Basement Demolition Update

I've been trying to follow my slogan and get things done "10 minutes at a time" and it seems to be paying off in the basement.  It may not look like much, but since my last update I've managed to get all of the tile flooring ripped up (and disposed of in my weekly trash pickup), as well as removing the ceiling tiles and a good portion of the built-ins.

Unfortunately for me, the previous owners decided to do the brickwork properly instead of half-assed like the rest of the house.  Busting out the brick is reminding me that I'm not twenty anymore. ;-)

City Government Resources for Portland Residents

Since I seem to be gaining some traction on this whole basement remodel thing, I've been researching Portland's building codes, rules, and regulations.  Their website is a labyrinth of information, but I managed to find a few key URL's that will most definitely prove valuable to anyone wanting to do a basement or attic remodel "by the book".

Portland Online has a page for Converting to Living Space which has buried in it a link to a guide to Converting Attics, Basements and Garages to Living Space plus all the basics you need to know about the permitting process in Portland, Oregon.

I need to absorb all of the information on that page to see if I need to adhere to the new  stairway building codes, or whether mine will fall under the conversion rules.

Spontaneous Progress!

Today out of nowhere came a spontaneous burst of motivation by not only myself, but both of the kids. I've been promising our 9-year old her own room for a long time now, and she sort of has one, but it is the guest room. The plan is for the guest room to go in the basement so the second main-floor bedroom can be our eldest daughter's own room with her own stuff in it.

So today myself and the girls got busy moving years worth of toys and miscellaneous crap out of the space that will eventually be the guest room.

Before we started

After about an hour of work

Now I realize that all we did was move a bunch of stuff from one room in the basement to another room, but at least I can start demo'ing the space now.

And the Mailbox Goes To...

Kelly Berggren!

As of midnight I had 30 followers. I used a random number generator which gave me 18 the time I ran it. I counted my followers from 1-18 in the order they display on the screen and Kelly is the lucky winner.

Congratulations Kelly, I hope you like the mailbox. I'll send you a message with instructions for claiming it.