For years we sequestered the kiddos in the basement. Which meant it looked like an explosion in a toy factory. But the little bastards are growing up, so I decided to reclaim the basement for adult space. I've been working on it for about a month now. Here's the progress so far:


1. I'm converting a 16' wall in this bump-out area into a built in entertainment center. A piece of furniture this big would cost thousands. Much more than I'd spend, so there's that. Plus I like the integrated look, well when it's finished. The top part will be ambient lite with LED rope lighting. All the wiring for the home theater is internal.

Framed
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Sheetrocked, partially mudded, corner beads set. You might be able to notice the 3/4" rounded corners.
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2. Facing the entertainment center is a bar. Not much to look at now. But eventually the floor around the bar will be tiled. The countertop might be solid hardwood flooring or tile, or something else. Suggestions? Inside the bar there will be two outlets, a two bowl sink and cabinets. I'm refurbishing some solid oak wall cabinets that will be used as shallow base cabinets inside the bar.

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3. I also walled off part of the basement which will be used for something. Dunno yet. Eventually the whole basement might be an in-law suite, maybe 5-10 years from now.

Not anything photogenic, just a wall
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4. Finally I'm finishing a full bathroom that's attached to the new walled-off room.
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The nice thing about doing this stuff is that building materials are the cheapest they've been in years. Plus lots of cheap, small lots of nice tile on craigslist.

That is bad ass. Thanks for share and keep us updated. That entertainment center is going to be fantastic. I wish we had a full basement in this joint.

Looking good Matt.

Are going for a projector or a big LCD/plasma TV?

Ruth says no way to a new set. As long we have a good working TV no new flatscreen is coming in.
I’m waiting for a thunderstorm that fucks up my TV so I can buy a new Sony 52 LCD.

Looking very nice. The bar needs a brass foot rail along the front. Perhaps also a hanging stained glass light above it.

Thank You. The brass rail is a good idea. My friends insist I put in a stripper pole, so maybe I'll do that and convert it to a foot rail once the wife complains, or the novelty wears off.


Thank You, In typical fashion, I put the cart before the horse. See, last year I bought a large rear projection TV. It was a fabulous deal as rear projection TVs are out of fashion, great picture though. Anyhow I didn't have a good place to put the TV, which is what got me thinking about redoing the basement.

Thank You. Partly we got this house so we could exile the kids (and their stuff) to the basement. Otherwise the whole house looks like kiddy land. It's the first place I've had with a basement. I'll love it even more once it's a proper man-cave.

Great project!! Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Depending on how much room you have you may want to consider an overhead projector. I have one with a 106" screen. Movies are incredible to watch. So are sports. (and porn)

Looks good Matt. The entertainment center is going to be cool. I have a rear projection too, about 18 months old . If you have the room to put it, they are a hell of a deal compared to LCD/plasma, and just as good of a picture.

I see you're gonna tile the shower. Let me know how it goes, I have to do soon too. Mine doesn't get a fiberglass pan though, the floor is gonna be tile too, so I have to do the whole mud bed thing.

Thank You. I thought about an overhead projector. Believe me, I was tempted. In the end I decided to use the space for an entertainment center rather than a movie screen. In addition to the TV, the entertainment center will create space for audio components, CDs, DVDs, books and some miscellaneous trinket stuff.

Great work. It looks good. You will enjoy the added space.

Thank You, In retrospect I should have created a mud bed. The drain in the foundation did not line up with the shower pan (of course), so I had the extra joy of chipping away part of the foundation and moving the drain. With a mud bed I could have made my shower drain over the existing drain in the foundation. Funny how I think of this stuff after the fact.

Looks good Matt!

When you are done there I have a few projects that you can jump right on. The pay is cheap food is good and always have beer on hand.
Keep up the nice work bud.

Lookin good Matt!

It's been almost 2 weeks.........done yet?

I wish. I'm iterating through the mudding/sanding/mudding/sanding/mudding/sanding phase. 15+ gallons of mud so far. Maybe the walls will be ready for primer this weekend. BTW, I'll have the right arm of Hercules before this project is over.

I'd post some more photos, but despite all my mudding and sanding, there isn't much visible progress. Next week I'll prime/paint the walls and lay some tile (hopefully). That should be enough visible progress to justify more photos.

......waiting........

I know, I know. Can you believe how slow I am? Still muddin' & sanding, sorry. However the drywall in the bathroom is done. The wife primed it last night. She'll likely paint it sometime this week. Then I'll tile the floor and shower.

I'm living vicariously through your post ... we moved without finishing the basement in the old house, June of last summer we were in anew place, and it's c r y i n g out for a finished basement!!


I need some motivation.

Take your time ... I'll keep checking back..

Gave up did ya?

I can't blame you for thinking that, but no, just busy with other crap.


Anyhow, I do have some progress to report.

I finally finished mudding and sanding the entertainment center. Here it is primed and painted. The next step will be adding hardwood shelves and trim.
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Finished mudding and sanding the bar as well. Also installed the tile floor and built the inside cabinets. Countertops will be done next.
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Drywall, paint and tile are done. Installing baseboards and fixtures will be next.
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In the bathroom, my wife has gotten a little ahead of herself and put up decorations.

We do have some talented people on this board.

Good work Matt.

Looks fantastic Matt! Truly envious of your talent & know how