I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Back in February, I started working on a room in our unfinished basement to turn it into a "Movie/ Games /Playroom with a Treadmill in the corner." The centerpiece will be an Epson HC720 and a 100-110" BOC screen.

It's basically a finished room with four walls and a ceiling. It's approximately 20x25' and is about 40% of my total basement. It's got some soundproofing ideas... double layer drywall, green glue, staggered stud or doublewalls.. Isomax clips and hatchannelling for the ceiling

http://pjbj.ca/basementdrawing.jpg

here are some more visuals:
http://www.pjbj.ca/2008/02/basement-renos-are-underway-days-1-3.html

http://www.pjbj.ca/2008/03/68-sheets-of-drywall.html

I didn't work on it at all from March to September, but have been plugging away at it most nights since mid september. I am at the sanding stage of the drywall, and hopefully ready to paint/prime this weekend.

I have yet to do:
-trim
-doors
-hire someone for carpet
- buy wall sconces
-connect electrical outlets and switches.

I am looking at my work todate, and can see nagging little flaws to my room. They are a little depressing, frustrating.

- the cement floor of my basement slopes a little bit... I would guess it's about 1" over the 25' length of my room....

- the ceiling appears to slope in the other direction about 1-2" across the length of my room, giving the room a pretty converging appearance. - not sure if this is because I haven't painted yet, and the mudded seams of the drywall attenuate this visual effect. The ceiling is secure, I've used the appropriate # of fasteners to the HC, and the right spacing for the Isomax clips. The main floor of our house has a slope to it, so our house probably was framed unlevel when it was built 20 yrs ago.

- there is a little hump 'down' on the far corner of my bulkhead, where I had to build around some HVAC vents for the floor above....

- my corner bead work is a little rough still (I've only sanded the walls, - have yet to do the bulkhead or ceiling).

- the saving grace seems to be that my drywall joints (tapered and butt) seem to blend in well to the drywall.

I'm hoping that painting will improve how things look when I'm done....

My question is:
- how happy were u with your 1st major home reno?

Peter

I'll let you know if I ever finish it :)

The saving grace for those sloping floors and such is if you are putting in any riser for theater seating. That will make the sloping floor a moot point. The child labor is a nice touch, and keeps your costs lower I'm sure. <calls local Child Services Division...>

My first basement reno/finish went well. You gain indispensible knowledge, that you (hopefully) don't carry over to the next build. ;) One thing that I learned is to GET THE DOOR OPENINGS PLUMB. It sounds elementary, but I had one door that I didn't get framed right, and it always looked odd to me. Luckily it was a closet door.

Good luck, and keep plugging.

I'll let you know if I ever finish it :)

Ditto ... give me a ring in 2009, or 2010 :p

Seriously, I've been pretty happy with my work so far, and this is by far the largest project I've ever taken on. I was able to level out my ceiling with the isolation clips and hat channel construction. The joists above had definitely settled by at least 1 to 1.5 inches in spots over the past 30 years.

The most frustrating area so far has been the soffits, which I tried to decouple with RSIC clips. They are definitely a tad wonky in spots, but I'm hoping I can address some of that when I get to tapping & mudding.

Odds are that you will be the only one that notices any of the flaws.

My first basement reno was in the late 70's. I never really finished it and lost interest when it flooded one day because a downspout was disconnected. I moved shortly after and never looked back.

The next 3 homes I owned didn't have basements (what a pain).

Now I have this one. Most DIYers will tell you that there is nothing they've done that is perfect. However the better you get the less you notice.

The best compliment is when a visitor asks for the phone number of the company that did your basement.

The best compliment is when a visitor asks for the phone number of the company that did your basement.

...or as I'm not finished yet, the county inspector refers to the "framing crew."

update.

Got the floor vacuumed, and the misc. compound droppings scraped off the cement floor.

Went to Benjamin Moores and bought 6 gallons of primer/paints. Painted for about 10hrs (2-3 coats of primer /pain) on the weekend.

- Drywall seams (tapered and butt) look good to me. Only one small seam where u can see that there wasn't enough mud. I'd give myself a B+ or better on most flat seams, B- on the one problem seam

- Inside corners (between the wall/wall or wall/ceiling) were butchered. They resemble flat seams, but they could be better. I would give myself a C- on that. Definitely not near the quality of work u would expect if u had paid someone to do it. Not so bad, that I am going to redo it.

- Moving on to electrical, and doors.

P

We hired out the major build elements, but re-worked a bunch of stuff that was sub-standard. We were happy to be rid of the carpenters when they were gone. They were supposed to be time savers, but I am not sure that was the result.

I learned a lot in the build, which I hope to apply eventually when I start my next project. We were left pretty burned out and a bit tapped out though. Shame my job moved me so soon.

Peter-

My room had similar issues. The ceiling varies about 2" and the floor sloped towards a drain (more than 1" over 25').

I used floor leveling mix to minimize the slope, it's still there a bit in case of a flood and the drain will work still.

The ceiling once painted with flat paint doesn't show the slope at all. You can only see if it you put a straight edge on it or view at an extreme angle from a step-stool or ladder. The flat finish is the key to hiding.