Our full basement reno journey started way back before the pandemic. Weve always wanted to renovate our basement but we have a couple of challenges with our space that we didnt have a solution for.
One is the low ceiling area where the mud room on the main floor is at. We werent sure how we could utilize this space because the ceiling is just a little over 6ft. We were reluctant to close it off as we thought its a pretty significant space and might affect the open concept look that were trying to achieve.
The other big challenge is this funky way the builders of our house configured the air ducts downstairs. Its kind of hard to describe in words but basically one of the ducts ran over the supporting I-beam in the basement but instead of going up and over the beam, it went under it so theres this U-shaped vent shaft that takes up a pretty significant space. (See the before pictures included with this review)
Anyway, weve delayed our basement renovation because we couldnt figure out what to do with these problems. Weve tried looking it up on the internet for other basement reno projects that may have had the same issues. Weve consulted with other contractors on what they think would be the best solution. None of them offered anything that we thought we would be happy with. Then the pandemic happened and we had to put any plans to renovate on hold.
When we were finally able to look into it again, we contacted 310 Reno. I described the situation to Mike over the phone and we scheduled a time for him to come over and see it. We couldnt do anything about the low ceiling other than closing it off and use it as storage space. He did assure us though that we can still achieve the open concept look that we want.
For the air duct, he was able to propose a solution that would remove the U-shape vent by reconfiguring and relocating the ducts to under the stairs. We were finally able to find a contractor with a solution that we are happy with. We hired them and they went to work.
Our designer was Alexandra who was very accommodating and knowledgeable. We first communicated with her through text messages. Then we met with her via Zoom so we could show her what we want for our basement design. She had lots of good ideas that fit within our concept. We also met with her in person to pick our tiles and flooring and finalize the design.
Denis and Andrey were our installers and Arie was the Project Manager. They were polite and friendly as well and were able to answer any questions we may have. They also keep us informed if there will be any delays or any issues with the project. There is this one particular issue that I know would have caused us problems later after theyve finished the project. Denis was able to catch it and identify the issue and the team was able to fix it. The project took longer than some other contractors were quoting us but their workmanship and attention to detail makes up for the extra few weeks that it took for the project to finish.
We are extremely happy with the final results and grateful for 310 Reno. To Mike, Alexandra, Arie, Denis, and Andrey, thank you so much for making our dream of a finished basement become a reality!