Basement Work Weekend 1

Well, we got through the weekend and everyone got along! Our house was a crazy zoo with lots of chaos- but it was good chaos! Joseph, my dad and two brothers got about three quarters of the basement framed. There were a lot of obstacles so it took longer than expected. For example, we called the utility people to mark the lines. Joseph got about half of the egress window (for the nursery) dug when he discovered the GAS LINE a good three feet off (if not more) from where it was marked. Thankfully he didn't rupture the gas line and this problem was discovered before the window was framed and cut! That was by far the biggest snag in the plans-at least that I am aware of!

My Mom helped me scrape tile off of the hardwood floors upstairs in the living room. Once the basement is done most of the furniture in there will go downstairs and we can sand and finish those floors. We had lots of kids around (six total all weekend). The oldest girls (12 & 9) and the boy (6) wanted to help so they moved *200* or so studs from our driveway to the basement! The three kids, myself and mom moved 85 pieces of sheet rock 20 feet from the driveway to the garage which was hard work! Those kids wanted to keep working but we made them take a break!

Joseph will probably get the rest of the stud walls up this weekend. Then it's electrical work, and FINALLY sheetroc, etc. We should get done before the baby is born...

It's fun to see where the walls will be and get a good idea of how it will look in the end! Here are a few pictures. One is taken at the bottom of the stairs looking into the family room (with the support beam). Behind the family room is the nursery. The other photo is our master bedroom.