Finishing a Basement, Part 4

Continuing the series on finishing the basement . . . 

This is where the 'real work' began: framing the walls, doing the electrical, and rolling insulation. I placed the pictures after all of today's steps. We did the below 8-12 May.

• Frame the walls.
• Building the wood frames was a lot of fun . . . and a lot of work. This guide is handy and largely aligns with our approach.
• The frame consists of a bottom plate, the studs (spaced every 16"), and the top plate. All wood are 2x4s (though actual dimensions are 1.5"x3.5")
• The bottom plate (any wood touching the concrete floor) has to be pressure-treated lumber; the rest should be 'regular.' 
• Since (typical) studs comes in 8ft sections, this is probably the largest section of wall you will build at a time. 
• Construct a wall section on the floor if there is room.
• When measuring, stack the top and bottom plates where the wall will be, then measure the distance between the stack and the joist and cut the studs accordingly.
• Do not assume the distance is uniform across a section. Joists and floors can be uneven. Measure at each joist (if you can) and cut the studs 1/4" smaller than the smallest measurement.
• Cut the studs (and top/bottom plates when necessary) to length.
• Build the wall section. 
• You can use screws or nails to do this portion; we used a combination. The pneumatic nail gun was faster, but fixing mistakes was harder (and yes, we made mistakes). 
• Most wood isn't perfectly straight; look how each stud bows and make sure any studs in a given section bow the same way.
• Mind any pipes, access points, or other components that may adjust how you frame a given area.
• Remember the drywall; you'll need the edges of a given piece to align with studs. This requires thinking ahead about stud placement and may require additional studs to ensure there is appropriate nailing surface. For corners, decide how the drywall be aligning and plan accordingly with stud placement.
• For any walls running parallel with the overhead floor joists, you will need to install blocking between the joists so you have a place to secure the wood frame (and drywall).
• Set the wall section in place.
• You may need a hammer to get it in the final position, but beware: if a wall is too tight against the joists, it can 'push up' on them and create problems above (to include shifting drywall on upper levels).  For this reason, some recommend building the wall short (1/4", as mentioned above") and using shims as needed.
• Fasten the bottom plate with a "powder-actuated tool" (we used a single-shot nailer). 
• Ensure the wall is plumb (level) and fasten the top plate to the joists or blocking with screws or nails.
• If you discover mistakes or need to add studs after the wall is in place, or need to build the wall upright because you don't have the floor space, you can 'toenail' studs in place by screwing/nailing them at an angle into the top and bottom plates.
• Build rough-outs for door areas.
• You must know your door size and type (will it be pre-hung?). We used two 30" and one double (48" total) pre-hung doors for our project.
• I will add a resource/link
• Build bulkheads or 'bump-outs' where needed.
• Pipes, gaslines, and other things may be impossible or unwise to move and interfere with the wall or ceiling. In those cases, the best option is to build a bump-out around something on the wall or a bulkhead around something on the ceiling. 
• A bump-out (and I don't know if this is the right term) can be a short wall section built to go around the obstacle in question. 
• A bulkhead may require some creative thinking. In our case, we had to build one around the HVAC duct and gas line. The group used plywood, 2x2s, and 2x4s to frame out the area. [show picture] The key concept when building this is to make sure you have enough wood to overlay/adequately support drywall.
• Install electrical.
• As we worked on the framing, experienced friends did the electrical. Thankfully, most of the wiring runs were already in place from when the basement was previously finished, so this portion leveraged the existing and ran new branches from that.
• Obviously, electrical should be done after framing and before insulation/drywall, so everything is exposed.
• Don't mess with electrical unless you know what you are doing. Being familiar not just with the wiring technique but also electrical codes is a must.
• Outlet boxes get nailed into the studs and should be mounted so their face is 1/2 inch in front of the stud. The 'new construction' boxes are designed to be mounted thus, as it means it will be flush with the drywall once installed. 
• We forgot to do that in a few places, mounting the boxes flush with the stud instead. That's okay—they sell box extenders in varying depths (I've seen 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", and 3/4"), and those fix the problem. If you have to use a box extender of 3/8" or more, you might need new screws to mount your outlet into the box itself. 
• General rules of thumb for installing outlets, switches, and lights:
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• Install rolled insulation.
• Once framing and electrical was done, we rolled, cut, and stapled insulation into the wall cavities.
• Rolled insulation generally comes in 15-inch widths to fit nicely between the studs. The process is straightforward: unroll the insulation, measure the length of the wall cavity, cut the insulation to length, place it in the wall with paper side facing towards you, unwrap the paper edges to place them over the studs, and secure the paper to the studs with staples.
• If your studs are of differing widths, you may have to buy a different product or be prepared to cut the roll lengthwise a lot.
• For cutting, recommend using a utility knife and cutting with the fiber side of the insulation face-up. Make sure you lay the insulation on a suitable surface (like a piece of wood) so penetrating the roll will not damage your floor.
• For easier installation around wiring, cut a slit in the insulation at the wiring height.
• Wear gloves and an appropriate mask when working with insulation.