So the fun begins on my Basement Renovation

[TDIGUY]

Got another progress update,
I got most of my storage moved into the new space I closed off.
That allowed me to pull down the rest of the walls at the bottom of the stairs and WOW did it really open up the space when you come down.
I started to pull down the Laundry room wall as well but I could only get about 3' since thwe power for the furnace and water heater ran across the wall and up into the ceiling to be powered from the main panel in the garage not the house panel.

I will need to re-route the wires so I can pull down the next section of the wall.

Picture 1 is taken from the bottom of the stairs where it used to be a small dark hallway
Picture 2 is taken from the opposite side of the room looking back towards the stairs.
Picture 3 is where I pulled some insulation. Everything is clean and dry so far. I do know some spots will need the insulation replaced, mostly around windows or where mice had gotten in near an unfilled hole in the wall.

Current project is putting in some temporary lighting. I added a couple boxes and I am working on hooking them into the one light still hooked up. Hopefully finish that tonight. Was last nights plan until the flu bug hit the kids pretty hard last night.

[TDIGUY]

So not much progress for the last couple months as my work focus has shifted outside for the long list of outdoor projects that are lining up. But I have been slowly picking away at a few things and fine tuning/planning my next steps. One of the main ones I am stuck on right now is Electrical.

I mentioned earlier that I have my main panel which is 200 amp in the Garage, from there there is a 100 amp sub panel in the laundry room that is the power for the house.
The exceptions being the AC, Pool, Furnace, Water Heater and Dryer are all from the main panel not the one in the basement.

There are not enough circuits in the basement panel to complete the basement so I need to figure it out so I am not running everything from the main panel which would add a good 40' of wire to each circuit I run.

I have narrowed it down now to 2 scenarios.

Number 1 is to replace the sub panel in the basement with a 200amp panel but keep it on the 100amp breaker. This will give me room for an additional 36 breakers and since all the heavy loads are off the main panel the 100 amp should be more than sufficient.
The current wire is Copper 2AWG so i should potentially be able to increase to 125amp as well if I want a bit more power. (need to look into this still due to the length of the run.)

Number 2 is to leave the current panel as is and use the 6awg wire that was for a previous hot tub that was outside and the 50amp breaker in the main panel to install a second sub panel next to the main panel. this also gains me more circuits than I would need and also increases the amount of power in the house to 150amp between the 2 panels instead of adding the additional circuits to the same 100amps.

Personally I like the cleaner look of 1 panel but it would be a lot more work to swap everything over to the new panel than to add a second panel plus the additional power availability.

Looking for input, let me know what you think.

[TDIGUY]

Progress was slow over the summer but now I am getting moving again.

I have most of my walls framed and i got a start on my electrical rough in. Almost all the boxes are installed and ready to go and I am starting to run the wire now.
I have 2 walls left to frame so I can finish my electrical but they are both on hold until other work is completed. Fo rthe one i need to move a gas line and a couple water lines and for the other I need to move the water heater.

I am going to be switching to an on demand water heater and moving it to a new location but I need to finish other work and run some new water lines first.

It is nice to start to see some progress though.
I am hoping to have the 2 bedrooms done by the end of the month but I think that is going to be pushing it since I don't get a lot of time to work on it.

[good2know]

What did you decide re electrical panel setup?

[TDIGUY]

Originally Posted by good2know

What did you decide re electrical panel setup?

I went with the new 200 amp panel to replace the current panel.
It is sitting in the box waiting to be installed. Hoping to get the electrical rough in done in the next couple weeks then do the panel and get my inspection so I can move on to the next project on the list.

[TDIGUY]

the expensive part now is the number of AFCI breakers I found out I need with the latest version of the code. If I don't touch the upstairs wiring I still need 7-8 i think for the new circuits downstairs and at $75+ per breaker it's not cheap. So much for the standard breakers that came with the panel.

[TDIGUY]

Some of the fun I had this summer was Grinding the mortar from the old bathroom floor and removing the old shower pan.

[TDIGUY]

I now have most of my framing done, a couple small spots left but I am now waiting on getting a plumber in to move a couple drain lines that are in the way as well as roughing in the drain for the new kitchenette.
I am replacing the water heater with on demand which will be moved to a different location then I can finish the last section of wall I am working on in that area.

Most of my rough in is done for my outlets other than a few dedicated circuits and the home runs. then on to the lighting so I can get my inspection.

Trying to get the inspection done soon since I have pulled most of the insulation now and will be having the basement spray foamed hoping to get it done before it gets really cold.

It is hard trying to work around the existing while still needing to use the space. My parents have had to move in with us for the winter while they sell their house up north so i made a temporary room for them to use while we finish the other areas and set up a small TV area for the kids to hang out.

It is nice to have an extra set of hands to help out since my parents are here, hoping it helps speed a few things up to get closer to the next stage of the project.