Normandy Park Restoration

Finally don't have to duck when going down into the basement for the first time in a couple of months: Doesn't look like much, but got the 2 remaining joists installed, and the support framing installed so that I could cut the final old joists.  Going to take a while to get the span framed properly, hopefully I'll have that done this weekend. Also installed the first set of 4 recessed can lights, which is officially the first new wiring installed in the house.

Doesn't look like much, but a couple of hours of work and now I have this: They had built up about 8 2x10's as a cross support all nailed together.  Getting that out took a while.  I've also removed the framing and remaining drywall from the back wall.  Later this week I'll work on getting the stairway framing done.  If all goes well I hope to finish that sometime next weekend.

Got the main floor joist installed.  It's being put in to double up one existing joist, so that I can hang my new support beams from it.  Here you can see it going in: Here it is installed.  The prep work, removing the window, pulling the wires, and some other minor items took just about all day.  Here it is installed: Putting the beam in itself was pretty quick.  Probably only took 30 minutes.  The main work will be doing the other framing and replacing the window I removed.  I put some temporary wood over the window as you can see from the outside:

Tearing up the breakfast area, and pulling all of the wires out of the breaker box so that I can put some new floor joists in. Removed the drywall from the wall at the end of the stairs  Had to cut a hole in the floor to get access to the West side of the floor joist  Flooring removed  Had to remove the basement window so I could slide the floor joist in.  Here is all the wiring, pulled from the breaker box through all of the joists I need to alter, then restrung temporarily until I get all the new joists and supports in.

...and freezer.  Here are the new huuuuge units: I have them plugged in and cycling, but will leave the protective plastic on them as I won't be able to mount them for quite a while.  However, I might go ahead and remove the old fridge as these are usable where they are.

It's going to be a while before I can do the terraced landscaping that I want to do, so I decided to clean things up so that the place is at least acceptable until then.  Here is the start:

Cleaned up the side of the entryway.  I popped the cap off that pipe that was sticking up and confirmed the smell of diesel, so it was a vent pipe for the oil tank, so I cut it off.  I then pulled the dirt away from the foundation a little and painted the concrete a shade just a bit darker than the main siding.  I then filled it with river rock.  Here is the result.  Finally I have a decent looking entryway.  That vent pipe was really, really ugly.

After all the framing work I decided to tackle improving the screen in the home theater.  The plan was to wall mount a 4x8 piece of plywood, sand and paint it.  The wall is to be painted the same dark olive green.  Eventually it will be flanked by sound traps or wood panel pieces, haven't decided which.  However, doing the screen was the first step. Here is the bare wall, with the laser level indicating the base center point for the screen:  Here I have mounted treated 2x4's to the wall.  These are mounted with driver nails and liquid nails.  Here I have one coat of paint on the wall, that is still drying:  Now dry with the plywood on the wall.  It's screwed in with the screws countersunk and filled in with wood filler and sanded:  The final result: At first I tried using spray paint for a smooth finish, but that ended up a mess.  So I got some recommended white paint and redid it with a 1/4" nap roller.  The end result looks great.  The plan is to onl