If these walls could talk

They'd tell you they were poured on a rainy day but seem to be setting just fine. They'll have the weekend to firm up and the forms come off Monday! Then it's time to paint the ceiling and call 'er done for now. We'll go back add stain the floor in a few months when they've fully cured. 

Permit for upstairs is now in hand so framing will begin soon!!

Floor poured!

All shiny and new... for now

The new floor was poured today. Doesn't it look great?! We'll have it all dirtied up in no time I'm sure. There's still a lot of residual dirt on the old floor in the center of the space, and by the time everyone's in and out for the wall pour, it won't be nearly as pretty so I'm enjoying it now!

Drains installed!

Digging is done, and the trenches for the french drains are dug. Now we just need the rocks and pipes laid, the plastic sheeting put in place, and we're ready to pour some concrete.

Looks like a party to me

Shannon got a little creative with the lighting downstairs...better than nothing I guess!With the flags marking lines (so they don't get accidentally cut or jackhammered), it's looking like a real party downstairs. Good news is work is going well and pretty quickly. It's impressive what three grown men who do this every day can accomplish in just a few days :)

The big dig

 

It's not a clean or quiet job, but it's officially begun and we're thrilled with the progress already.  Here's a sneak peek. Gotta love that georgia red clay!

The guys are already to the edge of the western wall.  You can see how the walls were built right into the ground. Except that ground used to entrench upon about 6 feet of floor space in the basement. Can't wait to see it all finished and sealed. We sure could use the storage!

The plan

After phase I (when we first bought the house, and mostly before we moved in), we took a couple years to live in the space and tried to work on smaller projects... Until now. We're so excited to *finally* be in phase II. 

Here's the master plan:

Taking some time between phases I and II really helped us know how we move through the house and use the space, which informed a lot of our decisions for the following 2 phases. Phase I was mostly making the house livable, and phase II has some major changes. Can't wait to be into phase III aka the home stretch.

Progress

To the recycling center we go!