Basement-in-progress

We're finishing our basement. And by we, I mean the contractor and I. :) Three weeks ago, it was one big, open space, with the stairway basically cutting it in half. Now, we have framed three bedrooms, a bathroom, a utility room, a photo studio, and a half-bathroom. Electrical and plumbing work is almost done, and drywall is up in most of the rooms. The contractor started mudding the drywall on Friday. We haven't started yet on the man-cave part of the project; we're trying to get the girl-country side done, so we can move the kids downstairs.

I've learned a lot so far. I've done some framing before, but with this project we had to make the framing fit around the existing ductwork, so that was a challenge. And I got to set all the walls, which meant drilling down into the concrete, and using special bolts to secure the framing to the floor. I didn't do any of the plumbing myself, but I watched. I did do some of the electrical! I pulled wires, and attached them to junction boxes, and on Friday I wired a bunch of electrical outlets. Don't worry, none of those wires were hooked up to breakers yet. Drywall is not as easy as it looks, but it's also not complicated. I haven't done any of the mudding, yet; I've just watched. There's something about mudding.... ever since I was a little girl, I've found it mesmerizing. I liked to watch my dad when he finished the basement in our home, when I was about 10. Maybe I'll give it a try on Monday...

My hands are not happy about all this contruction work; they're very rough, and all my nails are broken. But oh, well. Nails grow back, and I'll pamper my hands when this is all over. I haven't knit a stitch in three weeks, partly because I've just been too busy, and partly because I don't want to snag the yarn with my rough, dry skin.

I'll post photos when I have some; I've been so busy working that I haven't been documenting the process with my camera.