Framing basement walls

[Reit38]

So I'm going to be framing a room in our basement (under our 4 seasons room). The room is 15x12. Basment walls are poured. The room will be mostly for storage (hunting equipment) but I plan on finishing down the road.

My question is what's wvwryones thoughts on moisture barrier behind the framing. Half the stuff I read says run 6mil poly down the concrete walls other I read is just to leave it. I'm thinking about doing 1/4 fan fold instead of poly if I even need to worry about doin anything.

We just purchased the house but previous owners have said they have not had any moisture in basement. Which I have not seen any watermarks anywhere.

 

[Mick56]

If you frame it with 2 x 4's, are you going to insulate? Years ago I finished off a room in my basement. I used faced insulation with the paper facing the room. Drywalled over that, and it was fine for the next 25 years I lived there.

 

[Renegade1LI]

It's a good idea to check the moisture, tape a 12 inch square of plastic on the wall & floor, see how much you have after 24hrs. If the walls are ok I would still apply a coat of drylok before finishing the walls & can't hurt to put poly down under any floor you do, come 6 inches up the wall & seal it to the wall.

 

[Bert_]

Why even frame a wall?

 

[Reit38]

Yes I plan on drywalling.

I will pry try the moisture check. It's only 20* here right now so not sure how well that will work right now tho.

End to frame a wall so I have a room to store hunting gear in a closet and have reloading bench and hang deer racks and such on wall

 

[tjpavlov]

Check out insofast panels. They are foam board panels with an integrated plastic stud. They glue to the concrete and you can sheetrock over. What's really nice is they have built in electrical chases and a rain screen so water could drain behind if you ever had an issue.

 

[MushCreek]

Any wood directly in contact with raw concrete should be pressure treated. Condensation can lead to wood rot. I used metal studs, and used a foam barrier strip that they sell in rolls at the big box stores. I keep the drywall 1/2" or so above the floor so moisture doesn't wick into the drywall.

 

[Bert_]

End to frame a wall so I have a room to store hunting gear in a closet and have reloading bench and hang deer racks and such on wall

This stuff sounds perfect for an unfinished basement.

If I really had to do it the insofast panels mentioned above sound much better than building a wood stud wall.

 

[mike93lx]

I installed 2" of foam board and furring strips, all attached with spring spikes, then drywalled on top. Seams on the foam were taped.

This was all after doing a moisture test for about a week

If you want to be able to run wire after the fact, two layers of strapping run perpendicular can do that.

 

[rburke65]

Plastic sheeting, ….if you have a dry basement….I like 2x4” studded walls and the insulation of your choice. Wire as desired and dry wall

 

[jade97]

In my last house I Drylocked, glued up 3/4" foam board, then studded, fiberglass insulation, and drywalled. Never had an issue.

In my current house, I'll probably just stud and insulate, skipping the Drylock and foam board. This house has a very dry basement and is half exposed (walk out on a very sloped lot).

 

[jkuro]

Don't forget the floor.

Make Your Basement More Comfortable with an Insulated Subfloor - Fine Homebuilding

AmDry by Amvic Building System is a one-step insulated subfloor solution for managing moisture, keeping your basement warm, and providing a solid base for nearly any type of flooring material. Read the full review to learn more about AmDry.

www.finehomebuilding.com

 

[Viper98912]

I also did foam board sheets on the concrete walls, taped the seams, and then laid my non-PT studs after that. I did put PT on the sill plate touching the concrete floor.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

If you plan to finish it down the road, don't forget to do proper fire blocking as you frame and insulate the walls. Check you zoning office proper code details.

So I'm going to be framing a room in our basement (under our 4 seasons room). The room is 15x12. Basment walls are poured. The room will be mostly for storage (hunting equipment) but I plan on finishing down the road.

 

[couch67]

There was an old article in Fine homebuilding that I followed when doing my basement. Same as what a few folks mentioned - styrofoam direct to the walls, then stud a wall in front of that. You lose a bit of floor space this way but a great method for a basement, and you have room in the walls for wiring.

heres the link: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2005/03/01/the-no-mold-finished-basement

 

[mattmountz94]

I also did foam board sheets on the concrete walls, taped the seams, and then laid my non-PT studs after that. I did put PT on the sill plate touching the concrete floor.

This is what I am doing as well. 2" Extruded with seams taped. From my research this was the most common. 2nd choice would be studs with faced insulation, facer towards the basement as someone above mentioned.

 

[CraigStu]

When you build a wall section for a shed or garage you usually build it on the floor and then stand it up. In a basement you have ceiling joists to deal with so it would get tight as it gets close to vertical. Do you just use force to get it up or do you build it slightly short so it will clear? If you build it short, do you use shims to tighten it against the ceiling joists?

 

[MushCreek]

I either build them in place, or use a double top plate. I only put one 2X4 on top, stand it up, then slip the second 2x4 in place. Overkill, but it speeds things up.

 

[PoorUB]

When you build a wall section for a shed or garage you usually build it on the floor and then stand it up. In a basement you have ceiling joists to deal with so it would get tight as it gets close to vertical. Do you just use force to get it up or do you build it slightly short so it will clear? If you build it short, do you use shims to tighten it against the ceiling joists?

I build the wall short and shim it to the joists.

 

[FredWanaker]

watch a bunch of Mike Holmes programs on TV. He has done hundreds of basements, and many are on the programs. Once you see a few of those programs you'll see what is the best way to have a forever basement.

 

[Viper98912]

When I built my walls, I attached the top plate to the joists, the sill plate to the concrete, and then measured the gap in between at every location and custom cut each stud length. There was a slight plus and minus due to the ceiling joists being slightly different (they shouldn't be, but hey, it's wood). Definitely requires some extra measuring and using a plumb bob to make sure your top plate and sill plate are centered correctly above each other. But I don't work "in a rush" - measure thrice, cut once (and don't tell anyone about your bad piece that you mismeasured)

 

[rslaback]

The industry standard is to build the wall short with all the same length studs, rotate it up into place and then shim it to fit the joists. It's a ton faster than any other method and it really doesn't matter in any noticeable way.

 

[FredWanaker]

Mike Holmes shows really are informative on basement building. His main points are - make sure that the structural and moisture problems are totally solved before you put the basement walls up not after. Use a wood that is treated not to mildew. He leaves a small space between the wall and basement wall, into that he has closed cell foam blown in. It acts as insulation and a moisture barrier. Then he does his drywall work. Use flooring that is designed not to mildew.Make sure you test the floor too to make sure no moisture is coming up thru it.

 

[csp]

Some places require a floating wall due to expansive soils.

 

[jkuro]

Some places require a floating wall due to expansive soils.

Where do you find soil in your basement.

 

[kngelv]

If you are not doing spray foam and want to insulate then there is really only one good way. Glue 2" foam board directly to the walls. Build your stud wall just in front of it, insulate and drywall. All of the methods with poly sheets will trap moisture. If you don't insulate then build your stud wall just in front of the concrete wall. Before doing anything make sure your poured walls are sealed at any form holes. The house I bought six years ago had a finished basement with poly and no insulation. I got a few leaks from behind the walls. It turns out the forms used rebar as supports when pouring the walls and after removing the rebar the builders just filled the form holes with caulk, roofing tar, adhesive or corks. They were 1' and 5' above the floor and 18" apart around the entire perimeter of my basement. I ended up removing all of the walls and found about 7 or 8 leaking and some minor mold at the base in a few spots. I repaired a total of 144 holes. It was a pain but I have a completely dry basement. All those gray spots are where the holes were before I filled them with hydraulic cement. Checks this before doing anything. Good luck.

James

 

[69charged]

Like others above, I used 2” rigid foam, glued in place with foam board glue, then used PL premium to glue a treated bottom plate to the floor, fastened my top plate to the joists, and stick framed each stud to the right length. Went well. Then filled the stud bays with roxul. No plastic.

 

[yeldogt]

Years ago I did metal studs and encapsulated typical insulation/ drywall on top .... my office was done that way 30+ years ago. I did a couple others that way including one of my studios made out of block ... Also my suburban lower level when I redid it.

In the later 90's I switched my process as my project was space challenged and I needed a thinner system. I used typical good quality 2x material on the flat -- had the contractor power nail the 2x to the block wall .... being **** I had them place a length of foundation foam behind the 2x. You want to get a long straight board or level and make sure there are no high spots on the wall at the stud spot and don't drive the nail into a low spot. Poured cement liek the OP can often be very straight ... but you want to be sure. With some care you can get them very straight ... back then I just used some foam panels between the studs. Since I use spray foam now I have them do a skim coat ..... I'm in the mid Atlantic so a basement is not going to have real cold temps on the other side of the wall. You want a thermal layer .. 1" is fine.

You don't lay the 2x on the basement floor -- keep it up a bit. Hight will depend on what's going on the floor and size of baseboard ... I'm usually doing traditional houses with wide base and no shoe .. so I don't need a nailer right at the bottom. Keeping that 2x up a bit --- same with drywall will save you should a plumbing problem happen and you get a wet floor. That 1" + will save you from wicking in many cases.

For electric -- I run the romex above and along the lower 2x and just leave a gap at the bottom of each stud when you lay it out. At the electric outlet location I have the lower 2x either cut out or just stop and start the 2x leaving enough gap for the outlet box. I always do my outlets in the baseboards and use 5/8's rock .. the 2x material, 5/8 and baseboard is plenty for an outlet box. You can get them for brick that are not as deep ... the thin ones will work .. but that's tight. The thicker rock w/ glues make for a nice wall if wavy -- keep the nails or screws to a minimum.

This is for a totally dry basement or lower level ... I used a PT for the lower and regular for the rest. I keep PT to a minimum inside

 

[csp]

Where do you find soil in your basement.

Not in it, under the slab.

Expansive soils push the slab. The front range of Colorado was fraught with this problem in the 80s and 90s, to the point that basement framing in many jurisdictions was adapted to require floating wall framing to allow the slab to float and have minimal effect on anything above the slab.

Soils testing and knowledge is such now that homes where the soil is expansive, basement floors aren't slab on grade, but a structured floor tied into the foundation walls and not in contact with the soil.

Scroll a few paragraphs down from the top of this page for more info and an example: https://www.howtofinishmybasement.com/frame-basement-walls/

 

[jkuro]

Not in it, under the slab.

Expansive soils push the slab. The front range of Colorado was fraught with this problem in the 80s and 90s, to the point that basement framing in many jurisdictions was adapted to require floating wall framing to allow the slab to float and have minimal effect on anything above the slab.

Soils testing and knowledge is such now that homes where the soil is expansive, basement floors aren't slab on grade, but a structured floor tied into the foundation walls and not in contact with the soil.

Scroll a few paragraphs down from the top of this page for more info and an example: https://www.howtofinishmybasement.com/frame-basement-walls

Wow never saw that before. I would think if the soil heaved that much your basement walls and floor would be cracked and finishing wouldn't be an option. Another thing to think about would be Radon seeping in. A Radon test would be prudent for anyone finishing a basement.