jas Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I am so excited! I am getting a basement built for my dh. My hubby and and father in law are going to build it for me this weekend. My house is plenty big already but there were a few rooms that I would have loved to fit it but couldn't. Like a game room bar area, laundry room and probably a storage area. Now my question is how do people finish off the exterior of the basement? It will obviously be above grade so I can add windows, shoud I add doors? There won't be and room to add stairs on the outside at least I dont think so yet have really check it out. The house itself has a base about 5" wider than the house and the smallest part and 6 1/2" at the widest. My first thought was to have them make the basement the same size as the whole base, now I am thinking maybe, if possible, to leave an area larger than the basement just like the house and then I could add some kind of stairway on the outside leading to the lower level also. This house is supposed to be set in Florida and we don't have basements, well some people might but they live on a man made hill, this house the basement will be above ground. Any tips or suggestions welcome. The house itself has not gotten the final paint job and the shutters are unfinished and not on so color is still up for grabs. I love the new front door stained, do people stain shutters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 This is what the base of my house looks like now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mygrommi Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Jean, congratulations on your basement! One of my dollhouses has a basement. It is basically a hollow box with casters that a grass-covered piece of plywood sits on and then the dollhouse sits on the grass-covered plywood. The casters make it nice when moving the house since the house is large. A frame was made for the base and then wood was attached on the outside of the frame. Then on one side of the base 4 rooms were built and the dollhouse sits with the back of the house on the side where the basement rooms are. I don't have a photo available right now to post, but I will post tonight when I am home. I have stairs on the back wall of one of the basement rooms, but there is no opening on the dollhouse base at the top of the stairs for the dollhouse people to exit the stairs when they get to the top - so they are "stairs to nowhere". I had this made many years ago after seeing a similar one in one of the dollhouse miniature magazines. I would like to have a nicer base with basement made, but it's just one more thing to do and one more expense since my husband doesn't do woodworking. If I made another, I would make the basement rooms deeper and would maybe have some drawers for storage or for housing the transformers and power strips, on the other side and make it a nicer piece - like a piece of furniture. I also have some photos of a really huge dollhouse that has a huge basement that I found on the internet a few years ago. I hope I have the link and it is still active. I will search for it tonight. Renea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mygrommi Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Jean, I forgot I had added photos of my house with the basement in my Gallery so you can take a look at it. When I originally had the base made, it was taller as you can see in the "before" photos. I have added wings to the house and have cut down the height of the base so my granddaughters will be able to reach the attic of the house without standing on a stool. I am in the middle of a remodel of the house. The outside of the base was originally stained brown, but I later painted the oustide white. The inside of the basement rooms are painted light grey. The outside needs another coat of paint and I'm not sure what color it will be. The house color will be changed from blue to white with black shutters. On a different note, I tried to change my Avatar photo and wasn't able to change it. Now I notice it has removed my original photo also. Thanks. Renea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsanity Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Sounds like you have a pretty nice husband and father in law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 yes I do! My father in law has a wood working room and was really itching to do a project. My idea came along at just the right time. Dh is tagging along to spend time with his dad. My mother in law fell and broke her hip and is refusing treatment basically so my father in law is doing everything for her. Dh and I are going over Sunday and while they are up in the wood working room I will be doing some light housekeeping and making a meal they can eat off of for a few days. My father in law seems very excited about getting his hands on this little project and working with his tools! I have decided that at one end of the basement with be a one car garage, the center will be the game room/ bar area and on the other end will be the laundry storage room. There will be stairs somewhere they may go "nowhere" we will see. I have to get my ideas down I only have till Sunday to decide. That is if I want them to cut any windows or doors out on that day or have DH do that later. The only for sure thing is the garage door opening at the moment. Renea, love your name it is my dd's middle name only it is spelt Renee'. I am going to be looking at your gallery as soon as I post this. Can't wait to see how you have done yours. Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 I've checked out your gallery and that is really neat. Do you have any more of it finished? Basically what they are going to be making for me is a rectangled shaped box 48" long, 19" wide and 12" high that the house will just sit on top of. There will be two room dividers and windows and door cut outs. It will make the house two pieces. Eventually I will have to have them make a stand on wheels so it will be easier to move around. right now it is sitting on one of those plastic white folding tables. I have found a spot for it but what is there needs to be moved first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Jupiter Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Hi Jean, also check out the Beacon Hill by member Pin1056. Good ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 this is a rough drawing, the bottom won't be two windows http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/uploads/gallery/album_5684/gallery_14826_5684_195361.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 Hi Jean, also check out the Beacon Hill by member Pin1056. Good ideas. Thanks I will check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrchob Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Hi Jean, what fun you will have. Your house is beautiful. I have a basement for my Wentworth Court which was made for it. The house will sit on the top. Can't wait to see pictures of yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 (Jean, the house we moved out of near Havana, FL, was built on a (REAL, not man-made) hill (looks like this: http://www.unicoistatepark.org/img/cabins/unicoi_cabin_3.jpg ) and the back porch stuck out over the slope so the former owners built a workshop/ storage area underneath the back half of the kitchen and back porch and then built a greenhouse onto the side of the house with steps leading down from a door from the diningroom to the workshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 (Jean, the house we moved out of near Havana, FL, was built on a (REAL, not man-made) hill (looks like this: http://www.unicoistatepark.org/img/cabins/unicoi_cabin_3.jpg ) and the back porch stuck out over the slope so the former owners built a workshop/ storage area underneath the back half of the kitchen and back porch and then built a greenhouse onto the side of the house with steps leading down from a door from the diningroom to the workshop. I guess I should clarify that here on the coast we don't have basements as we are at or below sometimes sea level. Sure there are some areas further inland and more North that start to have some rolling hills that I am sure you could have a basement in. Just the houses that I am familiar with near me the very few with any sort of basement are on man made hills/mounds. I would love to live somewhere even further inland that had more than just flat land. I know a lot of people would love to live on the coast of Florida but after 36 years and being from up North I would love some change. Not going to happen, DH will not move. By the way what part of Florida is Havana in? I do recall you mentioning it was known for cigars or something related to them, is it down South? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 Hi Jean, what fun you will have. Your house is beautiful. I have a basement for my Wentworth Court which was made for it. The house will sit on the top. Can't wait to see pictures of yours! Love, love, love the stairs! You did a great job hopefully when mine get started and then done it will be half as nice as you have done. Thanks for sharing. I love seeing how creative everyone is and, of course, getting ideas along the way! I was not sure what to do with the stairs as they are outside and indoor stairs would look goofy. I like the solid siding on yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 Hi Jean, also check out the Beacon Hill by member Pin1056. Good ideas. Those are some fancy houses, she did an awesome job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audra Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I added a basement to my Sea Side Villa and I just added one to my Glewood. I added the Glenwood basemet after the house was built so there is a lot more work a head of me. Pics in my Glenwood Blog link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary11 Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 That is going to look so cool!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 Audra I had already bookmarked your blog and spent an evening looking it all over! My house must have been peeking over my shoulder and saw yours and said "Yep, I want/need one of those. Before seeing yours I don't think I had seen one added on. Maybe a house that had one floor dedicated to that but not an add on. I am new to all of what is on the net for dollhouses, the net didn't even exsist back when I got my first house. Great job of both of the houses and your blog. I love how you have the whole yard with the playset and trees. I no way have the space for such a nice yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audra Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Thanks Jean. I had to trade a kid for that space! When my oldest moved out, that gave me an extra room. The table was larger, but I had a hard time moving around it. House was on a 6x8 sheet of wood! Since I hesitated on the basement it is not going as ideal. For starters, the basement needs to be longer so it goes more the length of the house. I will also be adding false windows. I have better pics of my progess of the basement of the villa. Need to dig them up.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audra Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 oh - by the way - I used brick sheets for the outside wall on my villa. On my daughters 'basement' I used a wallpaper of stone. For the Glenwood I probably will just paint it, but the interiors outside wall will be cement block like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 Jean, Havana is located aloong US 27 about halfway between Tallahassee, FL and Bainbridge, GA, and we lived 3.5 miles West of town a mile+ off of SR 12: http://maps.google.com/maps?rlz=1T4DMUS_enUS290US291&q=1006+riverview+road,+havana,+fl&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x88ece5750b18fabb:0x4e08c8298ec3e785,1006+Riverview+Rd,+Havana,+FL+32333&gl=us&ei=zA2ST5mCEcTS2QXryK2aBQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBEQ8gEwAA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoalaSam Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 The basement will be fantastic. Dollhouses are so limited as they are usually only one room deep. By adding a basement you can have a lot more flexibility with the kinds of rooms you decorate, without taking up any more footprint space. Your project sounds like fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas Posted April 21, 2012 Author Share Posted April 21, 2012 Jean, Havana is located aloong US 27 about halfway between Tallahassee, FL and Bainbridge, GA, and we lived 3.5 miles West of town a mile+ off of SR 12: http://maps.google.c...ved=0CBEQ8gEwAA I can see how you could have had a basement, you were a bit north of me that is for sure. I am on the East coast near Cocoa Beach the landscape would be a tad bit different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I know Cocoa Beach. I have a cousin who lives in Edgewater and another one lives in Helen Blazes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 ... lives in Helen Blazes. This sounds like a very warm place to live. Oops. Sorry for the off-topic comment. The devil made me do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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