Basement Finish, Structural Repair and Custom Built-Ins — Lawrence, KS

Aug 15, 2026

An unfinished basement in Lawrence with a problem hiding in the framing:
a previous contractor had notched out the top plate of a structural
wall. That had to be corrected before anything else could go in.

The homeowners wanted two of the rooms finished — a living space for the
family and an office. We scaled back the scope on the rest of the
basement so the budget could go where it would actually show, which let
me concentrate on the framing, drywall, HVAC, and the finish carpentry.

Getting materials down there was the hard part. Access was tight, so
rather than fight it we built a temporary shop in the basement itself:
dust-filtered and set up for woodworking, so the pieces could be built
in place. The bookcase, the shelving, the wainscoting, and the crown
with its decorative boxes were all made on site.

This is the one I'm proudest of on the carpentry side. I got to do the
design as well as the build, and worked biblical themes into it. The
homeowners were ecstatic with how the office turned out.

Before

Staging Foam board
Staging lumber
Staging lots of lumber
Unfinished basement office room before renovation began
Office Room Before
Second view of the unfinished basement office room before work began
Office Room Before
Unfinished basement family room before renovation began
Family Room Before

The Work

Water leak found in the basement foundation wall during foam board insulation install
Found leaks in foundation wall during install of foam board insulation
Basement concrete walls covered with rigid foam board insulation
Foam boarded basement walls
Rigid foam board applied to concrete walls to address moisture and insulation value
First step to deal with moisture and insulation rating issues from concrete, foam board
One-by-four wall framing set against the insulated basement wall
1x4 wall framing set up
Slim wall framing used to preserve floor space in the finished basement
Trying to reduce the size of the walls, keep as much space as possible
Framing the wall cavity for the custom built-in bookcase
Framing out the built-in area
Notched structural top plate concealed with duct tape by a previous contractor
The notch that caused problems, covered over by someone with duct tape
Improperly notched structural top plate missed during the home inspection
Somebody did something dumb, and the inspector missed this when they bought the house
A 2x6 bending under load where the structural top plate had been notched through
An inspector missed this, a 2x6 bending under the weight of the notched plate
Floor joists jacked up to raise a section of the structural wall for repair
We jacked the floor joists, we had to raise a section of this wall
Repaired top plate after lifting the floor joists and bracing the wall
Fixed the notched board after lifting the floor joists and braced the wall
Blocking added to the repaired top plate so it transfers load properly
We blocked this notched board out, made sure it could transfer the load properly
Drywall installed and finished in the basement by our own crew
We did our own drywall install and finish
Basement office room drywall prepared for a high level finish
Office room, we were going to high level finish
Basement family room drywall taken to a level 4 finish
Family room, level 4 finish
High build primer sprayed in the office to achieve a level 5 drywall finish
We did a thick build primer for a level 5 finish in the office
Level 5 drywall finish on the basement office walls
Level 5 finish
Built-in bookcase and shelves masked off before spray finishing
Covered our bookcase and shelves for the finish
Custom bookcase taking shape with grooved panels built using shop-made jigs
Bookcase coming together after building shelves and jigs to have grooved panels
Test fitting the completed bookcase assembly
Tested everything after building
Fine finish panel added over a particle board backer for strong, clean shelving
Adding a fine finish panel to our particle board backer made a beatiful and strong structure for shelves
Custom bookcase built in place in the basement office
Built the bookcase in place
Water main shut off valve in the upper right of the basement wall before enclosure
There is the shut off valve in the top right for the water main
Cabinet for the water main valve built off site at the shop to a design worked out with the homeowner
Designed this space with the homeowner, we built our cabinet for the water valve off site at our shop
Moulding profiles used on the custom built-in
Some of the moulding designs we used
Detail of the layered moulding work on the custom built-in
Lots of details to our built-in
Combined moulding profiles creating layered detail on the built-in
High level of detail with our moulding combinations
Side view of the custom built-in as seen entering the basement office
A beautiful side view of the built-in when you walk in the office
Dedicated shelf built to hold the family Bible and other special books
A special shelf for special books, the Bible primarily
Crown moulding layered with additional profiles at the top of the built-in
Crown finish with other mouldings for high detailed beauty for the crown of our masterpiece
First coats of spray finish on the custom built-in
First coats of spray finish
Spray finish being applied to the built-in shelving
First coats of spray finish
Early coats of spray finish on the bookcase and trim
First coats of spray finish
Custom cabinet built to house the water main shut off valve
Cabinet for our shut off valve
Crown moulding detail still crisp after spray primer
The crown details stayed after the spray primer
Close detail of the shelf edge and moulding work
I love these details to the shelves
Level 5 finish applied by the homeowner using our high build primer sprayer
Level 5 finish by the homeowner with our high build primer sprayer, they did a good job for their first time
Wainscoting being built out on the basement office wall
Wainscoting build out
Large box style wainscoting panels installed on the wall
Large box style wainscoting
Wainscoting boxes set in all four corners, a design drawn from scripture
Wanted to have boxes in all four corners, symbolizing four corners of the earth in scripture and other symbols from the bible
Cabinet enclosing the water main shut off while keeping it accessible
We built a cabinet to go over the shut off and have it be accessible
Built-in prepped for the final paint finish
Prepping for final paint finish
Raw wood primed ahead of the final finish coats
Priming all the raw wood for the final finish

Finished

Finished basement family room
Finished family room
Finished basement family room, second view
Finished family room
Finished basement family room looking toward the doorway
Finished family room
View walking into the finished basement office
Walking into the office view
Finished basement office seen from the doorway
Finished office from the door
Finished basement office looking back toward the door
Finished office view of the door
Finished built-in bookcase alongside the office window
Bookcase and window view finished
Finished built-in bookcase next to the office door
Bookcase and door view finished
Finished crown moulding and wainscoting box detail
Crown and box view
Close detail of the finished wainscoting
Details of the wainscoting final
Close detail of the finished built-in bookcase
Details of the bookcase final
Detail of the finished trim and moulding work in the office
Beautiful details
Finished custom built-in bookcase in the basement office
To God be the Glory

Bring your vision to life

Whether it’s a commission, collaboration, or creative consultation — let’s make something unforgettable.

Start A Project