Walk Out basement

Finished Project Video

I needed to make a walk out basement.  I started digging by hand.  I needed the exercise.  I didn't have anything else to do this summer.  Then I got sick of digging by hand and rented a mini-excavator. 

Next came the footers.

I built the forms for the retaining walls on top of the footers and tied the re-bar into the footing re-bars.

The retaining walls took somewhere around 24 yards of concrete.  They are almost 14' high from the top of the footers.  My forms failed.  Luckily it wasn't a complete failure.  Everything stayed vertical.  I spent several weeks jack hammering the walls straight and then plastering over all the wall surfaces.  I fixed them.

Now the walls are straight.  The finish turned out very rough but I can go back and put on a second coat after winter is over.  

I put in a door at the bottom of the stairs.

This is how I reinforced the stairs.  These are my forms.  I put more bracing on after I took the pictures because I didn't want the forms to blow out again.  I made sure I doweled into the foundation so that if the earth underneath the steps settles, the steps won't sink down.

I mixed all the concrete for the steps and platforms by hand.  The first pour I did the bottom and top platforms.  The next pour I did the 4 top steps.  The last pour I, and my helper, did the 10 bottom steps.  I had to torch the wet concrete to get it to cure fast enough before the night freeze came on.  It worked fine on the platforms and top steps, but we over did it on the 10 bottom steps.  I had 2 torches going and the bottom steps set up quicker than I wanted them to.  

Technical Details

We live in a small 2 bed 2 bath house.  We have 2 kids and 1 on the way.  We have the mother- in- law in the house.  We didn't have enough beds for all the bodies.

 Last year I had made the platform and the drawers for the queen mattress.  I added on the twin bunk and rails, panels, and ladder this year.

The bed is up on blocks here to make it easier to stain and finish.

Drawer galore.  We don't have room in the bedroom now for a dresser so the dresser is under the bed.

This gate keeps kids from falling down the stairs in the middle of the night.

I textured the wood grain.  It makes the bed look so much more rustic and substantial.

Installed in the bedroom.  This little guy can sleep in style now while Mommy and Daddy sleep in style below.  The bed is extra sturdy and won't shake - an important feature for this set-up.