Basement Remodel Begins!

We finally started our basement remodel project. I've been horrible about documenting our other remodel projects, so I figured I could make a blog post and then just update it as we go. We're updating our furnace, replacing the wood paneling with sheet rock, updating the electrical and lights, taking out the dreaded wall, and widening the stairs. The dreaded wall is the first thing you see when you come down the stairs. The problem with the wall is that it is load-bearing and concrete. Eight inches of concrete. I want to take out about 5 feet of it.We moved some of our furniture into storage and donated some of it. I also rearranged our storage room to make room for the rest of it. I then removed the wall around the furnace we plant to replace.


This is where Karen works out. She's going to take over my old "Man Room," and we're going to make this into a living room.
Part Two: Nuclear Fallout

This weekend we got serious about taking out the wall and getting everything else ready to remodel. I have hired a contractor for some of the work, and together we removed the dreaded wall this weekend. Harold (the contractor) reminds me Sam Elliot in The Big Lebowski
So Harold built some temporary walls to support the floor above us on Friday and sawed through the concrete. Even though he used plastic to reduce the dust, I literally couldn't see the end of our hallway upstairs when I got home. The dust was nasty. Anyway, Saturday we jackhammered out the wall.We then installed a beam to support the floor joists. After that we finished gutting the basement. Miraculously, Sprout slept through most of the noise we made while tearing out the wood panels and furring strips.
Here are some pictures from before and after we gutted the rest of the basement.

Next week we plan to widen the stairs and basically destroy the utility room (upstairs). We've also got some electrical and plumbing things to take care of, then we'll start rebuilding.

My plan is to update this post as we go, then I'll re-post it when we're done