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Need More Closet Space
I bought this house in 1997 to discover a
lack of storage space. I have a recessed area in my basement that needs a
vapor barrier. The house was built in 1949 with bay windows. I live in
Illinois and I have very little to no home improvement skills. I read a
lot of home improvement books and watch home improvement shows.
The recessed area is the same as the area as the bay windows. The depth of
the recessed area is about 23 inches. The width is about 11 feet and the
height is approximately 84" +/-.
I want to build a frame and divide this space in increments for 3 parts.
Two separate parts for shelves to store bed spreads, blankets, etc. and
one part to put a bar to hang clothes. The closets in this two bedroom
house are 42 inches in width, the other is 36 inches in width. So I'm
desperate.
I would like to get the finished doors or whatever is the easiest - I
think sliding doors would be the best and the least expensive. My concern
is the size wood I would need for this frame. Do I need 2x4s or 2x2s. This
is wasted space I would really use for closet space.
When you do the acid wash, did you use a brush, a sponge, or old rags. By
the way the basement is somewhat damp
Need your input.
Thank you
Loretta L.
Here
That's a good size project you are
looking at, and it could be just the right project to help you become
more familiar with home improvement tasks. But this project is rather
difficult for me to describe just using e-mail, and we don't have a
decent CAD program to make good sketches. But I'll try some pointers.
There are two ways to view a storage closet: Nicely finished to match
the rest of the house, and Plain Jane utility storage that looks okay
but serves it's function well. The nicely finished approach will be more
difficult and require more tools and skills. If your basement is mostly
unfinished, then the Plain Jane approach might be the best and cheapest.
And besides, if you make some less-than-perfect cuts, nobody will care.
Look at this article
archives/workshop/storage/4_shelf/utility.htm
for some ideas on building a heavy-duty shelf unit.
And in this article:
archives/workshop/bench/below20.html
I show how to build a free-standing workbench. This workbench can be
made taller and wider, and you could simply make two taller benches
(which would actually be shelf units) and connect them with one or two
shelves to attach them. A clothes rod could span between these shelf
units, with a shelf down near the bottom and one at the top.
| To reduce the wasted
space caused by the 2x4 vertical posts, consider re-orienting the
design. Look at that picture. Imagine shortening the wide face
(the front) and stretching the sides. Now the 2x4's are "on
edge" and they only take up 1.5 inches of space. |
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There's more:
Shelf Horizontal Support:
For your light-duty purpose you might get away with using a 1x3 for the
horizontal board that supports the OSB shelf. If the shelves are less
than 3 feet long, you might get away with using heavy plywood with no
board below. This gives you much less wasted space. BUT... you'll need
to use at least 5/8" plywood, 3/4" is even stronger. Home
Depot can cut these to size for a small fee, but they are not usually
very precise about their cuts.
You could also use solid lumber for shelves, such as a pair of 1x10's
which would give you a shelf depth of 18.5". Double 1x12's would
give a depth of 22.5", which means the whole unit might protrude
from the recessed area. But... good luck finding boards that are not
warped already. And unless you screw them down with 2" deck screws,
they'll warp later on. You could use 2x10's or 12's and have really
heavy-duty shelves, but that's overkill for clothes and linens.
Enclosing:
The shelf unit and work bench I describe are open, but you could simply
use OSB (cheapest) or 1/2" plywood to cover the back and sides of
these storage units.
Finishing:
If you want to paint this project, I would recommend oil-based primer
followed by a good oil-based paint such as Rust-Oleum. A quart can will
probably be enough. Oil-based paint dries much harder than latex and
will be much more resistant to scuff marks and scratches.
That Basement Smell:
I strongly recommend that you store any clothing or linens inside
something made of plastic to keep that musty mildewy basement smell from
permeating everything. I use those common flip-lid tote boxes for
EVERYTHING from tools to clothes. They work great at keeping moisture
out. Those big Rubbermaid storage boxes are good too, they are very
air-tight and rodent-proof.
I recommend buying some plastic storage totes BEFORE you start, so you
can make the shelf spacing just a few inches taller than the totes you
use.
And if you keep all the hanging clothes in those plastic or vinyl
garment bags, that will reduce the basement smell.
If you get one leak in your basement, any clothing not protected by
plastic containers will probably smell of mildew and you'll have to
wash/dry clean everything. This is good insurance.
Doors:
This is a tough question because I don't know what the rest of your
basement looks like. Do you really need doors? Will an open-air storage
unit look okay?
The cheapest door solution would be to buy some pre-hung interior doors
and install them side-by-side (like a wall of doors) in front of the
storage units. Make sure you prime and paint them (latex paint is okay,
over oil primer). Standard doors are 80" high, about 82"
including the jambs, so they should fit just right.
You could build a simple perimeter frame of 2x4's to secure these doors
to the ceiling and side walls. You don't want these doors to fall on
your noggin.
Vapor Barrier:
If the rest of your basement does not have a vapor barrier, then adding
a small section of vapor barrier will not help much. If you are planning
to remodel the rest of the basement (if it's worth doing... some
basements should never be remodeled) then adding a vapor barrier now
would be a help later. But... you can also buy vapor barrier paint that
you could apply over top of a good basement paint. But the basement
paint may require the acid wash (50/50 muriatic acid and water... this
is hazardous stuff, be careful), but only if there is "effluoressence",
which is a white powdery puff-like cluster that seems to grow on the
concrete walls. This white powder is lime, which is an ingredient in
concrete and mortar.
At the very least, you will need to wash the concrete. Using diluted
bleach would be a good idea. (But don't mix bleach with acid, it will
give off toxic chlorine gas.)
I used a long-handled brush to apply the acid, and I wore eye
protection, rubber boots and rubber gloves. A car wash brush on a long
wand is a really good applicator. Rinse with a garden hose and suck up
the water with a wet-dry vacuum.
You MUST have good ventilation while doing this cleaning, open two
windows and use fan to blow in fresh air.
A tip: I've found that keeping a small oscillating fan running in the
basement makes a big difference in the musty smells. The constant air
motion dries up any minor leaks and reduces the mold growth.
Bruce W. Maki, Editor.
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