DIY Basement Workout Room Step 5: The Trim-ishing Touches

Wed, 11 February 2009, 1:19 am

They say that the finishing touches on any DIY project take the longest. Doing the trim on our basement workout room was no different. I started the top trim over the Christmas holiday (I had already done the baseboard) and I finished a full month and a half later. As with everything else in this project, I did wing it a bit. A smart DIY’er should curl up with a good resource on how to install trim, I just dove right in.

Buying and Prepping the Trim
My goal for the trim was to purchase molding that matched the rest of the house without breaking the bank (if possible). It is a basement after all. I also wanted trim that was easy to paint and transport home. This dictated that my maximum length should be 12′ long to fit in my SUV and be pre-primed fiber-wood material for ease of paint coverage. I ended up with the following from Lowes:

Because of my lack of finished ceiling and unconventional wall approach, I also had all kinds of weird rough edges to come up with solutions for, not the least of which was how to finish the windows. My answer came to me after a lot of meditation. a 1×10 pine board painted in white was the perfect width to cover over the cement block and make a nice finished look for the window. So, I measured the room and windows carefully leaving a little extra for practice pieces, then bought all of my trim. Next, I painted all of it in semi-gloss white paint. It is much easier to get a good base coat on the trim BEFORE it is installed. I like to touch up lafter installing the trim.

Installing the Trim
Using casing for my ceiling molding was WAY easier to install than my crown molding project. There’s no coping necessary. You just use your handy chop saw and cut all sorts of 45 degree angles. The best part is that the casing provides a very finished look to the drywall where it meets my super cheap painted ceiling. You do need to cut various slots and other creative workarounds for pipes and beams.


One of the more tricky areas to figure out the ceiling molding

As for the windows, all I needed to do was provide a nailing surface for the 1×10 to be installed onto. This was simple on the side and bottom of the window frame because I had installed furring strips all around the window opening to hold up the insulation. The top of the window frame was only a little more tricky. I used 2×2’s to add to the floor joists up above to provide a surface that would have the top of the window frame just right above the window opening. The end result of the windows after finishing was this…


The window frame allows the windows to open, while providing a finished look

After installing molding with a finishing nailer hooked up to an air compressor (DO NOT do this project without it) I went around with painter’s caulk and spakling paste filling in the gaps in the corners, and all of the finishing nail holes. I then touched up the paint.

Presenting the Training With Tricia Fitness Studio
The grand opening of the workout room (fitness studio sounds much more impressive) was yesterday as Tricia noted in her blog entry. The photos speak to any other details that I my not have explained.


The mirrored closet has pegboard to the right to hold equipment and act as a vent for the de-humidifier stashed inside


A curtain separates the fitness studio from the rest of the basement. A TV is mounted to the ceiling near the treadmill


At the base of the basement stairs is a doorway I installed (pre-hung doors are pretty easy to do) that leads to a future basement bathroom.

I’m glad that the project is now complete. It’s a nice place for me to workout in too. I especially like to flip on the pink Christmas lights Tricia installed on the ceiling and go for a long run. They just make me feel liberated ;)

DIY Basement Workout Room: Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5

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Read: 10 comments on “DIY Basement Workout Room Step 5: The Trim-ishing Touches”

  • 1 DIY Basement Workout Room Step 4: Getting Muddy on the Rubber Floor | krisrzepkowski.com 11 February 2009

    [...] In my next posting I’ll have pictures of the finished room. We have moved onto trim work now, which is going slowly. Since we’re in the Fall and the kids are in school, we’ve begun to use the room in it’s current state of “almost finished”. DIY Basement Workout Room: Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 [...]

  • 2 Mike Z 06 April 2009

    How did you finish the floor transition where the rubber flooring ends and transitions back to concrete or other flooring?

  • 3 Kris Rzepkowski 06 April 2009

    Hi Mike,
    I haven’t had to transition yet. The rest of the basement is still unfinished. When I do, I’ll either have it carpeted, in which case they’d put a tack strip right into the concrete and butt carpet up to the rubber, or I could use a laminate or metal transition material with construction adhesive or some other similar mastic to stick down the transition.
    -Kris

  • 4 Mike Z 07 April 2009

    I have the same situation - I did find some rubber transitions but they were expensive. My concern is the edge getting torn up from catching your feet on the flooring going in and out. I suppose I should just browse the transitions at the HW store, there are probably tons. My room is stalled because I found some rotted wood near the doorframe. Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/mzaloudek/HomeGymSept2008#

  • 5 Kris Rzepkowski 07 April 2009

    Thanks for sharing those pics Mike. Remodeling old is probably tougher than doing it from scratch in a new build like me. Although each has its own special issues (like pretty much having no idea how to start). That’s a bummer about the rot. Is that waterproofing paint or cement you used on the block walls?. That looks really good. I didn’t know there are rubber transitions. That’s a good idea. I’ll have to look for those when I finish the rest of the basement.

  • 6 Mike Z 09 April 2009

    There wasn’t a water problem, but I thought since I have access before I seal in the walls I would dig out any cracks or holes and patch with the UGL hydraulic patching cement. Then I painted with the UGL waterproof paint which is super thick and covered less sq feet that you would think.

  • 7 Matt 13 November 2009

    Your ceiling looks fantastic. I think it in fact looks better than a drop ceiling, which to me always looks cheap and basementy. This looks loft-like and obviously was a lot quicker to put in than a drop. And full ceiling height. Do you have any more pics of the ceiling and long-room shots with it in them? I am planning on drywalling as I remodel now but this is attractive.

  • 8 Nicci 14 November 2009

    Kris, we completely agree with Matt! We’re leaning towards a white paint since we’ll be doing laminate floors. Did you ever consider white? I’m guessing you went with black to match the rubber mat? Just want to make sure I’m not missing something by going with white….

  • 9 Kris Rzepkowski 16 November 2009

    Hi Nicci,
    I have seen white done before and I’m not a big fan. Black and dark gray tend to disappear when you walk down to your basement. Your eye just tends to focus on other things, like the lighting, walls, floor, furniture, whatever. All the pipes and ducts disappear and you don’t miss a drop ceiling at all.

    With white you’d think the room would be brighter which I suppose it is - but your eyes immediately go right up to the ceiling. I found myself focusing on all the pipes and junk that was up there rather than looking at the rest of the room. That’s just my opinion, take it for what it’s worth.

  • 10 Matt 20 December 2009

    Nice Job On the Basement. I’m installing Dow WallMate right now in the garage and basement of a house. TapCons are definitely the way to go, and you’ll have to buy enough that you may want to buy stock in the company. In case anyone is thinking about using Ram Set nails, don’t even think about it with cinder block walls. Pre-drill the holes in whatever wood strips you choose because you’ll bend up a perfectly good $8 masonry drill bit if you don’t. Finally, Dow makes an expanding foam adhesive specifically for gluing foam board to masonry walls. One can of it goes a loooong way and it may not seem strong when you first put it on, but when it sets up it’s amazing. I’m going to shoot a few YouTube vids of my final stages of install.

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