" And our new family room is 100%. Done and furnished and looks terrific and I thought it'd be most fun to invite Sarah -- son who is our homeowner and who has been. The GC on the project to give us the tour. Now Sarah let's reminisce a little bit about what was here when you started."

" It was okay that's what I like to college there were two families who lived here before us -- the house is 85 years old do the math. Everybody was doing their laundry for years and years in the basement and before there were washing machines they had a pitted soapstone sink that they worked with scrub a depth yeah and so obviously when we moved in with -- all of our old stuff and stacked it all to the."

" Ceiling joists it was not a really great place to be my husband still tried valiantly to use it as a music studio."

" The kids would come down here and read. Kinda let them play but it wasn't ideal and it was such good space that we really were looking for the opportunity to make it into something livable right. There was a lot of preliminary work that had to be done before we could get moving."

" Finishing the walls you you decided to be your own general contractor yeah."

" Would you do that again know it well actually I might out of necessity I mean I basically did -- because we didn't have a budget for that right. So there was a tremendous learning curve and I actually got a lot of help from my local instructional services department here in Melrose. They were terrific and not condescending to a first time homeowner general contractor. Who was exploring this whole this whole thing. You know with only a surface knowledge of what was going on and trying to decide what had to happen when. The proper way to do it I can't stress enough that if a homeowner's gonna do this sort of thing themselves. They explore what's safe and what's not and they get permits because if you do work without a permit and then something happens. You know insured your -- Alexander house is in jeopardy so let's talk about some of the basics that. Went on down -- before talked about how beautiful particulars yes well you know this house was crisscrossed with. Heating ducts and the floors were concrete it was just a rat slab down here right. We had water on the floor when it rained this past year and it was the first time ever but I said there's a first time for everything it's -- it's happening right. So they had to have basement systems come in and do a perimeter drain. Which was great that was the first step we had to move a whole bunch of plumbing. From the ceiling to make room for all of us. -- height that we needed right does not exactly a deep cellar. Right and then we decided to move some ducts and that turned into replacing retired HD HC system -- within new system that's now over there in the mechanical space. Central air which I can tell -- it's a life changing event absolutely an air filter that won't quit it's one fabulous. Well the biggest thing down here was really one of the smallest spaces from. We were able to put in a second bathroom thanks to the technology of Saniflo. Which. Uses macerating pumps to allow us to locate the bathroom and a wander round. All the way over on the other side of the basement. And so once we got all the mechanicals in place we called Owens Corning basement finishing systems and and they dead. An amazing amount of work in just ten days they had walls up here that we then did not have to finish."

" Yes that's the thing with that kind of a system it's instant gratification. Once you put it up together. You're done right if you need to get behind the walls you can pull this stuff you -- Alamo he's often get back -- yeah."

" We actually had to do this little bump out because we had a plumbing stack and a water meter in here. We had and we actually have a that are new water heater behind that all we have hidden all sorts of things behind here including. The old fieldstone foundation walls which."

" Bill I don't know how we're gonna finish right yes so it's a great solution yet it even states it's -- rinnai tankless water heaters so that's that's one of the reasons it fits behind the -- And then you got a whole new entertainment center."

" This is just. Otherworldly. For me let's. Basically what we have here on top of the Bose system that went in last week which is an audio controller. We have a video controller from past one it's the S one digital media center."

" And I have the ability here to go through and look at my pictures. You know I can put download them from my camera and stick them on here these are demo pictures right now but. You know and I can use it as wallpaper if I want to yes this almost like a giant screen -- we can have a family slide show -- right exactly so I can also. Back out of this fans. I can watch live TV or -- can record TV by using the guide. To search for any program that I want to record. And scheduling it to record. It done. Takes inputs from a lot of different sources. And it well it has a probe that will control the cable box and change the channel every time I need it to record a program. And it'll store videos. It will store. All kinds of movies. If I wanted to store my dvds on here I could and sort them and search for them by title. I'm just really psyched to sit down and be able watch it finally regret this great new. Chairs to sit on from -- This is a newly developed system."

" This is like you'd see in -- you know real media center home home theater kind of set -- they're very comfortable yeah and they recline."

" I move this for you you can push yourself right back oh I'd rather not it's all right."

" But then the other thing that you had to deal with was the floor we had a slab yes there was just and kind of irregular old concrete floor. And as we -- you want to keep the wood off the floor and basement right so we did not put down any kind of a plywood underlayment we went with a different system that's made out of plastic this is a plastic tile that interlock -- screws down onto the concrete."

" And has a webbing underneath that lets any water that might get out and the slab or get spilled from a broken appliance god forbid."

" It'll run away from the flooring surface and never get the carpet wet and eventually get to the perimeter drainage right. And the other big thing was that you still needed more storage is after you gave up there the raw basement space for storage and that's where -- all these. --"

" We decided to use slide Lok cabinets throughout this basement and they're especially great in the workshop area where we regained some storage. And used their great wall system for hanging tools these are really easy to install on the come in lots of different sizes. You know we can keep a refrigerator in here we really wanted to but my husband the musician is finding a lot of great new space for his instruments. And he's been using this as a rehearsal space is really going to. He's really gonna love us and we love the fact that there are two and a half inches of fiberglass between him and the neighbors."

" Yes so you've got a pretty contained and pretty well sound attenuated space staff and even of the kids are upstairs Serb. You know you have company upstairs you're still a situation we don't have to worry about right that the noise. And that you provided a corner back here."

" This is his little office space so he'll have a space to work instead of having to be all over the dining room table. As we are now I think."

" We use I I like that you've you know picked out accents for for the space is to make neutral space -- And you've picked out accents that correlate with -- other things that you brought in here yeah Valladolid. Yeah well you can choose a million different things from their website but the lampshades have a design. That kind of relates to the flooring product that you put in which is not a wall to wall carpet this is yet though."

" This is from -- attack. This is a cut piece right here but these are tiles of carpet that stick down with a tacky backing. And I did this myself in -- night because you can just turn them around and make different sorts of patterns -- and they all interlock. So you can choose which pattern you want to make and just laid them out like tiles that you don't have to use any adhesive which is terrific exactly. We've got these great sumo bean bags as well they're enormous and the kids love to lounge on them or play on them and we even found a great fish tank that's only four inches deep this are convinced us saves us space even on the stairwell."

" So kids aren't home from school yet but now you're ready for them when they get here congratulations I think you've done a great job of being your own general contract thank you -- the family room has come out --"