Frame a Basement Wall

One way to expand the living space in your home is to finish a basement. During the planning process, you need to determine where you want to place the framed interior walls. When you know how to frame a basement wall, your planning process may go more smoothly. To frame a basement wall, you prepare the exterior walls, create floor and ceiling braces, prepare the ceiling, build the frame, and then attach the frame to the floor and ceiling.

Steps

1. Prepare exterior walls. Before you begin framing interior basement walls, you should prepare the exterior walls to have interior walls attached to them. Exterior basement wall preparation takes a few extra steps.
   • Attach foam board to exterior walls with foam-board glue. Foam board or other insulation makes finished basements much more energy efficient.
   • Snap horizontal guide lines onto the foam board with a chalk reel. These lines should be 3 inches (8 cm) from the top and bottom of the wall, in the center of the wall, and 1 line each between the outer lines and the center line.
   • Drill holes through the foam board and exterior wall.
   • Hammer spring spikes into the pilot holes.
   • Attach 1 by 3 boards horizontally to the wall using drywall screws.
   • Screw vertical 1 by 3 boards spaced 16 inches (40.6 cm) apart into the horizontal boards.
2. Create the top and bottom plates. The plates are 2 boards, 1 attached to the floor and the other attached to the ceiling, to which the other boards, called studs, are attached.
   • Cut the plates to your desired lengths.
   • Mark the plates at 16 inch (40.6 cm) intervals. You will eventually nail the studs into these marks. You may want to use a T-square to draw lines 3/4 inches (1.9 cm) on each side of your marks to show you exactly where to put the studs.
3. Install cross braces, if necessary. If your new wall will be parallel to the ceiling joists, skip this step. If the new wall is perpendicular to the ceiling joists, nail 2 by 4 or 2 by 6 pieces of wood that fit tightly between the ceiling joints and flush to the bottom of the joists into place above where your wall will be.
4. Cut the 2 by 4 boards that will become the joists to the height needed to reach from your floor to ceiling, taking into account the height of the top and bottom plates.
5. Nail the studs to the bottom plate. Use 2 nails per stud.
6. Nail the studs to the top plate, using 2 nails per stud.
7. Lift the frame into place. Work with a partner if possible. 1 method is to slide the bottom plate into place and then lift the top plate until it reaches the ceiling.
8. Attach the frame to the ceiling joists, cross braces, or prepared exterior wall with nails. You may need to use shims to make the wall plumb and finish your basement wall installation.

Tips

• Before beginning to frame a basement, be sure that there is not moisture building up on the exterior walls. If there is, fix the moisture problem before you begin installing interior walls.
• When selecting lumber at a hardware store, only purchase the straightest boards you can find. Warped boards can make walls unstable.

Things You'll Need

• Hammer
• Nails
• Circular saw
• Chalk reel
• 2 by 4 lumber
• Drill

Related Articles

• Paint Your Basement Walls
• Install Sheetrock in a Basement
• Insulate Basement Walls
• Waterproof Your Basement

Sources and Citations

• http://www.basements101.com/framing/basement_wall_framing.html
• http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20332381,00.html

See also

• Find a Stud
• Install Baseboards
• Clean Crayon off Painted Walls
• Make a Basement French Drain
• Paint Your Basement Floor
• Waterproof Your Basement
• Build a Catacombs Beneath Your Basement
• Paint Your Basement Walls
• Finish Your Basement
• Install a Wall Niche

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What links here

• Insulate Basement Walls