The Basement Project

After living 3 decades with the ugliest basement in the universe, we decided it was time to make it a little more comfortable and attractive.  After all, I do spend a lot of time down there doing laundry, walking on the treadmill, ironing, sewing, etc.  It's cold in the winter and damp in the summer.  Also, when we have company, it's hard to get everyone in and out for showers in the one bathroom upstairs.  (BTW, Dale has been pondering how to describe our house once the project is done.  If we have 1 full bath and 2 half-baths, does that add up to 2 full baths?)


I'd heard about a nice young man named Mark Morgan who has done some great remodeling work for acquaintances of mine, so we were glad that he could work us into his schedule, with all the rebuilding going on after the tornado.  Mark is great.  He calls us ma'am and sir (like we're old geezers) but that's okay.  We just want to adopt him.  He has a new son named Zoltan, born on March 2, Norah's birthday. 


Oh, we had some excitement the day Mark rented a gas-powered concrete saw to cut through the concrete floor. He had the basement opened up while he worked, but when he left, he closed everything.  After I got home from work (Dale was still at his office during the "grading frenzy" that always occurs at the end of the semester), I was fixing a bite to eat when the carbon monoxide detector went off.  It kept getting louder and more insistent.  I couldn't imagine what was going on.  I called Mark, and he told me about the saw.  I opened up every level of the house, and after about 15 minutes, it all cleared out.  Sure glad we had that detector.  That could have been bad news.


Here's a series of photos showing the first work week.  Things should go a lot faster this week, once Mark starts framing up the walls.