Newkirk Wallcovering and Painting

Stripping old sealant - removing basement ceiling This particular basement had plenty of water damage to the existing foundation. Which of course needed to be taken care of before doing any remodeling to the space. To address, some of the basement moisture concerns, I used a masonry waterproofing sealant as described below. The ceiling had damage resulting from a leaking water shut off valve in the kitchen sink immediately above the basement space. As a result, I replaced the entire ceiling in this basement room. Since I had to replace the ceiling, the customer went ahead and had the original lighting fixture replaced with canned, ceiling lights and also had insulation put in between the floor joists.

Removing drywall - installing recessed lights - sealing basement walls All of the old drywall was removed on both the walls and ceiling. Again I was dealing with moisture problems that have been going on for quite some time. With the floor joists exposed I was able to wire up a nice lighting system for the customer. We chose to use a "canned light system" to illuminate the new living area. To combat some of the moisture issues in the basement, I prepared the walls for application of a masonry waterproofer. On this particular job, I used H&C Block Shield Masonry Waterproofer. This product, along with others like it (Dry-Lok), acts as a barrier to hydrostatic pressure on basement walls. I applied 2 coats of the masonry waterproofer to this basement, and the customer reports a significant improvement over previous basement conditions (no more musty smell, lowered humidity, and usable living space whereas, in the past, the basement couldn't be used for living space).

Mystery basement wires Every now and then I'll run into a snag. The ceiling drywall was hiding some "mystery wires" that had to be traced back to the original source to find out if they were live or not. In this case, the original owner couldn't decide whether he wanted a gas stove or an electric one. So we have a gas line running here as well as electric wires. The owner either never had the electric wires hooked up or later shut them off. Judging by the age of the gas stove, I don't think an electric one was ever present. Oh,...and yes,...thats a great shot of my bald spot!

Finished basement Here's a photo taken by the customer showing the new drywall, canned lights, and crown molding at the ceiling. Their furniture is in place and now its time for them to sit back and enjoy the new living space. As mentioned above, the customer reports that he can now use the basement space as living space which was never possible before. In older homes with similar cramped conditions, expanding into your basement is a great way to make that little Cape Cod feel much roomier and it's much less expensive than building an addition. Feel free to contact me at (614) 537 5025 for your basement remodel. Jerry

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