Our latest house project: The Basement!

So, our latest house project was our basement, which I am glad to say, is done for the time being! It was a long time coming, that's for sure! We moved our washer & dryer to our sunroom in late August and now, near the end of October, they are finally back in their rightful places...though, still not hooked up! (We had been bumming free laundry services from friends for about two months.)

Here is a before shot. Notice the very grungy air conditioning duct and rafters. The concrete was just a normal concrete floor...that had not been cleaned in about 50 years. When Rusty was pulling down the make-shift ceiling that covered the rafters (not pictured), he discovered a building permit from 1954!

Here is Rusty storing our power cord after finishing the painting of the ceiling. We had to power-clean, i.e. with our own muscle power, the rafters (with dust masks and gloves) before we were ready to paint. Lots and lots of spiders died during this stage... It took 3 times the amount of paint that we originally estimated...and about 3 times the amount of time too! Notice the beautiful light fixture that replaced one of our naked bulbs!

Before we could stain the floor, we had to get it really, squeaky clean. We swept it a couple of times, fed our hose through our dryer vent because our windows wouldn't open to power wash it and, finally, etched it. Here is Rusty etching the concrete to get it ready for the stain. Look at those bubbles! (Notice the protective rubber booties and gloves! Safety first!) We put 3 coats of stain on the floor and a clear, high gloss sealant to finish things off. Here is the finished product, ceiling and all: (Insert here a resounding 'YAY!!')