Working in the basement

Our basement has been such a long and difficult process. We moved into the house in February 2003 with the intentions of finishing the basement so we could rent it out. It’s taken us almost 2 years, most of which time it just sat there not being worked on because I didn’t know what to do with it.

If it has to happen again, it will certainly be different next time. I’ve learned soooooo much over the past 2 months that I’m now confident that I could do most of it by myself the next time. Over the past 2 months I’ve done the finish work in the bathroom (vanity, medicine cabinet, light, vent, tub fixtures, tub surround, sink, drain plumbing, toilet), in the kitchen (cabinets, counter top, sink, sink plumbing, setting up the stove and refrig), replaced the windows, patched holes in the walls, painted, caulked…

Yesterday I learned how to run electrical. The moron who did the electrical for the place didn’t put in a way to have a disposal (which of course I didn’t think about at the time…because I’ve never done anything like this before), so yesterday I learned how to do it. I replaced the outlet by the kitchen sink with a outlet/switch combo. Then I ran a wire from the box the outlet is in, down the wall, out a whole I cut yesterday, through the cabinets, and over to the disposal. When I was done it all worked! the first time!!!

I learned all about the black and white wires, how the circuits work, and how appliances/lights work. It was really cool.

I’m proud of myself for having done it.