Here's where the magic all started and took me about a year to complete the entire apartment.
I worked all alone on this project and during the first 9 months of this year long journey I was also employed with a 40 hour a week job.
I put in 3 to 5 hours every evening after coming home from work and I spent Saturdays and some Sundays as well. Working till exhaustion, driven by a force of determination and guided by God and the skills and talents he's given to me.
First step:
I busted up the corner of the basement floor and dug down about a foot deep to the main sewer line and tapped into it, I replaced this section of cast iron pipe, converting over to PVC. I then used Fernco fittings which are essentially heavy duty rubber bands with hose clamps and are great for connecting sewer lines .
Using PVC is so much easier and tremendously lighter weight than the old cast pipe. I was astonished at how heavy the section of pipe was that I removed.
After converting to PVC, I then added a shower drain in the floor along with a toilet flange and pipes for the bath and kitchen sinks. While I was at it, and while the basement was still unfinished, I decided to move my upstairs kitchen to another room in the house and add another bathroom where the kitchen had been.
It was now or never and now was the time to do it before installing the ceiling in the basement, closing off access to the pipes and wires. Cause when you move a kitchen and build a new bath, you'll also want to move and add electrical outlets.
So I paused the basement and moved my tools up stairs for 3 months. Keep in mind I had a 40 hour a week job at that time, otherwise I could have finished these projects much sooner.
Here we see what will become the bathroom. There in the corner is the new shower drain. And to the left, you can see the pipe coming out of the wall with one of the black Fernco fittings that joins the PVC to the cast iron pipe. This is not a job for the amateur. Granted I never did this part before, but I knew I could. As Clint Eastwood said "A mans got to know his limitations." I know mine and they are few. I'm Blessed!
Same general direction as the shot above. As a reference- Note the shower floor drain in both photos.
Concreting around the new toilet flange like an artist
Taken before tiling the shower floor.
And now the Kitchen area - wait till you see the next pic...
IT'S JUST A DOOR!
Yes that's true but, this door didn't just magically appear.
There wasn't any door here prior to this project.
When the house was built in 1954. This basement had no outside entrance. So... I hired a contractor who excavated the side of my house and installed a very nice wide set of concrete steps outside. It was the only part of the project that I hired out, not because I don't know how to do it, cause I do but it was a huge undertaking that I didn't have the machinery for, so I thought it was best to just hire out that part of it.
The old window was tiny, so while the contractor was here excavating for the steps, I had him excavate and cut the concrete wall, creating a larger opening. I installed the Door, Window and the Greenhouse by myself.
