Pennethorne Manor ~ Basement

What I thought would take us a day turned out to be two full days of working on the manor basement.  This baby is not slapped together.  It is built solid and should support the weight of the manor house with no problems.

Yesterday we finished with the base and all the walls cut and dry fitted.  Brian cut grooves for the interior walls with his router for a good solid fit.  As well, I primed and sealed everything.

Today we glued and nailed everything together, adding "support beams" on each of the corners to support the ceiling.  After installing one of the interior walls I realized we hadn't cut openings for the doors.  So much for my note to self!  Brian had to manhandle the wall out after which he cut the opening and I reinstalled it.  Tragedy averted!  Happily, we remembered to cut the openings for the other doors before installing the other walls.

Since I had some dead space at the front of the basement, I decided to use the space for all the wiring for the house.  Brian framed it in and we cut the side panel to accommodate a door.  I'm glad I thought of this as it will hide all the wiring and circuit panels, and maybe even tiny bins full of Christmas and holiday decorations.

After taking up dear hubby's whole weekend I can say that I'm very pleased with the outcome.  He's really a dear for helping me and I can honestly say that, although I'm not sure he'd admit it, he enjoyed himself and is happy with his work.  And can I just say that he's scored major brownie points?!

I'm going to find some decorative molding to cover up the bottom and sides so they look pretty.  I didn't want to have the two braces in the corners on the back, but structurally speaking, they had to be there.  I'll just wallpaper over them.

Up next is wallpapering, creating the floor from those tiles I bought a few weeks back, and crown and base molding.  I've also ordered a simple staircase that will go along the left kitchen wall.  The doors will go in once they arrive sometime in the next month or so.  I ordered them from China because they were much cheaper and I needed at least 6 interior doors for the house.  Since I added the sewing/laundry room I'll need to order another one . . . and then there's the bedroom closet.  I forgot about that.

I'll be landscaping the top of the basement once the house is built and situated on it's new lot.  Now what to do about the front and sides . . . I think some molding, decorative wood pieces and paint ought to do it.

The Beacon Hill dollhouse kit should be here tomorrow . . . fingers crossed!

Basement Build

With the Beacon Hill dollhouse kit well on it's way (looks like Monday it is) I was anxious to get started on the basement.  We spent a good part of the day figuring out plans and cutting pieces.  As we were thinking about how to secure the walls, Brian had a brain child and decided to route out grooves on the floor and ceiling for the walls to be glued and set into.  He's a genius!

This is the base of what will be the basement floor.  It's measurements are 24" X 48".  Brian built framing on the underside for added support.

Cutting walls and dry fitting . . .

After all the pieces were cut, I primed and sealed both sides of the interior and exterior walls as well as the floor and ceiling pieces.  Tomorrow we will assemble everything.

Because I had so much space, I did decide to go ahead and create a sewing/laundry room off the kitchen.  The basement measurements are . . .

Wine cellar - 7" x 17"
Butler's pantry - 10" x 17"
Kitchen - 24" x 17"
Sewing/Laundry - 7" X 17"

There is going to be so much space to play around in!

Note to self:  Cut openings for doors!