I'm gathering kindling for the fire - to which your feet will be held!  Sounds like a great future oriented project - pretty ambitious time line though!  You know the home handyman formula right?  Figure out how long it will take, double that, and then add at least a month!  Good set targets for yourself tho - I know the engineers in my life like those! 

When are you posting the 'before' photos?

Get off the computer and get out the hammer and nails - you have too much to do in too short a time .

The last two moves I've made I took the opportunity to purge - getting things that were not applicable to our family at the stages we were at in both moves.  As we've been here for over 10 years, it's probably time to do so again.  It's hard sometimes to pick and choose what to keep and what to get rid of.

Royal Doulton - don't have any myself - it's beautiful, but not my thing.  I am not really a collector.  The things I have kept over the years have more sentimental value - all different, and coming from different family members and friends.

I don't know much about carpentry or renovating work such as you describe, but I do know everything we've ever done has taken us longer than we anticipated, cost us more money than we thought it would, and problems that we didn't expect arose - hope you have much better luck than us.

Wishing you lots of luck with the reno - what is HVAC?

(I'm sure baby Jesus is thankful for the reprieve).

Funny thing, I just bought a handyman, which I have moved into and will live in until I sell it in the spring. Just finished wiring and updating to 100 amp. service and had a new furnace installed. After Christmas every wall in the entire house (which is small) will be taken down to the studs and redrywalled. Newer kitchen (from Restore) will be installed after that. My goal is to be done by February....we'll see. I've done this before, but I'm definitely not looking forward to the drywall dust from sanding and the whole mess that goes with it.

Keep us posted how you're doing.

Is he related to the roofer?

Oh and talk about "stuff" this house came with the owners furniture(she was 92) included. I have given away half of it, also to Goodwill and because I sold my brand new furnishings with my other house, I am living in a house that looks like it was decorated from the 70's with furniture to match. Haha, life is interesting!

I hope so, I'll need him in the spring. (wink wink, nudge nudge)

I can't even touch a hammer for a while. The week is just for cleaning the basement up - not for doing any construction work.

For reference, after a mad search for some things the last couple of days, our basement has never looked worse than it does right now:

Future rec room

Future bedroom

Future workshop

With all that has happened the last 19 months, the place has blown up. Boxes have been opened and searched for missing household items. Claire has rotated toys around upstairs, which we try to keep in better shape than the basement. We're talking about 1100 sq.ft. of disaster.

Wish me luck.

You can do it !!!!!!

There's a fair bit of stuff!  Make me feel good about the piles in our basement, but then we used to only have an apartment to keep it all in :)  I think my parents expect us to slowly move childhood toys and things like that to our house now too.

My basement stairs tilt to one side slightly.  Both inspectors looked at it and jumped on the stairs.  Everything looks stable and it looks like they were just installed a bit crooked.  If you ever finish the basement would you redo them, or just level them with however we finish them?  Chemguy seems to think that it would be easy to just smooth it out with some carpet or something.

We use our basement mainly for storage, too. There's a rough in for a washroom and a large space that could be a bed or rec room but with a family of 3 in fairly large house, we don't see the need for finishing it. Plenty of room above ground. I know exactly who I would hire to do the job, though. Local guy who built our deck and the book shelves in our den. He's done a lot of basements for neighbours and in the subdivision North of us. If not him, then the contractor my boss hires for reno at work. Nice, no bs tradesman from the UK with lots of experience both residential and commercial under his belt.

Mendalla

Ya gotta watch the guys who talk a good game and sound confident.

Everything we do will not promote mold growth. That bagged fibreglass insulation you see? Gone. That stuff is less than useless.

Just heading to Goodwill now. Last night was a doozy. Carter and my wife were both sick. Fun.

United Church might save your soul yet. tee hee. They take all kinds of stuff for their rummage sales. They usually have a space they fill up. phone around.

Hope wife and Carter feel better soon.

Just finishing off a flooring project -- bought hardwood flooring in late August with plan to be done by end of October.  Cold, back injury and emergent tasks got in the way of meeting the original time line.  Need to install some trim in two closest (cut and stained -- need to varathane0, some transistion strips, grout some tile, then seal it.

Your basement is more frightenin, by a small margin, than our garage.  i wish you well.

Our church takes stuff all year round, I can send you the address if you wish. All money raised is used to. Support toronto charities.

We gave away tons when we moved. It is mostly worthless. Even fine things like Doulton. And expensive furniture Unless it is rare, not worth much and the effort of selling stuff is too much .

Those "Junk guys" you hear advertised are a pretty good bargain. They take a truck full of stuff away for , in our case , $500

And university students usually take anything that is free.

I find if you put stuff on the street the pickets who roam the streets at might will take most things. Though we put out a retro sixties lamp of mydaughters. Didn't get picked up. When I went to take it to the church later I found it had been stripped of its wire for the copper

It could be worse.....you could have pink rugs and a pink bathroom.

Rugs are easy to replace. Tile.....can be broken out or painted.

How's it going chansen . . . getting things cleaned up and organized?

Two unexpected trips to Sick Kids and the Ice Storm Of 2013 kinda conspired against me. Will have to tackle it in the new year now. Dammit.

Hah, Chansen. Your basement looks like our attic in clutter.  Attic has been collecting things that will be used some time, or go into a garage sale...that hasn't happened for 10 years...and kept being planned.  My husband has been making some dent in it over the last 6months, but, oldestson coming home with all his college stuff didn't help.

I want to do a major reno on our main floor.: replace a small sun room with a proper big room and then expand the kitchen either by going through window or through wall...wall takes us into backyard, windows takes us into side yard...I'm starting design in January. I like a small classic-triangle cooking space, but with room for people to socialize with you while cooking.    The big challenge is I would like to introduce a main floor powder room.. we shall see.  I need to 'shit or get off the pot" on this project.  I get that things come up , especially with Carter, but good for you for kicking it off.

I also struggle with the Royal Doultons.  My mom had some, of the very old handpainted and the not so old ones.   You know that at auction sales they can barely give them away, people don't bid for them.  To my Dad they are of "huge value" and a real treasure.  When he gave up the classic three-tier table and the doulton's it was my job to distribue them to folks...including those who do not want them.  I told them that he would never know what they did with them, but, they were getting them anyhow...they could regift them to someone who appreciated them.  It worked. 

It is hard with those items that had emotional value, ie that always was used by ______ at ___________ or, was hungup over _______.  It is less hard on the kitchen stuff and other gadgets, but, I was surprised by people who said "i really want the bowl that Mom made her stuffing in..." or such.  You see, it was the memories that went with the dish, not the value of the dish....and of course, for me, it was the really tiny old brass rocker which I used to get out when the gentle giant theme song came on.  Meaningless for others, but full of meaning for me.

Ditto on toys and clothes.  It is when you realize there will be no more children coming who will need certain toys or clothes...or the sports equpment used by one wont' be used by the other...

good luck in cleaning up ...and may you find folks who will come and take stuff off your hands.

ps. I have a piano that i was supposed to get rid of before Christmas.  Celarly that didn't happen.   It is a beautiful piano for sound, so sorry that I didn't as someone would have loved it......that will be on my spring project

I'm afraid you may be right on many of the Doultons. But there are a couple of them that are sought-after samples and mistakes, iirc. Last I checked, a couple were listed on eBay for ~$1000. The rest were $100 to $200.

Understood, it's like most things...the best thing to be is educated.  My husband is quite good at selling photography gear as he knows the values.  

those Royal Doultons are a dilemma for sure - we have one or two languishing around here too.  When originally purchased they cost a ridiculous amount, as I recall.  As I'm reading, I was just thinking about how some people break old china into pieces & create stepping stones (pieces embedded in cement etc.) for the garden, or use them as mosaic on new projects - might be some potential there!

Still not going to smash them. Nice try.

Repurposing ... think "repurposing" ... not smashing .... (although I'd probably be hard pressed to do so!)

Away until last week, which was Carter appointment after Carter appointment. Back on the basement. Hauling artwork up the stairs to be hung - three years after we moved in. Lots of consolidating, sorting, and box smashing to do.

Some will be sold, some will be donated, some will be tossed.

Kijiji and Goodwill, brace yourselves.

Will take pics at the end of today.

Brought all the paitings, prints and photos upstairs, which immediately turned today into "hanging day," which no longer means what it used to mean. 8 pictures hung, and a bunch more distributed to possible locations.

Aaargh. Good to hang stuff upstairs, but not helping the cleaning progress downstairs.

Doing some electrical work in the basement now to give me some temporary lighting. It's dark down there.

Is it cold, too?

When we moved in to our current house (almost 11 years ago now), it took us about 4 years to get our pictures and art work put up.  Hubby brought art work and pictures home from office at retirement almost 2 years ago, and we just got it put up before Christmas. 

lol Glad to hear I've still got time compared to the rest of you :)

We don't even own any art, but we do have large frames that need filling.

Carter had a neurologost appointment today. I took him. My wife has a communications course tonight for those with special needs kids, so I have the kids. Not a productive day today. Just cleaning the kitchen.

I'll get a pic of one end of the basement when I can.

Productive - but just not in the realm of basement reno!   As John Lennon said once - Life is what happens when we're making other plans". 

Okay, making some headway with the cleanup. Lumber and drywall arrives on Monday, and I still have a lot to do before then, but it's not as bad as it was.

Before: 1 2 3

Now: 1 2 3

I see headway!!

I see 294 2x4 studs and 94 sheets of drywall being delivered Monday, me being away for the weekend, and being completely overwhelmed.

Not an inconsequential part of what's missing in the "Now" pics are boxes of paintings, prints and framed photos. We hung 21 of those items two weeks ago. That took some time to organize.

Carter is also trialling two walkers, so getting his own is getting closer. He needs a good place to learn to run again. I expect he'll bypass walking, just like he did the first time.

The enormity of this is hitting me. On my own, this is a big project. That's 1400 sq.ft. of basement, and 186 lin.ft. of foundation wall.

This is the problem with being an engineer who has some hands-on experience with building - you always think you know more than everybody else. Sometimes, that's true. But when it comes to production and efficiency, contractors can run circles around me. They have tricks I haven't learned.

My goal this time, unlike the decks I built the past two summers, is to pick up the pace. I no longer have weather as an excuse. I'm going to finish clearing the basement, set up a work stand for my mitre saw, and start the clock. Pics after each full day, I promise. With material arriving Monday, I expect to start framing Tuesday, before the new, wet studs all warp on me. New lumber is notorious for that.

Basic framing, even for me, isn't a major issue. It's the windows and all the bulkheads that are going to slow me down, because I'm too fussy.

Procrastinating on WC again....back to work.

Looks like a heck of a lot of progress Chansen. Keep it up!

Hoping your home is fairly square so you don't have to tinker with that also :).

Looking forward to the pics.

Not even close. I don't think I have a straight, simple section of wall more than 15' long.

Called a spray foam contractor today who is close and well reviewed on Homestars. We got talking, and eventually I brought up my son as a reason I'm doing this project. Now I'm getting my spray foam basically at cost. Still about $3200, but better than the $4000 I was expecting.

There are good people out there.

Great!  That is $800 you will have for some other part of the project.

This made me laugh heartily - having grown up with an engineer father & having several engineers in my circle of friends - TOTALLY TRUE!!   My friend's basement has been "in process" for at least a decade now - with thanks to engineer husband who must do everything himself.    On the other hand - when I needed to replace a toilet, and wanted to put in gas fireplaces (not in place of the toilet!!) I knew exactly who to call - I could be certain he'd done all the background checking & deliberating!  So MY life was made easier & faster 

OMG that's a HUGE delivery - I hope your garage is empty!!

Re getting the work done - great to hear about the fee reduction by the foam company.  I wonder if you could put out a call for volunteers (donate a day?)  from the trades somehow - because as you say, getting folks in who know all the efficient work methods can make such a huge difference. I wonder if unions might help at all?  Or maybe churches? (I say that part with tongue in cheek- but I have seen folk rally around to provide such support).  But then again - you'd have to lay aside your "must do it myself" philosphy for a bit ... 

Fark.

"Light and Strong"? No. Heavy and relatively weak.

You are one ambitious dude.  Good luck with your project.  I understand your motivation.  Wishing Carter great progress.

w00t

Now to create space in the basement. My Kijiji ad for free blanket insulation (if they help remove it) had four replies, so I just need to pick one. Guy #1 replied right away Friday but hasn't replied to my suggestion of days. Guy #2 wants to come from Tweed (!) and put the insulation in a Boy Scouts/Girl Guides building, so points for good cause. Surely he can find some closer material? New, this stuff would be $800, but with cuts and holes in it, and on my walls, it's hardly a huge score. He also only has a pickup, so they might not all fit in one trip, so now it's two trips from Tweed, which is 2.5 hours one way. Girl #3 is close, but wants to come look at it first?!? Guy #4 grows Christmas trees, so he has a truck that can take it all, and he's going to send an employee to help me. That would be easiest for me.

If guy #1 doesn't get back to me soon, it's going to someone else. Help me choose?

The idea is to get it gone. I always answer kijiji replies with my neighbourhood and phone number. I tell them that I will not hold anything. I ask them to call me 1 hour before they plan to come over, as there is usually somebody around. If it is still here you can come and get it. If somebody is on the way over, I tell them I will call them back and let them know if it is sold.

Lots of people say they want something really bad and then don't show up. 

Guy #2 bowed out - apparently the Boy Scout building is already insulated(?)

If nothing from guy #1 by tonight, going with guy #4. Girl #3 hasn't committed to anything.

You're right, SnP.

Def guy #4 - interested, has a truck - will send employee to load - don't waste any time!

Amazing day's work to get it all in the garage!  That's a positive step! 

Only took a couple of hours. Moved 10 sheets myself, then had my wife help me with the remaining 84, lol. Still cleaning the basement. Still so much stuff. Pics tonight.