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We’re at the end of week 2 of our basement project! Like last week, a lot was accomplished in a short period of time. If you missed any of the project, you can catch up by reading past posts.
Tuesday – Framing
The framing team was back on Tuesday and they officially finished all the framing for the basement by getting the final soffits up in preparation for the HVAC team. I’m honestly so shocked by how quickly this basement got framed out. I’m already appreciating and seeing the benefit of hiring out these major parts of the basement. It would have taken me MONTHS just to do the framing on my own and I probably would have had quite a bit of trial and error. This team did such a great job, so quickly.
Wednesday – HVAC
Wednesday I arrived home from work to find that the team started installing the new HVAC system. They replaced the furnace and AC unit and started routing the ductwork.
Although the furnace replacement was a cost not included in our original quote I’m already happy with our choice to spend the extra $3,500 to replace it. The system (both furnace and AC) were original to our 2002 home.
We opted for a single furnace and AC unit (both Carrier brand) to heat and cool our main floor and the basement. We’ll be using a damper/zone system so although we only have the single HVAC system we will have two thermostats to set the temperature for the different floors.
Thursday – Electrical Walk Through
The electrician stopped by on Thursday and it was so great to be able to go step by step in every room to discuss which type of lighting would be going into each area and where. I love that I was able to point out where we wanted outlets for TVs, additional wiring for LED strip lights, and where we planned to do direct to ceiling and lights needing a junction box.
I plan to write an entire post dedicated to our lighting plan but for now I will give you a high level of my dreams for each space.
- Staircase Landing: Flush mount and a light inside of the cove
- Corner Near Wet Bar Area: Vintage style chandelier
- Wet Bar: Gimbal lighting and under LED Strip Lighting
- Bathroom: Light above the mirror (or two on either side if space allows) and a light/fan combo above the shower.
- Bedroom/Office: Ceiling fan
- Bedroom Closet: Downlight
- Media/Living Room: Downlights and LED strip light in crown molding.
The HVAC team also finished all the ductwork and the rest of the HVAC routing system (all that can be done for now until future steps).
Friday – Electrical Wiring
The electrician came out and wired the entire basement in a single day! He added in all of the wiring for the additional outlets and light fixtures we discussed. He even ran some additional power to the area of the basement that will remain unfinished.
The end of week 2 has tied a lot of work together in a short period of time. We have framing, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC (and a huge hole in the middle of the foundation). They moved at such a quick pace and it feels like we’re already halfway through the work we are hiring out through the contractor.
Next week a technician from the company that did our waterproofing will come out to make sure that our waterproofing system is working properly. If you missed it, last week we had some concerns come up regarding groundwater near our foundation and we want to make sure we won’t have any issue when we have our first round of inspections.
Watching this basement coming to life has already been so exciting for me… and we’re just getting started!
Make sure you come back here to PinchPlateParty.com every weekend for weekly updates. You can follow along on Instagram and Tiktok as well, but I’ll be sharing the most detailed look of the project here on the blog.