Day 7 - Upper Shelf & Pine Panelling

Day 7,8,9 ish all merged into one post here.  With the push on I took a day of vacation to work on the basement (which turned into 3 hours vacation basement and 4.5 hours of office work, oh well), worked a few evenings, took a short day at the office to work on the basement to make up for the first vacation day, and wrapped it all up Saturday which was deadline day.

Disclaimer

The usual disclaimers apply -- I'm not a professional and this is total Do It Yourself (DIY) project.  Seek professional input prior to attempting this project.  It is NOT an easy project and requires a significant amount of work, knowledge and capability.  Make sure you fully understand all relevant design, structural, and geotechnical aspects, including the building code and applicable bylaws prior to starting.  Any doubts, hire someone qualified :)  We've had good success (so far), but that isn't a prediction of success at other sites.

The top shelf was made differently than the bottom.  Inside of built in place, with 16" joists (and hangers) I built it like this:

• Frame was built as complete as possible, than lifted the shelf into place.  By building ahead of time, it was much easier to use screws to fasten the joists and didn't need joist hangers.
• Back 2x4 ledger was bolted to the wall.  
• 24" centres were used for the joists as this shelf didn't need to hold a person nearly as often as the bottom shelf, nor will it have a washing machine or drier on it.

The top shelf became  the "use up the scrap wood" initiative.  I was tired of back and forth trips for lumber to Rona (thank's Dave for those gift cards!), and also tired of wood sitting is the garage for years.  I was laminating two, 1/2" pine pieces into 1" lumber for blocking, I used up a 2x4x12 cedar piece from the first Front Porch project, used up some PT from the Play Structure project, etc.  In terms of 2x4 off cuts, the biggest pieces at the end of this job left were a few 6" pieces, but more generally only 1-2" off-cuts.  I was quite proud! 

Once the frame was installed, 1/2" plywood was installed quickly.  I paid little attention to getting to perfectly lined up at the front as I just used a circular saw to cut the front flush at the end.

We found 5/16" x 4" v-board pine wall panel at lowes on sale.  This was great, since it was a fairly cheap wall covering, and meant no drywall, taping or mud!  For a little insight into my mind, here is costing out the drywall vs wood:

Wall height	wall length	sq feet
3	28	84
7	28	196
7	28	196
7	25	175
	total sq footage	716.1	sq feet
	drywall cost	0.25	$/sq foot
	rona pine	0.55	$/sq foot
	lowes pine (on sale)	0.46	$/sq foot
	drywall	179	$
	dry wall delivery	50	$
	dry wall mud+tape	50	$
	drywall cost	279	$
	lowes pine	332
	rona pine	394	$, assumes free truck use
	extra cost to use rona pine	115	$
	extra cost to use lowes pine	53	$

At $53 extra for wood, it was a no brainer for me to go with the pine.

If you haven't already, catch up with this project by reading about the other parts of this project (clicking will open the link in a new window):
Day 1 -  Chipping out a the sump
Day 2 - Chipping out the perimeter trenches
Day 3 - Placing the Waterguard and dimpled membrane
Day 4 - Plumbing the sump and taping the membrane
Day 5 - Pouring the concrete floor
Day 6 - Membrane and lower shelf

And now for the photos.

Here you can see building the upper shelf frame.  It did require a little creativity working around the jack posts.

Here are the front wall panels for the top shelf.

The photo below shows the top shelf ready for bolting to the wall, and the front wall ready to support the shelf.

All installed!  If you look closely you'll see the laser level line on the wall.  This project relied really heavily on the laser level, To keep the shelves and panels level across the basement, the laser level was pretty much on the whole time. Although the tripod on the level sucks, this Johnson laser level was well worth the $90.  Near the end after bashing my hands and head a few times, I ended up singing the merits of a laser level to "I will survive", by Gloria Gaynor (keep that tune in you mind well you sing this)

At first I scared
I was petrified
Making shelves square in a basement was a nightmare
but then I got a laser level
and everything worked out just fine
oh oh ya, i will survive.
And then I said, doesn't that look good,
man of man the shelves are great
da da da da da da da da daaaaaa

and on and on.

Top shelf all framed up:

Pine panels installed on the front of the shelves:

And now the pine is installed on the walls as well and the shelf is completed.  Here is the final shelf, with a before after to boot.  Quite an improvement we think.


Doesn't take long to fill up :)

Day 6 - Membrane and Lower Shelf Started

Day 6 and I've started the membrane and lower shelf.  You may have gathered this isn't actually day 6, more like Part 6.  Anyways, my son's birthday is coming up and we need to move boxes back downstairs.  Nothing like a deadline for motivation.

The plan is to cover the entire bedrock area with 2 large shelves.  We'll get a lot of storage and usable space.  Part of the lower shelf will also eventually be home for the washer and dryer.  Right now you have to walk up a hill to access the dryer, it'll be nice to get the dryer to a usable location.

If you haven't already, catch up with this project by reading about the first three days of work (clicking will open the link in a new window):
Day 1 -  Chipping out a the sump
Day 2 - Chipping out the perimeter trenches
Day 3 - Placing the Waterguard and dimpled membrane
Day 4 - Plumbing the sump and taping the membrane
Day 5 - Pouring the concrete floor

Day 7 - Final shelf and panelling

Disclaimer

The usual disclaimers apply -- I'm not a professional and this is total Do It Yourself (DIY) project.  Seek professional input prior to attempting this project.  It is NOT an easy project and requires a significant amount of work, knowledge and capability.  Make sure you fully understand all relevant design, structural, and geotechnical aspects, including the building code and applicable bylaws prior to starting.  Any doubts, hire someone qualified :)  We've had good success (so far), but that isn't a prediction of success at other sites.

I used a 6 mil polyethylene membrane, with the goal of reducing moisture coming from the bedrock encroachment in the basement.  The vapour barrier was tacked to the wall with acoustic sealant, then firmly attached with strapping.  I used the Ramset nailer again. 

The lower shelf will sit on a short wall.  I laid out pressure treatment 2x4's for the base plate to get the initial alignment as shown below.  I used PT since it's touching the bedrock floor and there may be some moisture seeping from the bedrock.

I used a laser level to shine a line across the bedrock to see what the lower shelf height would be.

 Here you can see a slightly better view.  The laser level was really handy to find the wall / shelf height.  Basically the shelf will be just a tiny bit higher than the highest point of the lower part of the bedrock.

With the wall height known, I rigged up small fence on my chop as seen below.  It lets me make fast repeatable cuts by just sliding the wood to the stop block and chopping.

A quick check was made before I went ahead and cut all the wall supports.

Once I had the wall supports, I  fastened them to the base plate PT 2x4's.

Flipped over the wall, and marveled at how fast this was going.  The base was secured to the bedrock floor using the ramset fasteners again.

I'm really starting to appreciate the speed of the concrete nail fasteners.  Here is a quick video of securing a support post under the frame, using the concrete nails / ramset and a palm nailer.



The lower shelf is 5' feet deep.  So, it'll hold a lot of stuff, the washing machine, driyr, and be the access for the upper shelf.  In order to stand us to the load, I built the shelf fairly strong, starting with a doubled up 2x4 beam at the top of the wall.   At this point it started to sink in I was using a lot of lumber for one little "shelf".  Thinking about it a bit more, then lower shelf is basically a large deck, 23' x 5' to be precise.

I used some temporary supports to keep the frame level and started adding the joists.  I got to use my palm nailer for the joist hangers so I was happy about that.  It's a fun tool I don't get to use too often.

Here is a photo of part of the lower level, with the membrane installed underneath as well.  To secure the membrane at the bottom, I tucked it in behind the waterguard drainage channel and held it in place with drainage stone.

Here is a photo showing supports under the span.  I put them there because this is where the washing machine will end up being, so I wanted to to be well supported.

If you haven't already, catch up with this project by reading about the first three days of work (clicking will open the link in a new window):
Day 1 -  Chipping out a the sump
Day 2 - Chipping out the perimeter trenches
Day 3 - Placing the Waterguard and dimpled membrane
Day 4 - Plumbing the sump and taping the membrane
Day 5 - Pouring the concrete floor

Day 7 - Final shelf and panelling

Interior Weeping System: Day 5 - Pouring the concrete!

Day 5 was pouring the concrete trench.  It felt like a huge accomplishment once done, really felt like a huge step in the whole process.

If you haven't already, catch up with this project by reading about the first three days of work (clicking will open the link in a new window):
Day 1 -  Chipping out a the sump
Day 2 - Chipping out the perimeter trenches
Day 3 - Placing the Waterguard and dimpled membrane
Day 4 - Plumbing the sump and taping the membrane
Day 6 - Membrane and lower shelf
Day 7 - Finishing the final shelf and wall

Disclaimer

The usual disclaimers apply -- I'm not a professional and this is total Do It Yourself (DIY) project.  Seek professional input prior to attempting this project.  It is NOT an easy project and requires a significant amount of work, knowledge and capability.  Make sure you fully understand all relevant design, structural, and geotechnical aspects, including the building code and applicable bylaws prior to starting.  Any doubts, hire someone qualified :)  We've had good success (so far), but that isn't a prediction of success at other sites.

We poured 17 x 30 kg bags in 2 hours using a small electric mixer.  I had two friends help out, we worked with one guy doing the finishing, and two mixing.  Not much to discuss on this post, but a few photos to show the state of the project.

The small mixer we used.  We mixed 2 bags at a time, roughly 60 kg ready mix to 5 quarts of water.

We used two buckets, one to measure water which helpfully had measurement markings on the side, and one to move the concrete from the mixer to where it was needed.

All finished up.  Wow, does the walkway feel bigger now with the slope chipped away and the floor flattened out.

This part is all done.  Next is finishing the membrane, as well as converting the bedrock side of the house to built in storage and reorganizing the "laundry room.  The engineer part of me wants to get a totalizer flow meter on the discharge just to see how much water I pump, but that's only going to happen if I come across a cheap one.

Interior Weeping System: Day 4 - Plumbing the sump and taping the Delta MS

Day 4 (roughly, it was 2 short evenings and a mostly full day) included:

• Coring a 2" hole through the wall
• Finishing the sump plumbing
• Getting the site ready for concrete pour by taping the membrane, finishing up with granular and tamping it down for a nice compressed sub base
• Doing a water test to make sure the system actually works!

If you haven't already, catch up with this project by reading about the first three days of work (clicking will open the link in a new window):
Day 1 -  Chipping out a the sump
Day 2 - Chipping out the perimeter trenches
Day 3 - Installing the Waterguard and Membrane
Day 4 - Plumbing the sump
Day 5 - Concrete pour!
Day 6 - Membrane and lower shelf
Day 7 - Final shelf and panelling

Disclaimer

The usual disclaimers apply -- I'm not a professional and this is total Do It Yourself (DIY) project.  Seek professional input prior to attempting this project.  It is NOT an easy project and requires a significant amount of work, knowledge and capability.  Make sure you fully understand all relevant design, structural, and geotechnical aspects, including the building code and applicable bylaws prior to starting.  Any doubts, hire someone qualified :)  We've had good success (so far), but that isn't a prediction of success at other sites.

Coring the 2" hole

I needed a new hole through the foundation for the sump drain.  I have an SDS Max drill I can use, but the rental place didn't have a 2" core bit so they gave me a deal on a diamond core drill and bit.  If you leave in Ottawa, are doing projects and need gear, check out Robertson Rent-all.  Super nice guys, they know their stuff, and have great prices.  You can pick up gear on Friday before they close, return it on Monday and only pay for 1.5 days.  I can't recommend them enough.

Here is a picture of the drill.

I made the huge mistake of coring from the inside.  It was laziness combined with a crying 3.5 year old upstairs and rushing the job.  Basically I couldn't hold the drill 90 degrees and got an awful slope on the hole.  I ended up re-drilling it perpendicular the next morning from the outside, where I could keep the drill at waist height and was much happier.  From the outside, you only see one hole, from the inside,  there is a little patching to do.  Here a video of how not to drill.




Finishing the sump

Once I had a core hole for the 1.5" ABS pipe, I connected it all up.

The sump lid needed to a few holes cut in it for the pipe and wires.  I first placed the pump to see where the discharge hose would run up, then I used a plumb bob to find the middle of the pipe.  After that I removed the pump/pipe and placed the lid.  Dropped the plumb bob and found the exact location of the hole needed as shown in the next two photos.

A photo of the mostly final sump setup.

Finishing the membrane and granular 

I tucked the membrane behind the Waterguard flange.  This step sucked and I *really* should have placed the membrane before the Waterguard.  I taped it down to limit moisture / vapours.  The manufacturer doesn't have any instructions on the product besides email support and doesn't say if this step is needed, but I figure all this effort, a little moisture vapour sealing and I'll have a nicer basement in the end.  The top of the membrane has some finishing strips to help seal it as well (later photos).

The photo below shows the nicely tamped granular waiting for a new concrete floor.  I brought in another 260 kg of 19mm clear stone.  All told then, I had to bring in 380 kg of clear stone. 

The photo below shows the black finishing strip I bought a Rona.  I used acoustic sealant to seal the membrane to the wall.  Probably overkill and using the stuff sucks, but I'll know shortly how much drier my basement will feel!

Water Test
I also checked the whole system to make sure water drained....  I had a garden hose wide open for 20 mins, pouring into various locations of the system.  I worked perfect, and managed all the water. Very happy!

And a small video, listen to the beautiful sound of water pouring into the sump.




If you haven't already, catch up with this project by reading about the first three days of work (clicking will open the link in a new window):
Day 1 -  Chipping out a the sump
Day 2 - Chipping out the perimeter trenches
Day 3 - Installing the Waterguard and Membrane
Day 4 - Plumbing the sump
Day 5 - Concrete pour!

Interior Weeping System: Day 3 - Laying Waterguard and Starting the Membrane

On Day 3 we placed the Waterguard, and started hanging the membrane.

If you haven't already, catch up with this project by reading about days 1 and 2 (clicking will open the link in a new window):
Day 1 -  Chipping out a the sump
Day 2 - Chipping out the perimeter trenches
Day 3 - Installing the Waterguard and Membrane
Day 4 - Plumbing the sump
Day 5 - Concrete pour!
Day 6 - Membrane and lower shelf
Day 7 - Final shelf and panelling

Now onto the days work!

Disclaimer

The usual disclaimers apply -- I'm not a professional and this is total Do It Yourself (DIY) project.  Seek professional input prior to attempting this project.  It is NOT an easy project and requires a significant amount of work, knowledge and capability.  Make sure you fully understand all relevant design, structural, and geotechnical aspects, including the building code and applicable bylaws prior to starting.  Any doubts, hire someone qualified :)  We've had good success (so far), but that isn't a prediction of success at other sites.

Remember that weird looking pipe?

 It was 2" ID / 2.5" OD.  Seemed to large to be an old fuel oil pipe.  I suppose it was an old drain of some sort.  Here it is:

We lucked out and it was easily removed by hand.  Anyone know what it might have been?

Securing the sump
Next we secured the location of the sump.  To do this, we put a 1-2" layer of 3/4" clear stone on the bottom to level the sump, and poured 3/4" clear stone around the edges until the liner was secured.

Laying the Waterguard

 You need to leave around 2" above the Waterguard for concrete.  We eyed this with a level as shown on the next photo.

After that, it was a matter of placing, taping, measuring, cutting, and repeat.  It was quite straight forward. We had a few runs that were not quite straight between the jack posts, so I added some red Tuck tape to strengthen the joints in addition to the Waterguard tape.  This helped a lot as we moved the Waterguard here and there for alignment purposes.  The next photos show the Waterguard being laid out.

The corner above had to be made by hand.  I used an 10" chop saw which was able to cut through the water guard if you placed it just right.  For chop saw cuts that didn't quite cut the whole thing, a hack saw worked well.  You can also see one of the inspection / cleaning ports I added.

Passing by the main water service

The main water service entered the house around 2" below the floor height so the Waterguard couldn't be continuous.    We *carefully* chipped by hand the concrete below the water line, so water could pass, and put clear stone between the drainage channels.  Then we made a plastic form on top of channels to keep the concrete out when it was poured.  You can see the process here:

UK verses North America Pipe....  Doesn't match up

The Waterguard is manufactured in the UK.  One of the accessories is a "T" which connects a 65mm pipe from the drainage channel to the sump.  The 65mm pipe that comes with the accessory is quite short, and I needed a longer piece.  Unfortunately, UK pipes are not the same as North America; We checked Canadian Tire and Homedepot and neither had pipes that matched.  Ahh, the age old battle of Metric vs Imperial....  So, we used 2" ABS pipe, and a 2" coupler.  The OD of the coupler fit perfectly in the reducer which connects the pipe to the drainage channel, we took a few photos to show it.

After the Waterguard was laid out, we used granular to wedge it into place.  For approximately 32 metres and filling up half way around the sump liner, I used eight, 30 kg bags of 19mm clear stone. I'll need maybe 4 bags more, but at least two bags of those are for where I chipped a lots to eventually level the floor.  So, for my situation, looks like I will use around one 30 kg bag per 3 metres, or one 60 lbs bag per 10 feet.   The trench was 0.15 wide (5-6"), and we put around 1" of stone under the entire length of the Waterguard.

Installing the membrane

We moved quite quickly and I was very happy with the progress.  Only the third day of work, and we are on to the membrane!  A trip to Rona and I picked up Delta MS dimpled membrane, Delta fasteners, the Delta top strip and a single shot Ramset powder actuated concrete nail fastener system.

Using two people, we hung the membrane, and I learned how to use the Ramset gun.  The Ramset was fast and easy (and it what's recommended for the Delta membrane).  For my walls, the green power charge was the right strength.

Here's a tip, get the membrane installed before wedging in the Waterguard.  What a pain to pull back the flange to get the membrane behind.  If I did this again, I'd lay out the waterguard, install the membrane, THEN secure the Waterguard with clear stone.

One note, the Delta MS is listed by the manufacturer for exterior use only, but the specs of Delta MS and Delta FL seem to be identical.   I've read that the MS has recycled content in it and might have a plastic smell.  Mine certainty did not have any odours to it, also MS is 60% cheaper than FL.

A few photos.  The basement is much darker with the membrane up.  Even though the basement will never be a finished basement, it looks like we'll by installing dry wall anyways to lighten it up ( I couldn't find anything cheaper per square foot).

We just hung the membrane with a few fasteners (I only had 25).  Over the next few evenings, I'll install the top strip to finish the membrane,  top the trenches with clear stone where necessary and generally get it ready for concrete.  I think I'll need 20 to 25 bags of concrete, can't say I'm looking forward to this step.

If you haven't already, catch up with this project by reading about days 1 and 2 (clicking will open the link in a new window):
Day 1 -  Chipping out a the sump
Day 2 - Chipping out the perimeter trenches
Day 3 - Installing the Waterguard and Membrane
Day 4 - Plumbing the sump
Day 5 - Concrete pour!

Material Quantities To Date

• 0.15 x 0.15 x 32 metre perimeter trench -- 1,800 to 2,000 kg of soil/dirt/concrete removed
• 240 kg of 19mm clear stone (I'll need another 120 kg I think)
• (2) rolls of Delta MS

As always, more to come!