My Basement Renovation

The number one issue that had to be addressed related to the basement renovation was the staircase.  The old stairs to the basement were very steep, narrow, and uneven.  Each step was a different size and the rise:run was about 10:7.  Yes, that is the opposite of a what a staircase should be.  The entry was to the basement staircase was about 2 feet wide and 5 feet tall.  You had to duck down to the first step and then about second from the bottom a 6 foot person was face to face with the wall above and had to duct again to enter the room.

If you look at the white paint on the brick wall here (new stairs and support wall under construction) you can see the outline of the old stairs:

New Basement Staircase

Notice where the top of the old stairs meets the moulding from the floor above.  At this point is where I had to cut out four additional floor joists (running perpindicular to the flow of the steps) in order to get a nice slope to the new basement stairs.I first built the new support wall (studs scene here) then toar down the old.  That was easy since the old support wall was only 24″ from the brick wall and the new one is about 36″. The steps were built from scratch using three 2 x 12s.  I bought a triangle square and made the cuts with a circular saw, finishing each cut witht eh jig saw.  The risers to the new basement staircase were made from MDF.  I had the local big box store (forget whether it was Lowes or HD) cut the 4′ x 8′ into strip the height of the rise and then just cut each one to length in the basement. The treads we bought at HD – I think they came in 36″ and I cut each one down to 32″.  I used all screws and liquid nails between each joint were wood touches wood to prevent squeaks in the future.

Basement Staircase Attached to Floor Joist

Here is were the 2 x 12 runners attach into the floor joists fromt he first floor above.  I used the typical stair braces, a good dose of heavy duty construction adhesive, and the galvanized joist nails.  I added a few decking screws to make me feel better.  This is the first, and probably last, staircase I’ve ever built.The new slope turned out to be about 37 degrees, which combined with the 11″ run makes a very comfortable staircase to traverse…with no more ducking!

Basement Staircase Support Framing

Here is a close-up of the stud structure that frames in the cubby/storage/kids hide-and-seek alcove.  It also acts as additional support and immediately removed the subtle bounce the new basement staircase had prior to building this part.   Another goes down near were the steps meet the floor.For sound containment purposes, all of this area will be well insulated.

The next shots are the completion of the finishing work and half-wall that needed to be built upstairs to accomidate the larger opening in the floor.

New Basement Steps – Looking Up:

New Basement Steps - Looking Up

The baby gate was a mandatory item throughout this project.  I tried to time everything so that when I cut the floor joists out I had the time to frame in the short-wall and put up some temporary plywood to the youngster couldn’t fall through the new opening.
Before I actually cut the joists I made sure to complete the new support wall below and rip out the old steps. I also sealed up the old basement stairs opening with plywood in between work sessions.

Basement Steps - Short Wall

Basement Staircase - Looking Down

Here is a shot looking down with the electrical rough-in for the lighting on the inside of the newly built “short-wall”.  Notice where the verticle wood color trim peice is on the right side about half way down the steps.  That was the location of the old entry way to the steps.

Basement Staircase - Finished Looking Down