Percival Basement – March 2011

 Mark and Kelly Percival contacted HA Construction about finishing their basement after visiting the Remodelers Expo Tradeshow and sitting through one of my seminars.

I worked with Mark and Kelly closely as we established a floor plan that included a living room, bathroom, bedroom, playroom, pool table and a kitchenette. Some very talented ladies (Stacey, Connie and Melody) contributed to the design and finish selections. I appreciate their work on this project and on others.

We were able to choose colors that were warm and inviting for the design. We included a countertop/bar behind the couch, which provides a great place to sit and work on a laptop while watching TV or talking with someone. It’s also adjacent to the pool table, providing a place to sit and watch or keep drinks as you play.

We invented double French pocket doors to divide the playroom from the living room, but also offering the opportunity to leave them open to bring the two rooms together as desired, without the hindrance of large doors in the way. It was very difficult to make them close properly, but, in the end, they looked and worked great.

The ceilings are all finished sheetrock, which is somewhat uncommon – most basements have drop ceilings. I have never been a fan of a dropped ceiling in a basement, because, quite simply, it makes it look like a basement. We want to make it look like part of the rest of the house – perfect for that warm and fuzzy feeling in the winter and ready to entertain with a barbeque in the summer. 

Clients often tell me that they want a drop ceiling because they can use it to run wire, data lines or cable. But, the truth is, people say they are going to run wire, but rarely do – so I just finish it with sheetrock in most cases. Additionally, unless you buy a very expensive ceiling tile (more than sheetrock would cost) the drop ceiling makes it look like a cheap office building in your basement. Fortunately, the Percivals wanted sheetrock.

We did run into a couple of difficult situations, but overcame them well. First, there was no lift station for the bathroom and the sewer line was located at the far end of the basement. So, we framed up and oversized wall and installed a lift station beneath the concrete floor. We then ran the sewer line along the wall and tied it into the existing line on the other side of the basement.

Additionally, Mark and Kelly needed a new back door. However, the walk out basement had 10 inch thick concrete walls that were 10 feet high all the way around. The doorway had to be cut 36 inches wide by seven feet tall. What a dusty project that was! After it was cut, we had to jackhammer it into small, manageable pieces so it could be hauled away. But the finished back door turned out great, giving them the added option to entertain outdoors directly from the basement.

Mark and Kelly were very good folks to work with and I thoroughly enjoyed the time HA Construction spent finishing their basement.

~Andy