The Basement Renovation:  Special Challenges

The Stair Wall

The stairs to the basement are parallel to the outside wall.  This wall, like the rest of the basement, was finished with paneling.  When I removed the paneling, I discovered that the builder had experimented with some sort of parging (?) on the foundation block.  All sorts of wood scrap was nailed to the wall to serve as strapping.

strapping

strapping removed from plaster surface

Removing the strapping wasn't difficult, but the surface underneath was uneven. Whatever the parging material was, it would be difficult to remove so that was not an option. Somehow, I woould have to make the transition from the entrance, which was strapped with 2x2's like the rest of the main floor, to the 2x4 framing of the basemnent.

uneven wall insulated

Insulating an uneven wall

Ideally, this wall should have been insulated to a minimum of R-12, like the rest of the basement. However, I could not afford to lose 3 inches from the width of the stairs. Any amount of insulation would be better than what had been there previously, so I did the best I could within the constraints of the space. I used a combination of 1x2 and 2x2 strapping to create as even a wall as possible. The wall is insulated with a combination of half inch thick foam board insulation and fiberglass insulation. The average R value of this wall is probably less than 5, but this isn't as bad as it sounds, considering that there is no insulation at all in the main floor walls.


The "dummy" stringer

Taking into consideration that the drywall was going to hang over the existing stringer, which would just look ugly, I came up with an aesthetic solution. I made a dummy stairs stringer using a wide pine board.

Using strips of poster board, thumb tacks and masking tape, I made a template of the outline of the steps

I laid the template on the pine board and traced the outline with a pencil.

The stringer was stained with the maple stain that I used for the trim in the bedroom to closely match the existing woodwork.  I could have painted it the trim colour for the basement, but I thought that the stained wood would look more elegant and would help tie the main floor and the basement together.

stair stringer installed


This is the finished stairway. The carpeting helps hide the imperfect cuts on the stringer, and the maple stain looks wonderful against the light green wall colour. The stairway is still wide enough to move furniture and appliances even though about an inch of its width was lost to the new wall.