Room Prep: a LOT to do

 Our basement is a blank canvas. Because in our original plan I was NOT going to put the layout in the basement I made the short sighted decision to make the ceilings only 8’. 

The benefit to doing this was that the process of plumbing and wiring the house was made simpler. Since I actually built this house the lower ceiling made all the mechanical work a little easier, not a bunch of ladders and low scaffold. Physically I was running out of time. My knees were shot out by then, so what ever I could do to get the house done, we did.

I’m now taking 2023 off to get both my knees replaced. Ugh.

As per building code the concrete walls needed to be draped with an insulation blanket, which I did. What I want to do now is put a wall in front of that blanket. If I stud floor to ceiling with 2x4’s, flat, 2’ on center, and over that some sort of board, I’ll attach the layout to that.

Originally I was thinking drywall. However I’m now thinking of OSB plywood. It’s cheaper that drywall currently. It’s 7/16 thick, or the same thickness. It will allow me to mount the layout benchwork at ANY point I want, with out the search for studs. It will be, at least in the areas where there is layout, covered by the layout floor to ceiling, so cosmetically it should be no problem.

Traditionally one would conceal electrically wiring inside these walls, but I might run the wire on the outside of the OSB, surface mounted. In those areas where I use drywall, the entrance Hallway and crew lounge, I will wire wall outlets conventionally.

We will probably go with T-Bar ceiling at 7’ (+/-) and I will install light panels as needed, going with the LED “shop lights” I found on line. For me more light is better.

The HVAC already conditions the space, I will simply drop the registers down the couple inches. Over the past several years I have found the basement to be extremely stable as far as temperature goes, my only fear is it might get too hot with bodies. 

Flooring is still, ironically, up in the air. No decision has been made. Under the layout is already devoted to storage, but what is slated to be stored must be cut down! Tax records and important paperwork can’t be helped, but the life times collection of junk has got to go.

I’m still looking at six months of rehab on my knees, but room prep is GOING to start this year. 


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