Basement Rebuild

The basement, like many basements, was the biggest concern in purchasing the home.  It was in terrible shape to the point where Sybil's dad said "Tear it down and start over" I think he was itching to use his new track hoe.

 

We decided to keep the old house and give her a new lease on life.  We started by having a structural engineer inspect the house and make recommendations to repair the basement. The walls were cracked, bulging and leaking water. Following his repair recommendations: We added 3 I-Beams along the west wall (wall to the left above photos) to stop the wall from bulging, additionally Floor Joist Hangers were installed.  The soil in our area is mainly comprised of clay,  hence Clay County, which can cause a lot of structure and water problems in a basement.  After addressing the structure issue an Interior Air Gap Membrane, the black plastic covering the walls, was applied.  A sump pump was put in to insure a dry basement.  The easiest and least expensive thing we did was grade the dirt around the house to drain the water away from the property.

 

There was an existing fireplace in the basement.  We were simply going to tuck point it and paint it white.

I still feel nervous about the basements structure and dryness, a feeling that always lingers when owning on old house.

The small, squatty door on the left leads to the furnace room and the door to the right is for the down stairs 3/4 bath.  We added 3 bathrooms to the house.  

The basement has stayed cool, dry and sound.  The tables are about 10 years old, they were some of the 1st pieces of furniture Sybil ever purchased after college.  I'm glad the tables, and myself, still have a home with her:) 

Fortunately, we decided to clad the fireplace with stone.  Since the construction budget had been met we worked a deal with the contractor to cover it with some left over stone.  A last minute and inexpensive job that made a huge impact!

Scavenger hunt, go to Sporting KC Livestrong Park and see if you can find this lamp.

Scavenger hunt, go to Sporting KC Livestrong Park and see if you can find this lamp.  

My new office! I love it down here I have my own bathroom, TV and easy access to the outdoors for a breath of fresh air.

Behind the door is a downstairs laundry room.  The contractor wanted to put it on the 1st floor near the Kitchen but we wanted it tucked away and out of site.

Purchased in Denmark, it was kind of scratchy at first but now its nice and broken in.

Formally this deck chair had drab piece of canvas slung across it, we changed the fabric to something a little more interesting.

This Hermes tray is a nice way to coral the clutter on a desk.  I purchased the Tofu Toy in Japan for my nephew, but decided to keep it for myself - I don't think he would appreciate it as much as me, the freaking fists shoot off!!!