Ever since we bought our house, we knew we wanted to finish our basement.  The basement is dry, ceilings are high (enough), and we want to maximize our living space. To facilitate the process, last summer we had our electrical panel upgraded as well as the electrical service buried (no more overhead wires!).   Besides the financial impact of the electrical work, our daughter was born last May, so it wasn’t really in the cards for me to start working on the basement then.

Now is the time.

Even though I wasn’t going to start work on the basement last year, I did learn enough Sketchup to come up with some to-scale floor plans.

 

The plan so far.

Materials…round one

On Sunday afternoon, I spent a couple hours at Menard’s, taking advantage of the 11% rebate to pick up some materials.   I bought 50 2x4s, a few pressure treated 2x4s and some foam board.

I had to make 3 purchases, because I couldn’t make everything in one trip…or two.

Getting started

Tonight I cut and dry-fit all the foam board except for one piece I need to cut out for the center beam.  It would have been easy for me to not get started, but I forced myself to get going. I’m also going to use the scrap pieces of foam board to better insulate the rim joists, using some Great Stuff around the outside gaps, and covering it with fiberglass insulation.

My work tonight

Momentum

Starting is very important to how I work.  Once I start a project, my innate drive to finish what I start will get this room done quickly.  Plus, I’m generally impatient 🙂

Any tips?

Has anyone else finished their basement?  Have any tips?  I’ve done a ton of reading and research and planning, but I still want to learn more if I can.