Finishing a Basement, Part 8

Continuing the series on finishing the basement . . .

Today, we reach the end. (Well, mostly.)

• Install doors (28 July, 8 August)
• As mentioned in yesterday's post, we installed one door during the floor-laying, but left the other two for after. (It is easier to install floor without navigating the door trim.)
• We installed pre-hung doors.
• Installing doors is a matter of aligning the frame with the rough-out area and using shims on all sides to get everything perfectly level.
• Sometimes the frame itself is uneven (with respect to the door), making things extra tricky.
• After everything is perfectly level (and close the door to make sure the gap between it and the frame is uniform, close, but not rubbing), screw the frame into the top and sides of the rough-out. 
• Check everything after screwing it in (to include closing the door), as things can shift.
• Install floor/door trim (8-10 August)
• Use a brad nailer
• Paint trim (we did this a few days' prior).
• Trim around doors first. 
• Do the sides of the door frame first.
• Cut pieces to length, cutting the appropriate ends at 45 degree angles. Check how it aligns with the door frame and make sure it is level overall. Keep a small gap between the door trim and the floor (very small). Nail it in.
• Do the top of the door frame, cutting both ends at 45 degrees. Make sure it is level and the (hopefully-small) gap between the side and top pieces is small and as uniform as possible (caulking later can help cover this up). Nail it in.
• Install floor trim.
• Verify that your flooring comes within 1/2 inch of the wall, so that the floor trim will appropriately cover it.
• Mark stud locations (I used a stud finder and painter's tape) to know where to nail.
• Cut corner pieces at 45-degree angles. Chop saw needed.
• If you ever have a wall greater than the 8-ft sections that floor trim comes in, cut two pieces, each at 45 degrees, at a stud location so you can overlap them and nail at that point.
• We had two areas where we could not nail (concrete and metal studs). In those locations, we cut the trim to length, nailed the trim pieces to each other (we had U-shaped and L-shaped areas), and then glued it all in.
• Final touches (10, 12-16, 26 August)
• Paint doors
• Paint doors after hanging them, inside and out.
• Install door hardware
• We used kwikset door handle sets for the two single doors and two pull knobs for the double doors. 
• Installation instructions are in the door handle kit and are straightforward. The only problem we encountered was in one door where the latch was mildly ahead of the pre-cut hole, meaning the door wouldn't latch. A little chiseling of the frame and shifting the catch forward solved this problem.
• Install capboard
• A friend made a capboard for the basement railing area. We painted that and screwed it in using finishing screws like this.
• Trim under capboard
• This was tricky, as the capboard end was at an angle that meant the trim would either be flush with the board or the wall—not both. Our friend helped us here, playing with a few ideas. Ultimately, we put the trim flush with the wall and used special cuts to make it look as uniform as possible.
• Caulking
• Various types of caulk are needed for various areas. The two we used:
• Alex Plus White Acrylic Latex Caulk plus Silicone. Very popular; we used it on all wood trim areas.
• Advanced Finish white for the countertop in the kitchenette. (I think our contractor used advanced finish clear for the sink itself.)
• I had never caulked before, but it is pretty straightforward. This video gives you an idea of how to do it and what's important.
• Transition strips
• We installed transition strips that matched our floor under the three door areas. In each case, it was transitioning from the LVP flooring directly to the concrete. 
• Cut each piece to length, notch out if required (due to the door frame), install the track strip by tucking a portion of it under the floating floor, and snap the transition strip in. You can glue the track in if desired; I opted not to, as these are not high-traffic areas and I think they will be fine. But if someone kicks out the transition piece, I will use an appropriate adhesive to lock those down.
• Touch-up paint
• You'll find areas (on walls or trim) that got scuffed during the final parts of installation or were missed.
• Mount television
• Not really part of the basement construction, this was nevertheless time-consuming. We had to install the TV in the middle of the wall, and the mount didn't align with the studs, so I built a frame (I had access to the unfinished area, thankfully) so we could mount the frame in the exact center of the wall, at the appropriate height for viewing.

The below pictures may look identical, but look carefully for the progress—it could be installing trim, painting the doors, installing knobs, or other things. The room looks near-complete in the first few photos, but still had a lot of little things to do.