Hidden Under The Stairs Nook Project!

This was a totally unplanned project!

Here's the wall! That piece of plywood is the back of a Halloween sign I shoved up against it. This is my storage room and I've been sitting on this remodel for ten years...TEN! Time flies!

I was curious about what was behind the wall. I have a winding U-shaped staircase and all I knew was it was behind there. I cut out a hole big enough to shine a light in to take a peek.

Open space!! My first thought was NOOK!

Check out the water pipe! The house builders left huge gaps around it in the subfloor.

I "Hey Kool-aid-ed" through.

Now the "Hidden Under The Stairs Nook Project" begins!

First thing I did was remove that stud. I know it goes without being said, but if you're not competent in this area of DIY, always consult a professional.

With this project, the nook area is under the staircase landing and stairs. I removed the stud and added a header. A header is a beam over an opening that disperses the structural load to the outside of the opening to keep structural integrity.

I used beautiful redwood!

The storage room has a double subfloor, so I added one to under the stairs to make the rooms level and covered the gaps around the pipe. Installing plywood underlayment over a subfloor is fairly straightforward. The subfloor needs to be in good condition and keep 1/8 inch between the underlayment and wall.

New light time!

Looking good! It's drywall time.

I had a tough time getting drywall into the nook area! It was often too big to fit through the entrance frame. A lot of cursing!

I cut thin pieces of plywood to cover the backs of the stairs. I countersunk the screws just enough to fill with paintable wood filler. Sanding was incredibly messy in such a small space!

Japan is extremely hot and humid in the summer, so I added room-to-room air vents. I also mounted an exhaust fan in the storage room.

I'm not going to lie...I have no idea if these will work. If the window in the storage room is open, I can feel air moving through, so I'm hopeful.

For the vents, I attached them to PVC pipes. These vents self-lock onto the pipes, but the installation is a two person job. Someone needs to push back on the other side of the wall.

I put in three room-to-room vents.

Taping, caulking and the trim!

I covered the bare drywall corners with L-beads.

This paint is called: cloudy grey.

I needed to go back and sand down some areas, especially on the ceiling. I skim coated the storage room and sanded it with a coarse sanding sponge to give it a concrete look. The paint accented problem spots that needed fixing.

Finished!

I love it! I have a couple more posts on this remodel so stay tuned.