on the one design that I liked and on the do-it-yourself plans that I found.

I've never "built" anything so why I thought I could do this was beyond me. But I drew a little blueprint of my idea I went and bought me a circular saw and some lumber and went to it!

The big name home improvement store that I went to was not very helpful so I kind of did this on my own.

Here are the results:

Stage 1 - just a beginning as I worked out some of the flaws in my plan! For some strange reason I thought I could get this done in one day! HA!
(did you know that if you by a 2x6 it's actually only 1 3/4 x 5 3/4? I didn't know that! so much for what I thought were careful measurements!)



Stage 2 - it's looking a little more like something!(my dogs did a lot of supervising but did not offer much help)



Stage 3 - Ta da!



It's not exactly "square" but I think it ain't bad for a beginner! I got to play with power tools, I spent most of my time outside and I got to play in the dirt so to me this was a very fun project. Plus it was kind of like putting a puzzle together and I love puzzles!

There was a bit of cursing and swearing during the process but only the dogs were around to hear it so I guess it doesn't really count. (does it?)

All in all it took me 4 days to complete (including 5 trips to the county recycling center to get free compost and buying the plants).

Ask me if I would do it again I would say "hell no!"

I learned my lesson!

Happy Gardening!

Home projects

Unemployment has allowed me the time to work on some projects that I've put off for a long time.

So far I've managed to clean out the garage and finally put the holiday decorations away. Take all of the cardboard and an old computer monitor to the recycling center. Donate 4 bags of clothes to the Red Cross. Thatch the front yard and fill in some bald spots with seed, cleaned up the front and side gardens. Cleaned up the side of my neighbors house because if I don't all her leaves blow in my yard and started another compost pile because mine is full.

Sounds like a lot but trust me there were a lot of naps thrown in there too.

Today I started on the basement.

I've been putting this off for a loooooong time now.

When my kids were younger this was the place to hang out. They could play pool, watch movies, play video games or play on the computer. Daughter C had many sleep overs down there.

I kind of liked when they were all here. I knew they were safe and having a good time.

Our basement isn't finished, but it's a nice big space. It's 13 courses high so you don't feel like you are in a basement. I think if we just painted the walls and installed a drop ceiling and new carpet that is all it really needs.

So now that my kids are grown up and they don't really entertain down there too much anymore I've decided to re-arrange things a bit.

We don't have the money to paint the walls or add the drop ceiling or get new carpets right now so I'll just move things around and throw things away and hopefully open up the space a little bit more.

I took some pictures and stitched them together to give you an idea of what it looks like now: (you'll have to click on it to make it bigger sorry)

The pool table will go (it's buried under a pile of "stuff at the moment) - we don't play it anymore. I am going to put an ad in the paper and hope to sell it fairly cheap.

My daughters desk is gone. I had fun taking that apart this afternoon.

Then it's a matter of moving things around and trying to open up the space again.

With lots of caffeine and loud music it should be a fairly simple project!

(M can tell you - I have a knack of taking something simple and making it more complicated than it needs to be.)