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!!! 

The Nursery: A baby Girl is coming!

This Hammpress  print was originally purchased for the office to keep me motivated, after I almost ripped it up in a fit of work-rage I thought it would be better suited for a baby's room.   That's Gary the Gnome keeping things safe in the nursery and guarding the the print from a fit of baby-rage. 

Here is the wall paper we chose for an accent wall.  It was purchased at Anthropologie

They say babies can only see Black, White and Red in the 1st few months.  I'm sure she will have fun coloring in the animals once her color blindness fades:)

"Uh, Nick I could use a little help here"

The women in action, Cindy, is teaching us the fine art of hanging wall paper.  Wall paper has been making a come back, it's not the brown on yellow Mallards or pots filled with vegetables patterned border our grandmothers used to hang.

It took all of 2 seconds for Baxster to call this rug home.  The rug was purchased at Pier 1 Imports for the wapping price of $19.99.

30 weeks

Anybody seen Suri?

Suri where are you?

The pattern seen on the lamp shade will be the same or similar pattern used on the bedding.

The print seen above was purchased a while ago on a trip to Japan.  I thought; if I ever have a kid...

Eames Rocker - simple ergonomics make this padless chair very comfortable.

We are almost ready for the baby: let the count down begin; 10 more weeks of uninterrupted sleep.

Patio Restoration 5: The concrete is coming!

The work started early in the morning at 6am.  It was going to be 100+ degrees this day, so it was essential we got after it early.

The framing and final steps to prepare the space for the concrete were finished the night before around 10:30 - my 7month pregnant wife was even out there late raking gravel.  

Conduit runs underneath the concrete, this will allow us to have an electric outlet. 

Here comes the concrete, no turning back now.  The concrete was stained with color of our choice.  The color is a powder that is added at the concrete plant.

The concrete truck could only reach the steps, so we used these Georgia Buggies to haul the rest.

They were a bit tricky to drive but we got the hang of it.

The workers quickly smoothed the concrete like icing on enormous sheet cakes one might see on some Food Network Challenge 

We applied a mixture of dish soap and water to the walls on windows of the nearby structures - this makes it much easier to clean the surfaces once the concrete dries.

Once the concrete sured up and achieved the proper consistency we applied the stamps "English Cobblestone".  The stamps are heavy, rubber that interlock.

A release agent was applied to the stamps, it also added an accent color to the pattern.

We applied a different pattern called "Old Granite" to the steps 

The workers were effortless and made the concrete beautifully smooth.

The workers convening on the porch for an after work lunch and beer.  The guys worked hard and efficient.

Mark said concrete does two things, it hardens and it cracks - so it is important to cut it and tell it where to crack.  He used a walk behind saw to cut a few lines into the concrete

This will not be the final color of the surface, that will be revealed once the concrete is sealed.

A detailed look of the pattern on the steps

We plan to use stone to build up the flower box the will be centered in the patio

The half circle will host stone a fire pit.