Alpha Phi Sorority – Basement Remodel

In 2013, Alpha Phi’s leadership met with us to remodel the Sorority basement. Their goal was to convert multiple storage rooms and a dark and dingy meeting room into a space that the ladies would enjoy using. Their priorities were to find a General Contractor who could provide great communication, timeliness, help with design, material selection, scheduling, and value. We were able to bring in our resources to meet the challenge and remodel the basement during summer break.

In 2013, we started the remodeling project; our 3^rd at the Alpha Phi Sorority. The basement project consisted of two major pieces. First, we needed to create a large, warm, functional, and welcoming space. We created multiple spaces within this one large room for the ladies to study, watch television, socialize, or wait for their laundry to finish.

Meeting area before remodel…

Meeting area with built-in cabinetry.

We demolished walls between the old chapter meeting room, hallway, maintenance closet, and the trunk storage room. We discovered the posts supporting the house had dryrot and needed to be replaced. That inspired us to add a steel beam to open the floor plan by removing one of the bad posts. We leveled the floor with gypcrete, replaced leaky pipes, insulated, added lighting, replaced a rotten piece of wall, reinforced the flooring system and installed new wiring.

Once the old walls were removed and the dryrot was taken care of, we created an open area where the ladies could study or hold sorority meetings. A large table with room for 6 to sit comfortably was placed under a contemporary, but bright pendant light which provides ample task lighting for the table. Recessed lighting was added to provide more lighting on the white board and bulletin board that are located on the walls beside the table. Additionally, in the east side of the basement is a functional laminate storage unit with drawers and cupboards for the girls to store supplies. It also provides a flat large surface separate from the table to spread out paperwork or other study materials.

Media room before remodel.

Study area, media room, and reading nook.

Studying area.

On the west side of the basement, another table was placed that will seat 4. This table can be moved around the room as needed by the ladies. Ambient recessed lighting and task lighting was placed around the west part of the basement that provides warm, but strong enough light for studying. A small reading nook was created in the west part of the basement to give the ladies a comfortable spot to read and provide more seating. This area is also a part of the lounge area and can be used when the ladies have movie night. In addition to the reading nook, a large microfiber sofa provides more seating in the basement.

Reading nook and extra seating for the media area.

Shaw “No Limits” carpet tiles were chosen for the entire basement. These carpet tiles can easily be individually replaced if needed. New Mannington vinyl was installed into the laundry and bathroom. New MDF baseboard and casings were added after the new carpet tiles were installed.

Second, we needed to replace the very old gas boiler and water heaters. We installed a new Lennox HRV3-150 Heat Recovery Ventilator to bring fresh air into the basement. We also installed a Lochinvar 95% high efficiency boiler with direct ventilation to heat the sorority house. We additionally installed a Bradford White 98% ultra high efficiency water heater and storage tanks to provide ample heat for all of the showers.

Mechanical room before remodel….

Mechanical room with new HVAC systems.