What to expect when you finish a basement: Part 1

As has already been noted, I really, really like demolition.  So when we decided to finish the west half of the basement, I was very excited to rip down the acoustical ceiling tiles and tear up the sticky tile flooring.
This is the basement before we moved in:

The plan was to do all the demo ourselves, then get the pros at AIM Kitchen & Bath to install a second bathroom and walk-in closet, then we would paint and lay laminate flooring, install a new drop ceiling, and call it done.  No big deal, right?

Getting the ceiling tiles down was easy, if very messy (continual vacuuming required to keep down the dust and dirt that fell from untold years of the old tiles).  Poor SB then removed all the clips that held the old tiles to the furring strips.

Removing the floor tile was a much bigger deal than we expected.  The sticky vinyl tiles were really hard to get up, and there was another layer of tile beneath, which was tarred to the cement.  However, I got really good at zipping along with my oversize crowbar, and we put down rosin paper to cover the sticky bare surface.

In no time at all we were envisioning the finished space (please take time to admire my lovely artist renderings - blue is shower, green is vanity, yellow is commode)