How Suite!

The suite before:

L-R: The main room north wall, The main room west wall, bathroom, the red bedroom, and the blue bedroom.

Impressively 70s, no? There were only two parts of the basement that were drywalled, and the rest was wood panelling or ceiling tiles.

The suite during:

L-R: Dan and his carpet scraping implement, main room north wall, Brian and the main room west wall, and Dan in the red room.

After tearing down all the wood panelling and the ceiling tile, we brought in someone to foam insulate the foundation and afterwards the boys insulated with soundproofing insulation. To make sure that everything was up to code, we brought in a dry waller to hang and mud. The carpet in the main area was glued down in such a way that no one would ever be able to rip it up. During the demolition part of our adventure, the boys took turns scraping the floor with an ice scraper in order to clean the floor properly.

The suite after:

L-R: main room south-west wall, the blue bedroom, and the main room panorama (missing the entrance to the bedroom hallway).

When looking back at what the suite used to be, it is absolutely amazing to compare. There is a subfloor which makes it feel much warmer. The kitchen, though not perfect, is one of the best I have seen in a basement suite with a fair amount of cupboard space as well as a decent amount of counter space... and also not in a dingy dark corner! There is a small (read: tiny) nook behind the fridge in the "front entrance" with hooks and an area for possible shoe storage, though I find there is NEVER enough space for shoes and jackets anywhere! And as seen in the before photos, the main room had a strip of fluorescent lights, we chose to keep that with the copper detailing, but replaced the light diffuser. This, for us, was one of the best parts. The amount of light in the room after turning that row on is impressive. The whole basement was done in a light yellow and white to try and brighten the suite, but we added the blue wall as a punch of fun... though every time I think about it I wish we had chosen a more "mature" colour.