Hi John, We did a similar project on our basement a few years before we embarked on our kitchen reno, for us it was well worth it -- mainly because we love our neighborhood and really needed the extra space. But -- it's good to know up front how much it will mean to you and your family because in terms of resale it will bring a mere pittance compared to what you spend doing it. We found that out when we brought a realtor in while deciding whether to reno our kitchen, thinking moving might make more financial sense, and we found the basement, while it impressed the realtor, only raised the proposed asking price by about 1/4 - 1/3 of what we spent on the project, of course that could vary from area to area and also depends on how much you DIY (we had a not-inexpensive contractor do most of it -- we love to DIY, but it was too much work for a weekend here and a weekend there to get it done before the kids were grown and gone, anyway. If you love where you are at and plan to stay there a while, then consider it -- it's just good to know up front what you're saying "yes" to in terms of likely recoupment of your costs should you need/decide to sell. Maybe our case was a little different because we had a lot of expenses upfront moving plumbing, putting in a french drain, enlarging windows, etc. in addition to using a contractor. That said, like you we put in the kitchen, full bath, laundry room and storage (this area is still unfinished) -- we have loved having the set up and while it hasn't been used as an in-law suite yet, it has housed many people short term. As we could see in the next year setting it up to house a returning college student as well while she saves for her own place. It's been very versatile -- having the full bath and kitchen has made it so, I'm also glad we have an outside entrance for the times when we've hosted longer term guests (interns, etc.). Some of the things we're glad we did based on how we used it: - full bath (including a tub) - full kitchen (we put the wiring in but left the stove out for now, code doesn't allow it) - laundry room is in an area accessible by both us and whoever is staying down there - large windows - lots of insulation in the ceiling (sound rated) - plastered ceiling - closets under stairwell - pocket door to living area (usually open except when guests are staying with us Hope this isn't TMI. Good luck with your research/decision making phase. Would love to help you brainstorm layouts if you move forward. Kris

Just an update: It's here, sitting proudly just off my living room, which is not where I had hoped for it to go. Try as I did, it is just too deep (front to back) to fit in my bathroom where my old washer is. So it will go near my galley kitchen. There's still alot of work to do to get it up and running. I need to add a 120-240V/15A circuit breaker (or a fuse or easy-install kit for the existing 240V outlet) and run new wiring. A means of attaching it to the kitchen sink to drink from and drain to. A Y-adapter to feed cold water to both the cold and hot inlets. (I've relegated most of my installation issues to this thread). My dryer - an old, small GE ventless unit - is starting to become unreliable too. If I find a decent used condensation dryer at a good price I may get that too. But here I see I run into a problem - evidently Miele hasn't made 6kg ventless condenser dryers. They have lots of 5kg condensation dryers, but I don't think they can be stacked atop a 6kg washer like the W1926. Correct? I'm in the dark about whether some sort of stacking kit is needed to stack a Miele dryer atop a Miele washer, and whether only certain combinations of W & D can be stacked. It appears it is although I can't find any references to specific model numbers and the stacked machines shown in their manuals don't seem to list any particular additional hardware, Anyone here familiar with this? And is stacking a non-Miele condensation dryer on a Miele washer verboten? Is there some sort of homemade mount you can build that will keep the dryer from sliding off? If I had a closet, I'd just build a shelf a few inches above the washer and be set. I could reverse the old layout - washer near kitchen, dryer in bathroom. Then I could use any brand. I have a 120V/15A dryer now but can go to a 240V condensation dryer that should increase my options considerably. Miele and Bosch seem to sell for much more secondhand than Asko or other brands. I'm also seriously confused about the plugs, outlet, and wiring required by the W1926. It's rated at 120-240V/15A, yet is fitted with a Hubbell NEMA 14-20P plug, the type normally found on a grounded 125V/250V 20A (not 15A) device. The electrical cord is a Carol 12/4 Type SJ (UL) (also listed as CSA Type SJ FT-2), with a sticker noting that the black and red wires are the L1 and L2 hots respectively, with a white neutral and green ground. Why not 14-gauge cable ending in a usual 240V/15A plug as Bosch uses? Further confusing things, the Miele owner's manual seems to indicate the plug is a NEMA 14-30P, the big ones normally found on 240V/30A dryer plugs. Could this not be the original cable or plug? The new double-pole circuit breaker should clearly be 15A but should 14-3 w/ground or 12-3 w/ground NM-B (Romex) cable be run? (I lean towards the latter since that's what the washer cord uses). I may have been better off with one of the 5kg Miele washers - it would have fit in my bathroom and I could stack a Miele condensation dryer over it eventually and save space. They are essentially alike only 4 inches shallower front to back, and with (even) higher spin speeds. But I hope to someday have a larger home and then I can take the W1926 with me and use any ol' normal vented dryer, and I'll be glad I have the extra space. The Miele really is nicely designed - very straightforward controls that tell you what they're doing - no "workout wear" or "kid's clothes" settings that leave you wondering what it's really doing. And of course, actual temperature markings, a rarity in U.S.-market washers. Can you imagine an oven that didn't show temperatures, just "cold", "warm", and "hot"?

We converted our 2 family into a single and used the tenants 1st floor kitchen (12.5'W x 14'L) as our kitchen. The last updates were 1950's or '60's. We gutted the kitchen and moved the ceiling height to the room above it (raised about 1'). Found an old floor just above the lowered ceiling made up of ~170 year old wide pine that wasn't used for at least 100 years and we will now incorporate it into the banquette. We bumped out the back of the house 6' for the kitchen (now 20'L). Since some of our bathroom plumbing was from the 1850 - 1870s and the newest being 90 years old we replumbed the whole house. Also most of the wiring was when they invented it so we had the whole house rewired and upgraded to 400A service. We added the "sandwich" in a new nook opposite the basement door (60"W x 22"D cabs). We recessed the frig into the back stairway - much more than the drawing shows. In the bump out we added 5 windows, french door and skylight to the kitchen, 1 small window in the half bath and a transom between the half bath and pantry. Here's a basic idea of the kitchen but we swapped the range and sink plus DW after suggestions from GW and moved the prep sink. The shaded area is the bump out.

uscpsycho. I haven't re-read this entire post to understand who did your floors. I am in SoCal, and had a reputable flooring store install my engineered hardwood. I wanted the floorboards close enough to the wall so as not to need quarter round, but I planned for tall baseboard. They assigned their "A-team" to do my install since I was obviously a picky person, and they did a great job. But at least here, where people leave their doors open and no one runs a humidifier or de-humidifier, you have to plan for a certain amount of floor movement. Had I asked them for floors like yours butted up against the wall, no way in h*** would they have installed them like that. They are professionals and would not risk the unhappy outcome. What did you specifiy for your installers? Are they licensed, etc? Where are you located? Hardwood requires humidity/de-humidity and environmental controls. What you're asking is kind of an after-the-fact question. Do you want your floors corrected to be installed according to industry standards and best practices? I would. p.s. I'm not a pro. SJ Mcarthy, etc, please take over the responses now.