4.22.2008

basement update

We have been working hard on the basement. It's mostly waiting on me right now. Cameron had to be "let go" from doing any kind of work on the mudding and taping. Sorry Honey, but you suck! ( and he knows it!) It's been up to me to get it done. The only time that I have to work on it is when Maren is taking a nap and when all the kids go to bed at night. It has been hard to go fast and really feel productive, since every single free minute, without kids, is down in the basement. I am only on the 2nd coat of mud, and from what the "experts" on You Tube have told me, I need at least 2 more. It's amazing what you can learn on You Tube! I'm getting really tired of doing it. So I have been calling around to see if we can get someone out to finish the rest of the mudding for me. What they would be able to do in 2 days, will probably take me another 2 weeks. This is what it all looks like as of now.

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The door at the bottom on the stairs is a small full bathroom.

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The 2 doors in the corner are to Cameron's man cave, and the storage room.

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The part of the wall that goes in will have all built in cupboards that Cameron is going to build. It will hide that super ugly pipe sticking out of the wall and ground. We will also put a cabinet in front of the electrical panel to hide that. You'll just open the cupboard door to be able to access the panel.

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The bathroom that has caused so many problems. When the walls for the bathroom were measured to be put up, it was measured for only the size of the bathtub, which didn't leave enough room for the toilet. So, Cameron had to move the entire wall back 3".
DON'T READ ON IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH!
In the process, he managed to shoot himself in the middle of the hand with a nail gun. This is one of those big heavy duty nail guns used with an air compressor. He was in the storage room working from the back side of the wall and I was in the main room when I heard him start yelling. I went in there and caught the tale end of his swearing rant. (They were only mild swear words. I was proud of him for staying PG-13.) The nail went in and stuck in the bone, which stopped it from going all the way through. He kept working for 3-4 more hours. He was very tough! Until, I made him go and get a tetanus shot. He said he didn't want to get one because it was going to hurt. HELLO!! But all is good now, no permanent damage.

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Sorry to all of you sick-o's out there who like blood and guts. The picture is blurry because I wasn't looking through the camera to get the shot. I wasn't about to look at it. I don't do well with blood!

9 comments:

Lindsay said...

Steph, I have always been a real do-it-yourselfer but I don't think I would have the stamina to mud and tape all of that basement. That is a lot of wall! Cam, I just showed the picture of your hand to a hand surgeon and he said it's amazing that you didn't hit any nerves, tendons, or arteries and didn't shatter the bone. He has seen patients who have been injured by a nail gun and most of them lose feeling or function in their hand. Can't you just use tape?

thekerrclan said...

OUCH!

The basement is going to look great -- of that I am sure!

Nicole said...

WHOA! You ROCK Steph! and all this time we thought it was Cameron with all the building talents! You amaze me with mudding and taping. You go girl! AND HOLY MOLY the basement looks AWESOME! :)
Ouch Cameron. I hope you are feeling better and you really are lucky! Ouch Ouch Ouch! I am cringing thinking about it. I hope you are ok. Great job to all of you!!

Robin Pedersen said...

STEPHANIE: The older I get the more I want to pay people to do things for me. I am so PROUD of you mudding and taping. I will help when I come. I can do ANYTHING between shoulder and knee height.

CAMERON: I would like to say that in my 19 years of living with you I only heard you swear once...the day I ran over your foot with the car. When your wife, mother and grandmother tell you it's time to get a tetanus shot, you better DO IT.

gs said...

Steph: could you dash off a list of both things you're not good at. I should feel better about myself then.

Cameron: Yea, what your mom said.

ps-you guys are rockin 'n rollin in the basement.

Summertime Designs said...

Stephanie, I am sorry that I have not been up-to-date with reading people's blogs lately. I have been looking at your pictures and you are an AMAZING photographer! I just love to look at your photos!

Cory is into watching all these home improvement shows (his favorites are Holmes on Homes and Flip that House). Anyways, looking at your basement pictures reminds me of watching those shows with him. That's so awesome that you do this yourself! I remember when you and Cameron were first married and Robin was telling me about the furniture that YOU YOURSELF built. You are so talented! I'll check back in later!

Carrie Anne said...

Wow! Of course it looks amazing, but are you sure if you hired someone they'd do as well as you'd do?:) You're pretty talented!! I can't believe Cameron shot a nail through his hand! Hopefully that will be the worst of the injuries, right? Wow! I think my favorite comments on your posts are Cameron's mom's. So FUNNY!

Alison Day said...

Wow! You guys have been busy! We should meet up at the lake some time this summer. I can't believe how big your kids are getting (time goes by WAY too fast!)

C Ped said...

Just pay someone to do it. I'm all for doing it yourself, but when you have microscopic amounts of time to do it and it starts taking forever, then it's just gets annoying. But if you still don't have it done in a few weeks--like early June-- I'll TOTALLY fly out and help finish mudding and painting. Awesome!!