basement work

I spent a Saturday and Sunday working in my basement. When we purchased the house it had an unfinished basement. We haven't really done much about it, up until now. Now after a long period of multi-lateral negotiations, we finally have agreed on a working floor plan to create an office, bedroom, and bathroom in the basement. I am sure the negotiations would have been smoother if I had invited the North Koreans to the bargaining table. Once we create those rooms, the remaining area will become a de facto family room.

So far, I have gotten a few walls up. It was a lot of fun to use a pneumatic framing nailer and the "stud gun." I am a lousy nailer, and having the nails driven in so neatly and efficiently was a very nice change of pace. It took a while to get the nailer working properly as the regulator on the compressor was set to forty pounds which was half the amount required to drive the tool properly.

This fall I am hoping to finish the walls of the office and hag sheet rock, at least in the inside. We'll see how much energy I have left after that.

The office is being built to be extremely quiet. The walls are extra thick and I plan to insulate them and hang double sheet rock. The office is also structurally isolated from the joists in an effort to keep the booming of little feet down to a bare minimum. I am hoping for a "fortress of solitude" effect. I am considering putting the computer outside the room and using KVM cables to allow the computer(s) to be placed further away.

I enjoy working with wood. It's nice to deal with a medium where a firm smack can actually be a solution to a small problem.