Basement Finishing

We are working on finishing some basement living space this winter/spring.

I don't really have a true "before". Our basement had the exterior walls already framed. So it started with tearing down part of the wall by the stairs, and framing out the bedroom and closet, bathroom, the exterior of what will remain unfinished storage/mechanical room, and around parts of the ceiling and ductwork. The first photo is of the staircase, looking from about the center of the family/game room. The second photo is from the bottom of the stairs looking into the family/game room (before we cleaned it out for sheetrock and flooring). The third is from the bedroom with the bathroom on the left, hallway in the middle, then a small closet between the bedroom and the unfinished storage/mechanical room.

Then we had the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing done. I took a ton of photos after this phase, to help if we ever need to locate something that is now hidden inside a wall. But not much to post. Here's one looking from the family/game room towards the bathroom. There's going to be a small (5-ft) kitchenette on the outside of the bathroom, with a sink, under-counter fridge, microwave, and cabinets.



Then sheetrock, and it starts to look like actual rooms! The first two photos are the family/game room. The sofas/tv will be in the half by the stairs, and a pool table in the back half. The next two are of the bedroom - the first looking from the bedroom door towards the window, which is on the back side of the house. Then from inside the bedroom, looking back towards the hallway and bedroom closet. This last one is looking from the kitchenette area back into the family room. There is a closet under the stairs that we plan to use to store the kids' toys.


Next was painting, lighting, and flooring. We went with the same light neutral paint color for the family/game room and the bedroom. The bathroom paint we decided to go darker. We decided to do the entire basement floors in tile - all the same for the family/game room, hallway and bedroom, and a different tile for the bathroom. We'll probably put carpet on the stairs, but not until the rest is finished. (Somehow, I didn't get photos of the paint or lighting before the tile started went in, so here's all of it.) Tile was all installed in this photos, but the grout was only about 3/4 complete. What a difference the grout makes! Apparently our basement floor was VERY uneven, and you could really tell once the tile was laid. But the grout hides a lot of that. Once we get it furnished and a few area rugs in here, it'll be mostly unnoticeable.

I didn't realize that you couldn't see the lighting fixtures very well in these photos. There are ceiling fan lights in the family room and the bedroom. The bathroom has a 4-light fixture. The toy closet under the stairs has a simple globe just inside the door, and we put a wall light near the bottom to help light it up under the shelving. The pool table light isn't installed yet, and the others are cans. I'll try to get better photos once the cabinets, doors, and trim start to go in - they're going to be working on cabinets and finish plumbing this weekend, now that the grout is finished (well, mostly - they still have to scrub the floor yet too).