Basement Apartment Reno
How it all got started
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The Start of the Renovation
In my last basement renovation article I told you that we received approval from the city planning board for our basement accessory unit. Well that was back in the beginning of January. The whole process to get approval took a little over 6 months. Something we originally thought would only take 2 months. Believe it or not the building inspector thought we were lucky to get done in 6.
The project to renovate the basement started as soon as we moved in. We spent a lot of time measuring, thinking. drawing and talking about what we wanted it to look like and figuring out how we were going to make it happen. There was a lot that went on between the time we moved in and the time we got planning board approval.
The main factor we had to consider was the giant boiler and oil tank were located in the worst possible spot for a basement apartment. The options were 1) leave it and put in a mechanical closet OR 2) convert to natural gas and move the boiler to the other side of the room and get rid of the oil tank.
I was insistent the antique boiler and the behemoth of an oil tank had to go! The last thing I wanted was five mechanical closets in the basement for all these major appliances. That would make the apartment that much smaller and we would have to access the equipment by going through the apartment. Not ideal in a rental unit!
Not only did the boiler have to be moved and the oil tank removed, but we also had to install a hot water heater as soon as we moved in. The existing boiler had a coil heating mechanism that was not effective in providing us with enough hot water for showers.
During our negotiation over the property we had expressed concern regarding the boiler’s ability to heat the water. The seller was insistent he had the boiler serviced regularly and it was in stellar operating condition (such lies we were told!). Anyway, the listing agent had mentioned in passing as a means to try to promote the house that there was natural gas on the street and we would be able to connect. Little did he know what we wanted to do with the basement, I thought to myself that would be a great way to get rid of the boiler and the oil tank. I called Central Hudson to check if this was true. From what the lady could tell there was natural gas on the street but she wasn’t sure how far it was from the house. Central Hudson would only cover the cost of installing up to 150 feet and we would have to pay for the rest.
Another risk. We took our chances. Over the summer, we had Central Hudson come out and evaluate it. About 6-8 weeks later someone piped natural gas to our house at no cost to us. It happened so quickly. Once the natural gas was in we had 6 months per the contract to connect to the meter, otherwise they would charge us a bunch of money (approximately $4,500).
We carefully coordinated the whole thing. It was not an easy feat. We had family come down from Binghamton to install the new boiler. They shipped down the tools and most of the mechanical system pre-built. We prepped the space and got it ready for them to connect everything and turn the boiler on. A three day task was turned into a one day operation.
The day of the install there was excitement in the air. I was so thrilled and nervous at the same time. Central Hudson was there ready to turn on the gas. We also gave the old boiler to a family friend. That thing was massive and must have weighed over 400 pounds. The oil tank was listed for FREE on Facebook Marketplace and someone came to pick it up in this old beat up Chevrolet. We helped them get it out and load it in the middle of a storm (now that is a story for another time!). In one weekend we had a brand new wall mounted boiler and our old boiler and oil tank were gone! Our basement was a completely new space.
Before all of this action took place we also had a survey done and some architects measured and put together some plans for our basement apartment. The next step was submitting the plans, applications and some checks to the building department. It took three months to get approved. The hoops we did not anticipate we would need to jump through were now being handled. It took a lot of drawing and redrawing, phone calls, fees, edits to the plans, adding information here and there, running back and forth to the print shop to print copies upon copies of all different sizes and then hand delivering them to the building department.
Once we were approved the next step was sitting in front of the planning board and getting their blessing. We had no idea what to expect. They could immediately look at everything and say NO! I remember that first zoom call and us just sitting there and the leader goes “So, what can we do for you today?” HA! I thought in my head, what can he do for us…more like what can we do for you? We made our appeal and we had to come back three more times aka three more months, and finally got approved.
After the second meeting they gave us conditional approval, they wanted to see the topography of our driveway first. They were concerned about water runoff into our neighbors yard. To get the surveyor to come out a second time was a big to do… especially because it was the Holidays and there had just been a major snow storm. Luckily the planning board let us submit our plans a week late and we were able to stay on the agenda for the January meeting (where we ultimately got approved).
While we were waiting on the approvals, the building department gave us a verbal go ahead to begin work on the basement. We began by cleaning a bunch of stuff out, getting rid of the boiler and oil tank, we ripped out the sub-floor wall and workbench, got rid of the garbage the previous owner left behind, and tore out the soot and mouse poop/pee covered insulation in the ceiling. It took a lot of truckloads to the dump!
We started to frame the walls of the basement because well that was about all we could do. It took a couple of weekends but we made it happen. We also were working with Lowe’s to get a french door delivered to replace our sliding door. Per the code and building department, in order to get our permit, we would need a french door but we would not be required to put in a second form of egress. That was a win! Dealing with Lowe’s and managing to get that door delivered almost took just as long as getting planning board approval (5 months). It was supposed to take 6 weeks. Lesson learned: never go back to Newburgh Lowe’s and never order a door from Lowe’s again!
This brings me to the next step in the process: getting quotes from licensed electricians and plumbers. Boy who knew contractors would be this elusive! This is another story for the next article.
If you like these stories, let me know in the comments. I love hearing your feedback and getting your input. I will keep you posted on our progress as we continue to pursue Financial Freedom!
Until next time,
Amanda
Perseverance!