Basement Build aka RC and Theater rooms!

[godale03]

Well today we face another delema regarding the basement. The contractor told us that they were going to texture the ceiling. They were doing that because they had to use 8ft sheets of sheetrock and they wanted to texture the ceiling to make sure that the seems never showed. Well when we talked about this we were under the impression that they were going to put that nice swirl pattern that you see now-a-days. Wrong! They came in with a brush and stippled the ceiling. It looks like a cavern in my basement! My wife was so upset she was in tears. She immediately called the contractor and told him that this was the ugliest thing she has ever seen. The stipple is not even and some of the peaks are almost and inch and a half long in some places. The contractor was supposed to come out yesterday to look at it, but he never showed. I am not so sure how he plans on fixing it, and is the solution going to look worse than the problem! So as of now we are at a standstill. If we had accepted the stipple they would be ready to paint. Oh well. It will be done one of these days.

Tom

 

[FastEddy]

Take lots of photos now.

If you dont like it make them change it.
If you didn't request a particular style of texture you are part to blame. Sorry to be so blunt if this is the case.

They may be able to knock the high points off or sand them so it looks like a knock down. No high point should be more then a 16th tall. Have them do a small part to see if it will work and go from there. If not Have them remove it and start over. Hold your line and get what you want. If all else fails, split the difference with him and get someone else to remove it and let him have it re-applied.

Use this as a lesson. SHOW them everything..... Print examples from the net or show them photos from a mag. Never leave it up to the contractor to choose. When it comes to building walls and things of the sort there is not that many choices but now that you are into the cosmetics of it all its about SUBJECTIVE details. From this point on you will need to take an active roll in guiding them. Dont be afraid to stop work if its not going right.

Every day or for every step you should have a sit down and make your wants know exactly with photos or examples to hand him. Its going to take some time on your end but its worth it. For example, If you are close to time to paint, you should have gone to the local Kelly More and chosen a few different paint samples, got a quart of each and rolled them on the walls so you can be sure you are happy with the colors and are sure you made the proper choice. If you leave it up to the contractor, he will go get 20 gallons of the cheapest white paint on sale and whitewash your entire job. He will always take the cheapest way out, not do what is best for you unless told otherwise. If it costs a "Bit" more then so be it. Good paint (That you like) may cost 100-200 more but in the end worth every penny. This is just one example of you needing to do your homework.

On the other hand you can paint the ceiling brown and call it the bat cave. Just think if your wife hates it you will have the perfect getaway.

 

[godale03]

Hey Ed,

Yeah you are right, I should have been more specific with the style of texture. I will take the blame for that. I am finding more and more that if you don't specify, it will not be done. I had to go and remove all the existing outlet covers after they mudded because they didn't remove them prior and they mudded all over them. I can see now that I am going to have to take a more hands on approach. As far as the paint we have picked colors, after matching them with the carpet and tile samples we have. We didn't paint them on the wall, but the color we chose is one that already exists in the house and we like it. We did upgrade all the rooms from flat to eggshell and picked out all the stain and grout colors so we are color coordinated. I was under the impression that the contractor would sit down with us and show us the different options available for a particular segment of the construction should options be available. Wrong again. I am however not going to settle for the ceiling the way it is and will have the contractor rectify the situation. He says that he has another product we can look at. I would have been happy to just have the ceilings painted as opposed to this. Anyway, I have learned that I need to hold hands at this point and I am gonig to make sure I make myself clear on exactly what I want done and how I want it done. I will take my medicine on this particular issue but from now on like you said, nothing gets done until my wife and I agree to what is going to be done is what we want. As it stands now they are going to remove the stipple and go from there. The contractor did say that it had been a while since they textured a ceiling and was really unsure himself as to what the subs were doing. I hope to hear from him today.

Tom

 

[FastEddy]

I learned the hard way as well so don’t feel bad. It seems if their is a choice the contractor will always choose the wrong one. When we were having our house built we had a sit down and walk through every day. I must have seemed like a PITA to the contractor but I got what I wanted and it was the way I wanted it. Need to remember he is your employee and must be managed as such. Use his knowledge and abilities to help guide you into making proper decisions.

My way of doing it is tell him what you want the end result to be and ask for opinions on the ins and outs of doing it. I also like to ask if he has any other alternatives available that I may knot know about. He is a professional and has knowledge of the products on the market and the ramifications if installing and using them.

You as the home owner need to make sure that he’s not leading you on a path of his choice which will be the path of ease and cost cutting so he can finish quicker and make more money. We changed horses several times in our remodel due to contractor’s suggestions. Some made their job easier and some gave us a better finished (Almost finished now) result.

Research, research, research and communicate with pictures and righting. Words get lost and mis construed, words are in black and white and can be looked back on. I keep a note book with everything written down and a file with all the printouts and mag photos of examples.

We both of thought this was going to be easy, Joke is on us!

 

[Monkey Wrench]

That is a bummer, Tom, but the upside is it can be corrected! I don't think any normal homeowner is able to think of every last detail on one of these projects unless they've been through one before. I experienced the same type of problems you have during my basement build out, so don't think you're the only one!

 

[godale03]

Well I grabbed the bull by the horns and decided to call my contractor instead of waiting to hear from him. We had a good 30 minute conversation about the entire remaining portion of the project. It is going to cost us almost a thousand more bones to have them come in and sand the ceiling down. It will cost more if we decide to pattern the ceiling again with something else. The problem is that we do not know if the sub can do that, and we will need to find not only a picuture, but an actual physical location for the sub to look at what we want to determine if he can do it. I am a bit worried at how the finished product is going to look now. My wife just wants to sand it paint it and deal with the waves in the ceiling. I on the other hand want a well finished product free of the waves. My wife however is going to get her way here. I can't stand to have her this upset. I just want her to be happy about the job. This seems the only way to do this. I think we are making a mistake by trying to sand this stuff down. The inperfections in the sanding are going to be far pronounced than than the waves every would have. I am officially worried.

Tom

 

[Monkey Wrench]

Why not just staple astroturf to the ceiling? You can just rip it off Sweetdiesel's front porch!

 

[godale03]

The other problem with Stippling... is that it makes it hard to have a good mounting surface for the pole!

Do you think Sweet D has enough astroturf to do my basement? That could work! LOL

Tom

 

[Monkey Wrench]

The other problem with Stippling... is that it makes it hard to have a good mounting surface for the pole!

Do you think Sweet D has enough astroturf to do my basement? That could work! LOL

Tom

Yeah, well, you need to make proper mounting of the pole a priority!

I'm sure SD has plenty! I think he just covered the seats in his Yugo with a nice, plush astroturf!

 

[FastEddy]

Have then scrape the celing as smooth as they can and do a Knock down over the top. Its the cheapest texture and IMO looks great.

See if they can knock down what you have. May look a lot better and save so cash.

I just got a bid on doing my kitchen and it came to 450.00. .50 per square foot including removing the wall paper.

http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=18305

 

[digger]

Sorry to hear about that Tom. Sounds to me that the contractor is part to blame too. Could ya not get him to split some of the cost, maybe?

Looks like ya need to do a lot more hand holding with them.

Eddy is giving ya some pretty good advice. Be a PITA! They are working for you. Hold out as much money as you can till the job is the way it's supposed to be. They will be gone in a few weeks, you are going to live there.

Good luck with it bro. Tell the wife not to sweat it. You love her and you'll make it right.

 

[godale03]

Have then scrape the celing as smooth as they can and do a Knock down over the top. Its the cheapest texture and IMO looks great.

See if they can knock down what you have. May look a lot better and save so cash.

I just got a bid on doing my kitchen and it came to 450.00. .50 per square foot including removing the wall paper.

http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=18305

I am trying to talk her into doing something like this... however she is still just wanting to sand it down and have them paint it. We are going to have to wait a few weeks however for the drywall people to come back. The contractor said that that is the earliest he could have anyone out to the house. SO now we have to wait a few weeks to see how bad they screw this up! Man.. don't ever do anything custom... just go to SD's house and get some astroturf!

Tom

 

[FastEddy]

Its all part of the game.
Just think how much better you will enjoy it when its done. You will have plenty of time to relax when its all over.

 

[godale03]

Its all part of the game.
Just think how much better you will enjoy it when its done. You will have plenty of time to relax when its all over.

I know... patience is the key. I thought I was doing alright until these last couple of weeks. My wife and I just want it finished. To make matters worse, the new Laz-e-Boy just came in.... Man I can just picture sitting in that thing with a cold beer from the bar, watching the Redskins.

Tom

 

[godale03]

Well, they finally came back to sand all of that nasty stipple off the ceiling. I am proud to say that the pole will now mount to the ceiling with no problem!

I must say I am a bit surprised at how well they sanded it all off. I was expecting it to look a whole lot worse than it does. There is a bit of pitting and some sanding marks that they have to get out, but all in all it is not as bad as I had pictured. The contractor said he will have the drywall folks back out to do a point up on the ceiling as well as touch up a few other spots. Hopefully this week. He is anxious to get a coat of primer on the walls, as am I. I will post some pics as soon as the paint starts to go up. They are also going to start laying the brick for the mantle soon as well. I was hoping that the paint would go up this week so I could spend the weekend tiling, but it appears that is not going to happen. At least something new has happened. They haven't been out to do anything in almost two weeks. Slowly but surely we are getting there. The wife and I have been looking to get an entertainment center for a TV that hangs on the wall, as well as has room for all of my components. That so far is the real challenge. Take care guys.

Tom

 

[FastEddy]

Did you choose the brick color or just tell them you want brick? There is a 100 different colors.

 

[godale03]

Did you choose the brick color or just tell them you want brick? There is a 100 different colors.

We actually went out and bought the bricks ourselves. I found out the hardway with the ceiling... I am not about to make the mistake with the mantle. Everything from this point on will be explicitly defined.

Tom

 

[FastEddy]

Just checking

What color do you want the ceilings sir?
White!

There are 87 shades of white; I know this for a fact...
Gotta love it!

 

[godale03]

Just checking

What color do you want the ceilings sir?
White!

There are 87 shades of white; I know this for a fact...
Gotta love it!

I found that out too! LOL I said I wanted white at the paint store and they pointed me to the " Wall O' White". We ended up going with a white apropriately named "Ceiling White" ... go figure!

You are right my friend you gotta love it.... and laugh about it often! It is easy to see how one could easily loose their sanity doing anything custom!

Hey Ed I am very thankful you have pointed me in the right direction and the right frame of mind during this whole deal... I have asked the contractor alot of questions based on your suggestions.... and those of others as well. Thank you agian.

Tom

 

[godale03]

Well guys.... after a few weeks of no activity on the basement things are starting to pick up a bit. We got all the porclean tile put down as well as a tile called Duraceramic. It is supposed to have all the properties of ceramic without the cold properties and all the labor involved in ceramic. It goes down with Glue instead of thinset and you can even grout it if you want. I chose to not grout. The color I chose was a black and white checker pattern. It looks sweet, and to make it that much better we did the installation ourselves. Saved us a bit over $2K! I will take some pics as soon as it is uncovered. The cabinets for the bar and the bathroom are in and installed, as well as some paint on the wall. So far just the first coat is on. Today they are there putting all the trim work up. The painter is supposed to come this evening, and hopefully the plumber and the electrician can make it this week, as well as the brick layer for the hearth. If they come this week it will not be until Friday. I am not counting on those guys to make it this week. When the contractor says late in the week... he really means Wednesday of the following week. Things are really starting to look great. My father and I are goning to custom make the actual Bar Top and cover it with 6 inch porcelan tile with Maple trim. Anyway... I am excited to see the progress and just wanted to share. This basement has been such a challenge and very time consuming. I haven't so much as looked at the RC's in a month! I will try to take and post some pics tonight.. as long as I will not be in the painters way! LOL Alright guys take care!

Tom