Burlington Basement Build Thread - Page 9

Thanks, fella! Put in some dimmers yesterday which made a big difference for watching with some lights on. That will be it until after Christmas.


So, Merry Christmas to all!

So, took a bit of a break from the reno for Christmas...

I also started a wee DIY project to paint the screens for the in-wall speakers. I tried doing research on this topic, but didn't find that much in the way of instructions, so I cobbled together bits and pieces of tips and tricks and started my journey.

Here's the tools I used:

A basic airbrush from Michael's Crafts, a can of CO2 (Propel), spoons for getting paint into that tiny jar, toothpicks for poking out oversprayed holes, an N95 mask, a multi-tool, some paint and water (not pictured), and paper towel.


First thing I had to do was remove the felt on the inside of the screens:



Then I mixed the paint about 2/3 water to 1/3 paint and got to spraying. Fairly easy to apply, but hard to get even on the first coat. I had some overspray so I went at the holes with a toothpick, but found that "dabbing" the oversprayed areas with paper towel did a better job of removing the clogs. It also removed some of the paint, though. You can see where I did some wiping in the middle screen.

Here's after 1 coat:


And after the 2nd coat (which I sprayed in the opposite direction of the 1st coat):


It's coming along, but it will likely take 4-6 coats to get it even. 3rd coat will go on in about an hour.

Ok, so after 5 coats, it was done! Here's a shot of them after the final coat:


So here comes the "before" and "after" shots:



By the way, bowl games look great on the big screen! And I am surprised how good it looks even with the lights up.

Sometimes, you have to show the feet! Yeah - I'm pretty happy. We've watched a few movies and played video games down there over the holidays, but I had to take apart the system today to prime the equipment rack shelving. Won't get it back up and running until Tuesday...

But then it all goes in for good! Or at least until I get hit by the upgrade bug.

Thanks for posting, Johnny! Nice to know people find this interesting.

Thanks!

The grilles came out perfect, but the felt behind it makes it look a little uneven. However, without the felt, the grilles look much darker ('cause the speakers are black and the felt is white), so we opted to keep the felt in. We'll probably be the only ones to notice...

Painting is going on right now, and the fireplace got started today. It's an electric model set into the wall, surrounded by ledge rock:


I had to take out all the equipment to get stuff painted. It still hasn't been put back together...


But, we did take the opportunity to clean up the wiring a bit and add the network terminations for 6 jacks in the equipment closet:


Lastly, we figured since we were getting new door locksets and hinges, why not get new doors, too? So here's what we got:


Oh yeah - I also ordered all of the cabinet doors, so they should be here for the 13th... Now to get back to the bar. Gotta book an appointment at IKEA.

Hopefully we are getting closer to the end. I want our house back.

I think you have to book an appointment if you are looking at cabinets (e.g. kitchen or bar). I want to buy all the parts except for the finished doors / drawer fronts, so want to make sure I understand everything they are going to sell me...

Gotta love those meatballs in "lingonberry" sauce, too!

I'll check when I get home, but I think it was 11 1/2" and needs a dedicated 15 amp circuit.

Quick update - I'll try and post more pics later. Thought I would post this one, though. The fireplace surround is now done, and we're really happy with the result:


Can't turn it on yet since the electrical isn't hooked up in the box, but at least it looks purdy good...

Also went to IKEA - avertguy2 was right that it is first come, first served - and picked up all the cabinetry for the bar. So that'll be my evenings project for the next week.

Hadn't even seen it before... going to have to check his out in more detail. Thanks for the link!

Here's a few more pictures. First is a wider view looking at the fireplace:


I put the equipment rack back together. Best part of this is that you can't see the mess of wires and cables inside the closet!


Here's some shots of the inside mess of the equipment room. Let's call these the "before clean-up" shots:




And here's a shot of the additional shelf I added above the subwoofer that will hold the UPS and NAS:


That's all for now.

We used the extra-wide colonial casing, and then added back-banding to it to beef it up even more. Did the same around all of the doors and windows down there - felt it added a bit more presence to the space.

As for the sippy, I have drinking issues! Actually, my 2 year-old almost won't drink out of them any more - she wants to be a "big girl" and use regular cups. Not quite there yet - especially in the new space!

I'll post some pictures in the next few days, but I can say that we are getting closer. The fireplace is now done and wired - I'll have to get a picture of that since it's amazing how much better electric fireplaces are vs. the one my grandmother had 25 years ago...

The heated floor in the bathroom now works! That had been worrying me for a while since it got installed back in November, but we hadn't tried it out. In fact, when my electrician wired the control box for the floor, he did it wrong, so I thought it was possibly a lost cause. But after I pulled it out of the wall box, I noticed he had wired it wrong, switching up the line and load wires. That's an hour of labour I wish I could get back.

Painting is still going on, but should be done by week's end. I've now received the cabinet doors, but haven't even had time to look at them yet. They'll need to get installed next week, then taken off and sent off for paint spraying, so that will be a few weeks before final install. The biggest outstanding item (other than actually furnishing the place) is the bar.

All the cabinetry is bought and being built (my mini screw gun makes quick work of IKEA boxes), so tiling the backsplash might happen next week. Then we'll have to settle on a dishwasher, sink, bar fridge, and countertop. We're going to go granite. Lastly, we'll have to skin the front of the bar and make filler strips - all should be done in solid walnut and walnut ply. Oh yeah, gotta get cabinet doors and drawer fronts too. Then, stain and install.

Maybe finish some time in February??? Dare to dream that it's done before the start of the Olympics?? Well, I am not going to bet on having the countertops installed, but everything else should be possible!

It's made by Dimplex, and I think it can adequately heat about 400 SF, although our basement is a bit bigger than that. It was more for show as a focal point... The heat does work, though - I stood in front of it for a few minutes while it pumped out heat, and I got toasty...

Thanks for the compliments - although it is kinda funny you mention the sub. It did work, but there was a buzzing noise in it, and after some fairly thorough investigation along with the guys from Elemental Design, it became apparent that the driver got damaged during shipping. Soooo... they are shipping out a replacement as we speak.

Although the sub isn't working yet, I must say that the customer service I've received to date from Elemental Design has been quite impressive.

Some quick pics for an update. First up is a wider shot with the finished fireplace. I forgot to turn on the lights that spot it, but it should give a decent idea of what it looks like:


Here's most of the cabinet boxes that are going to make up the bar - currently sitting in the kid's playroom:


And here are the cabinet doors - they need to be cut down a bit to fit the openings (I was smart and ordered them a touch oversized). I will probably fire up the jointer to take a bit of the sides, 1/16" at a time... then I am getting them sprayed:


Here's a close-up of the door detail, and how it matches with the column detail:

So, things are moving. I was home today sick with some stomach virus (not fun), but snapped some pictures.

The cabinetry is almost done. The doors still need to be sprayed (happening this weekend/next week), but they've been installed and sized and we're really happy with it. Here's 4 shots from the bottom of the stairs panning from right to left. The first pic is of the bar, which should get its cabinetry installed tomorrow:






This is a shot of the kids' desks from where the screen is:



Here you can see the doors to the kids' playroom and our home office (the 2 with glass), and a closet at the end of the hall:


This is a close-up of the door lock sets we went with:


A shot from the kids' desks looking back towards the equipment closet:


And a last overview of most of the cabinetry:


There you go!