Solving Basement Design Problems

Most basements in Canada are not built finish friendly. We've seen furnaces in the wrong place, ductwork running right through rooms and water meters right at  the place you want to install that Media Centre. The solution is simple - move it (or them). It is however a costly endeavor based on the complexity and the amount of trades involved. In past jobs, we have moved Water heaters, Furnaces, Ductwork as well as Gas and Water Lines. The only thing  we have not moved is the Main switchboard. I believe that this could be done, but is very complex and short of rewiring the entire house, some sort of smaller accessible junction box at the original location would still be required, which makes the whole exercise moot. Thankfully switchboards can be hidden behind a door or a painting. However if you are me and if the switchboard is on the same wall as the Television, you do this.

See the video above to see how we took care of an eye sore of an electric panel, with a unique solution that included a sliding panel that the TV was mounted on.

If you would like to see the Fenwick Basement Gallery pics click HERE>>>

For the Brannigan Gate Basement, we flattened walls by straightening out stack pipes and moving them closer to the wall. This involved digging into the concrete to get at the pipes in the ground. We reduced bulkhead sizes by rerouting gas lines, rerouting water lines, moving around water meters and well as heating vent pipes. In the case of the stack wall, it reduced an unsightly corner. Swiveling the water meter gave us 4 inches of space that allowed us to flatten a wall end to end. All in the favor of the design which takes precedence in all of our work.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

If you would like to see the Brannigan Gate Basement Gallery pics click HERE>>>

As mentioned above, this can be costly. More expensive, in my mind, would be living in a space built by people that decided to skirt around problems, build around obstacles and sacrifice good design for speedy results. When I'm done with a space, it generally outshines the rest of the house.

As Charles Eames so famously said - "The details are not the details. They make the design".

See more of our work at:

www.wildenorth.com