And now for something completely different. With all our recent forays into duct work we've been trying to improve the airflow in the basement. First came the new register at floor height to act as a vacuum for all the air added by the vents. Then we improved the outflow from the vent farthest from the return, with the expectation that air will cross the whole basement to maximize circulation. This week we added a pass-through vent to link up the space below the new vent and the laundry room, which does not have a vent of its own.
Here's how things started, as seen from both sides. Step One: Identify where you want the vent. In this case it will go in the second opening from the wall about two feet off the ground.
Step Two: We wanted the maximum airflow so we cut a 14x6 inch opening that just fits between the studs.
Step Three: The studs provide two sides of the necessary framing so we attached a couple of cross pieces to complete the square (or rectangle if you want to get technical).
Step Four: With the box made we need the metal to make our mini-duct. At any DIY store it's easy to find a sheet, in this case 34x16 inches. With the gap between the sides the width of only a standard 2x4 we needed about 4 inches depth for our duct. Some metal bending and duct tape complete the inset.
Cutting sheet metal is a whole lot easier with the right tool. If scissors and pliers ever mated their offspring would look like this. Somehow the leverage is multiplied to let you cut metal as if it were paper.
Step Five: Attach the vent covers and appreciate your handiwork, again seen from both sides.
We've modified that old saying because that seems to be our approach to the house lately. Two good cases in point.
We've never really been happy with what the first contractors did to the stairs down to the basement. They took our nice maple treads and gunked them up (a non-technical term) by sinking the screws and applying about a 1/4 inch of wood putty that has never dried and collects dirt and grime. Unwilling to live with this any longer we decided to pull up the treads, refinish them (the stain we used wasn't durable enough for foot traffic), and reattach them with new screws and no putty. Sounds simple, right? Here's what the treads looked like unmolested.
There are two steps from the landing up to the kitchen so we decided to start there. Each tread had four screws so we'd just clear out the putty and power unscrew them. Un-uh. The first problem was that our contractors used Robertson screws. If you aren't familiar with these, here's a picture. So we needed a new bit for our drill. We think it was the hardness of the maple and the hardness of the old wood (probably oak) that they sit over but something made half of the eight the screws unresponsive to power or manual screwdrivers. With no ability to take them out the conventional way, we had to resort to using drill bits capable of metal work to weaken the screws.
Four trips to Home Depot in two days to purchase various needed tools (the screws broke 3 drill bits), several hours of drilling, and finally the assistance of a rubber mallet finally got the treads up. Here's how we started:
Here's the top tread off. The random pieces of wood used to provide leverage for the pry bar.
Here's the offending tread once liberated.
And here's how things stand now. We'll rebuild the steps with refinished treads and new maple shoe molding and risers.
In other news, as we neared completion on the basement bathroom it was painfully obvious that it was too small for normal-sized humans. If we lived in the Shire it would have been just fine. We thought, "let's punt that project until next year" but a feeling of "in for a penny, in for a pound" got the better of us and we've started the process to move one wall about three feet. Our lifesaver contractors are doing this project while we focus on other jobs.
Here's a reminder of what we were working with. To the left of the door the distance to the wall was about three feet.
That translated into a very cramped little room.
Here's the reframed wall that is 40 inches from where the old one used to end.
This is the inside of the new wall. You can see along the cinder block wall how much space we've added.
With the removal of the wall that held the water lines and wiring for the light we'll have to move those and the drain for the sink.
When you dig up a cement floor to move a drain you end up with a pile like this.
As promised, here is the first of a series of complete retrospectives taking a room from before through reconstruction to completion. This will be orgy of photos of our main bathroom.
Here's how we found it. Can you believe that we still decided to buy this place? From the grey-and-white color scheme to the half-hearted updating that added a brown tile floor and accent in the shower. It was your basic disaster.
Of course the beginning of any renovation is the demolition. This was our first experience with seeing a room taken down to its bare bones. Something of an eye-opener for us. Fortunately there weren't any signs of water damage, but we'd never seen the underside of a cast-iron tub.
Here's how things looked as we started the rebuilding process.
Our first idea was to go all white to match the new white tub. And a bright yellow color on the walls. Alas, that's not how things stayed.
After realizing that white wasn't the right style, we had that taken out and launched into our second design of the room. This time we included a nice personalized accent border. But we were still working with the yellow color.
Ta-da! Here's the finished product. The final tally is:
new floor, new toilet, new vanity that we stained, new counter top, new sink fixtures, new mirror, new window, new blinds, new decorative touches...
...new shower tile, new shower curtain, new curtain rod...
...new shower fixture...
...new door, new switch plates, new exhaust fan, and new paint throughout.
