Rich'z Nightmare Basement build

Wow, you have a lot of work ahead of you. It will be MUCH MUCH nicer when you are done. Changing it from the place where an axe murderer stores the bodies to a fun place will be great! Keep up updated on your progress.

YIKES!
That electrical is a mess. Needs to be replaced with something modern and safe.

Don't underestimate the cost and complexity of this project. Do you have experience with structural construction? If not, better call in a pro.

Looks like you have about 6'6" clear under the HVAC duct. Are you going to drop the floor level? Another huge undertaking with serious structural considerations.

Hello and welcome!

I will be watching your progress with much interest as you have a lot of work ahead of you.

Updating the electrical is a MUST for safety and piece of mind for sure.

Water proofing and having a plan for that (which you have it sounds like) is another must for an enjoyable space as no one likes to sit in a cold, damp, musty basement.

As another poster suggested you have a lot of work ahead, if you are unsure of how to proceed please consult the wide ranging knowledge base here and the "true professionals" in your local area.

I'm glad you have the hang of posting photos, however you might want to consider resizing them so they fit within the screen so us lazy guys don't have to scroll from side to side.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Regards,

RTROSE

0.14" of rain so far this year. As my drunk friend Marvin says, "driern' a popcorn fart".

Yikes - that panel is the scariest thing I've seen in a while ...

LOL. Nasty little bugger deserved it. The WAF bellowed (and she can bellow) to me yesterday evening from the bedroom "THERE's A SPIDER ON THE CEILING". Walked in and it's right above the ceiling fan, little black nasty one. So I grabbed a fly swatter and after the third swipe I think I got it but it fell into the fan housing. Of course, that wasn't good enough "I WANT TO SEE IT, YOU DIDN'T GET IT!" I assured her after turning on the fan it was fried but the doubt lingered. Wasn't anything more to do.

Moral? Kill it, mount it, display it. Makes for a much more peaceful existence.

Good luck with the build BTW.

Congrats, this should be fun to watch. Keep the pics coming (unless you find some of that little guys relatives, don't need to see that.)

Ahh yes, those pics bring back memories of my own build.

Don't be discouraged by the task ahead (doesn't sound like you are). I am sure you already saw for yourself, but there are a lot of amazing rooms on this forum that started out as low-ceiling, dingy basements with equally frightening electrical panels, etc.

My room isn't in the same class as most of the rooms on this forum, but my basement certainly started out about as daunting as any other.

Good luck. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

It surely looks like an interesting build.

If you are able, drop the floor down and gain some headroom (it sounds so easy, I know!). And please, please, post photos of that electrical service once it's fixed up. That dude looks really scary (much more so than that spider, IMHO).

nightmare is right....poor electric, low headroom, and water ta' boot. I wish you the best of luck sir. If you decide to re pour the floor, you really should considering lowering it....Depending on the footers, you maybe be able to gain a few inches without having to underpin the foundation at all, and in the HT world, inches can make all the difference.

You could gain some headroom by redoing the ductwork sheet metal. A wider / less tall profile could gain you four inches or so.

You might consider underpinning a section of the basement, and use the original floor height as riser.

If you repour the floor, perhaps a perimeter drain system like Waterguard?

http://www.clarkebasementsystems.com/WaterGuard.aspx

If you are going to bust it open to replace the weeping tile I suggest you dig down a bit to see where your footing ends. It looks like you have at least another 1/2 block. If there is another block beyond that 1/2 block before you hit your footing and you are up for real back breaking work you can drop your basement without having to underpin. There are some other factors involved and you would need to look into ie static pressure of the earth pushing on the blocks. It's cheaper then underpinning and you can do it yourself but I warn you it is backbreaking work.

I also noticed that you have a wood beam under the joists. You could replace that with a few inline LVL's and you would gain some head room and move that jack post over.

My wife is the SAME way. If she doesn't see it dead, it isn't dead.

That reminds me of a funny story... A couple of years ago, she was coming up from the basement in our old house, and I hear the laundry basket drop, and she screams. I called over to her to see what the problem was, and she said "There's a big F-ing spider on the wall." So I get up, and start walking over, muttering something to her about what a baby she is, and when I turned the corner, there was a HUGE Corn Spider hanging from the safety chain on our back door. I almost $hit myself. So big, you'd use your foot, not just a tissue. I have never questioned her or razzed her about spiders ever again.

you picked up a lot of good freebees! I know some guys who not only had to search for that 703 but had to overpay to get it.

Wow..that is a LOT of work. I hope everything works out well for you

You get all this stuff from work and you install, ...windows?

Where do you install 'em, at Home Depots? LOL jk

I was a mechanic for 15 yrs before I switched to doing HT murals and computers, and never
once in all that time did I ever get a free tool, or tire, or even a lousy pine tree air freshener LOL
Guess I shoulda did windows instead - seems to be a lot more swag LOL

All kiddin aside, helluva job on the mason work! helluva job! And the prep work was very
thorough, that's the real key to a good job, a fact you clearly understand very well.

It's easy to see due to the quality and caliber of your work, that this is gunna be 1 sweet room
when your done.

Those are WINDOWS!

Your basement progress is looking great.