Project Basement has been going on since January 2009. And, it's fair to say that I have a love/hate relationship with this project. Right now, I'm in a loving mode, so I decided to write about it.
When we bought this house, it had everything we desired, including a full basement with indoor access. However, the basement needed work if it was going to become a proper play area for the kids. But, I knew that with lots of elbow grease, I could turn it around. So, I did. (And, it didn't cost me a lot of money either.)
For starters, I had to get rid of the scary paint on the walls; think Amityville Horror Red and Prison Gray. So whenever my daughter was napping, I would drag my son down to the basement and paint. Little by little, the walls stopped being scary and became a cheery, creamy yellow.
The walls took several weeks to paint, but once they were done, I was very happy – and, so were the cats. Apparently, they were sick and tired of being moved from one side of the basement to the next!
So, here's what I learned while painting the basement walls:
1.) If your basement walls leak calcium, don't try to use regular 'ole paint to paint them. I didn't pay attention to this beforehand, and now whenever the calcium leeches out of the walls, it forms crusty patches. You should spend the extra money and buy a dry-lock type of paint if your walls leak moisture of any kind.
2.) It's much easier to move all of your miscellaneous furniture out of the way before trying to paint with kids, dogs and cats underfoot.
3.) You'll wreck many brushes painting concrete walls, and if you're not careful, you'll end up with bloody, scraped knuckles – often.
4.) Painting a basement takes time, and patience. I lack the second.
5.) Painting your basement walls a cheery color definitely makes it a brighter, happier place to be!
Denine says
Thanks! I have more pics to put up, but I wanted to show how far it can come with just elbow grease. 🙂
L stone says
Looking good!