Basement Update - 2007/01/02

The Christmas break offered some free time to get started in the basement. In between working, visiting friends and eating out I finished the hot and cold water plumbing rough-ins for the new bathroom. I also re-plumbed the pressure lines and drain lines for the laundry room and added proper 1/2" copper piping and braided hoses to the fridge and humidifier. Part of the change involved re-routing the main cold water line from the water meter, through the new bathroom and through the joists to meet up with the main water distribution lines. It's been a multi-year project (not necessarily intentional, but born from necessity of multiple renovations) but now every single pipe - copper and ABS - in the whole house has been installed or replaced by me!

Next I need to tie the loose ends up on the wiring project. Basically this will involve finishing three existing circuits - the front room outlet circuit that has been disabled for nearly a year (a tedious and slow fishing job), the rerouting of the computer room / TV outlet circuit (a very simple job), and the reconnection of the outside plug (the hardest part will be finding a circuit to join it to). Then I need to replace the washer/over-counter outlet circuit, reroute the dryer wiring, add a circuit for the bathroom/Vanessa's art and portfolio area, and repair the circuit feeding the outlets in the main room. Once the high voltage wiring is finished I will reroute the phone and cable circuits.

Then we're ready for drywall! This will mean adding some 2 x 2 nailing cleats here and there, but should exhaust not only our current funds but our patience...

We also got a great deal on some large planks from Ikea that we will use as countertops, desktops, desk legs, etc. As you can see I've mocked one up over the washer-dryer. We also got a deal on a base cabinet at Ikea I will use with one of Bob and Dianne's cabinet doors to finish the lower cabinets. The rest of their oak doors will be used for access panels, upper cabinets, breaker box doors, etc.

Other (vehicle) projects are currently on hold... I'm postponing the fun, really. Vanessa bought me all the brake parts for the Herbie project. Bob and Dianne bought me some gift certificates at California Import Parts so I'm excited about spending the big bucks... I think the Kafer Cup Bar will be the next purchase in order to continue the Lemon project....

Lots of stuff up on Ebay and The Samba right now, check my links on the link bar and purchase at will!