For the last sixty years the only way to enter the cellar has been through this outdoor access.
Ever since we first looked at this house back in May we decided to add a staircase from the dining room to the cellar. Having an interior staircase would allow the lower level to be counted as part of the house, adding another 450 square feet. And easy access to the basement will allow us to move the washer and dryer out of the dining room and into a new basement laundry room. We turned in our building permit application yesterday and 24 hours and $58 later we have the approval to cut the hole for the basement (plus a some other structural changes that we will get to later).
When we got home tonight our dining room looked like this.
And now it looks like this
You may have noticed that the staircase hole is in the way of both the side door and the doorway between the living room and dining room. The only way to access the bedrooms and bathrooms is by going through this doorway and through the kitchen. So having a hole in the only path through the house is kind of an inconvenience. Our solution to the hole in the floor was to add a hole in the wall. This screen separates the living room from the bedroom hallway.
We removed the screen and ripped out the wall to create a doorway. Opening this part of the wall was part of the long-term plan so we won't have to repair it later.
Now that the hole is cut we can start work on the stringers and get some stairs built.
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