Busy Bees

Our basement, once a decently finished space, suffered a bit from this summer's rains, if you recall. Well, after a lengthy demolition phase that uncovered some less than awesome results (turns out, we were sharing our home with a bit of funky mold - not too great for a gal with major allergies!) - we're finally moving on to reconstruction!

But first, I must call attention to our awesome clean-up crew. Of course, I hauled the carpet and padding out myself (pat on the back!) and Hubs started on the drywall, but the real stars were the mold remediation guys - Baker Interiors. They were clean and quick and took our basement from damp to scoring a near-perfect number on the post-cleaning air test. If you are ever unfortunate enough to find some mold lurking in your home, give these guys a call. We were so happy to get an excellent indoor air quality test that we just might frame it.

So, now that we are mold-free (it is the way to be), we've got the basement waterproofers coming in to work their magic so we never have to deal with this again. They'll be digging a trench around the basement perimeter and installing pipes that will drain right to the sump pump. Soon, we'll be right as rain in the basement, no matter how cruel Mother Nature gets.

Once that is done, we've got to wait two weeks for the concrete to cure before we get into the nitty-gritty (aka fun) portion of the rebuild. We're going to have a pro come in to do the studs, windows and the vapor barrier since we aren't up for futzing with the elements that keep the basement warm and dry. But, then it's time for us to roll up our sleeves and finish the drywall, lay the floor and put up some trim - as well as get crazy by building a new bar and creating a more cohesive, less basementy feel to the rooms.

Stay tuned, it's going to be a busy winter! Like little DIY squirrels, we have totally stocked up on nuttiness and projects to sustain us until it's time to get back outside.

What are your winter projects?