Renovation catchup, with pictures!

Okay, yes, I’ve been busy. And I’ve been far too lax with all the photographs thus far. Thankfully, Alex has been very good at filling in the blanks.

So, from the top, here’s what we’ve got so far…

We started with a basement that needed a lot of help. Old furnace, wonky wiring, a rat’s nest of plumbing, an appearance that would make That 70’s Show look modern, and a really ineffective layout.

Basement before, Westgate, Calgary, Alberta, 24 March 2007

From there, we went to demolition. Slightly fun, but really, probably the most labour-intensive part of the job so far.

Basement demolition, Westgate, Calgary, Alberta, 29 April 2007

That included the ordering, filling, and removal of a 40 cubic yard refuse bin.

Refuse bin, Westgate, Calgary, Alberta, 29 April 2007

While I was doing that, we start planning out our new basement. Partly so I knew where walls would go, but mostly for the other contractors, who have to figure out where their stuff is going to end up. (Very important for the heating, which needs outside wall access.)

Then we got to the contractors coming in. The first (so far) has been Canyon Plumbing to tackle the sewer rough-in. This will allow a new bathroom in the basement (shower, toilet, sink), and an extension to the northwest corner for the boiler drain and washer drain.

Water drains, Westgate, Calgary, Alberta, 29 April 2007

While this was going on, ordered lumber, insulation, and a toilet so I could start framing the walls (outer and load-bearing) to run electrical, plumbing, insulate, and provide some convenient doors here and there. I’m not quite done (load-bearing isn’t as easy as it looks, and there’s a whack of stuff in the way for the outer wall that’s causing me trouble).

I’ve also had to remove all the appliances except the hot water heater. The worst was the furnace, which had to be totally disassembled before I could haul it up the stairs. I had friends help with the fridge, freezer, washer, dryer, and work bench.

This leaves us with a most-framed, completely-empty basement, ready for the next stage: heating and electrical.

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