Quick (Or Not) Basement Fix Up

I think the better title for this post is “Amy plans, God laughs.” Or maybe shakes His head and tries to nudge her to look at the baseboards?

Spoiler: this is nowhere near the last you will hear about our basement. Or dungeon of horrors, as it might more accurately be described. But at this point in the conversation, it is simply an ugly basement. And its owner is blissfully unaware of the treats it has in store for her (mwa-ha-ha).

Our basement came with not just one but TWO kinds of paneling. Peter would disagree with me, but I think that paneling is ugly. He maintains that “good” paneling looks nice if it is correctly installed. The next thing you know, he’ll be sporting a leisure suit and listening to Muskrat Love on repeat.

70’s jibes aside, the paneling in our basement was not nice. Three of the four walls were cheap paneling that had been painted white and had seen better days. 

Cheap paneling + scalloped shelves = not our style.

They were bowing in areas and chipped in others. The fireplace (east) wall had tongue-and-groove paneling which was in a bit better condition, but still did not meet up in areas, particularly around the lighted niches on either side of the fireplace. Additionally, the room was dark because it is, after all, a basement. The dark wood trim did nothing to help.

This shot was taken when we toured the house. Those vases and geometric metal thing no longer live here.

My plan:
* Paint all paneling
* Paint all trim white
* Enjoy my basement (cue diabolical basement laughter)

My mom helped me choose colors for the walls and trim. We went with Behr’s Indulgent Mocha, to complement the stone fireplace and Swiss Coffee as a white that would look nice with the stone as well. I read differing opinions on oil versus water based paint to block tannins, but ended up going with oil just to rule out any bleeding. In retrospect, I think I would have gone with water just because of the smell factor.

After taping everything off, I started priming. Our friends Beth and Austin came over to save me from the fumes and help me finish all of the priming. They are amazing at all things related to home diy, having turned their what-have-you-just-bought-bachelor-pad-split into a gorgeous home with tons of unique charm and classic appeal. It’s pretty nice to have friends like that!

Later, my friend Amanda came over to help me paint. Color at last! At this moment typing (and doing some quick math in my head), I realize that she was pregnant and hadn’t yet told me. So Amanda, if you are reading this, I’m really sorry about the oil-based paint fumes. That’s what you get for keeping a secret from me!

As I removed the painter’s tape, I noticed that the trim was actually not solid wood, as any reasonable person would have thought - instead, it was some weird hunter green composite that had been faux painted to look like stained wood. Mad props to the faux painter - until the stuff started peeling off under my painter’s tape, I had no idea! My plan was to sand, then prime and paint over it.

I luckily happened to chat with Beth the morning before I went to get paint for the trim. She suggested that I test for lead based paint before sanding anything. Even though I didn’t want to spend extra money or slow up the project, since our house was built in 1940 (lead based paint was banned in 1978) I figured it would be a better-safe-than-sorry investment.

It turned out that Mr. Faux Painter loved the lead based paint. That’s right - every inch of our basement molding and trim was covered in the stuff. Except the uniquely pristine, brand spanking new baseboards (cackle).

So the trim project stopped there. I knew I didn’t have the ability to redo all of the trim alone and, honestly, I wanted Peter to help me. This was a moment of the Lord’s Providence - I would have been so mad to have to redo all of this later.

Final shots of the basement, as it ended up. 

Picture it with cream trim - and maybe some curtains.

Not perfect - but it was getting there! My new plan was:

* Wait until Peter came home
* Remove all old trim
* Add new, painted trim
* Enjoy basement together!

That worked out like this:

Moldy walls? No insulation? Wha...???

Yep, that’s the same basement. We went from a fully-finished (if a bit ugly) basement to a creepy cellar with no ceiling or walls (the picture above actually looks pretty good compared to what was to come). That’s what 5+ years of unchecked flooding in the walls will do to you!

That’s a post for another day(s). Lots of fun times down there so far. And by fun times I mean I am seriously working off my sins down there because it has got to be my personal version of Purgatory.