Monday, March 5, 2012

Basement Framing

After waterproofing the basement, our first step was to frame the exterior and interior walls. We considered hiring someone to do this but in the end Rob was positive he was up for the job and could save us a lot of money.


We ordered our lumber from The Home Depot and opted to have it delivered. Rob still had to hand bomb it into the basement, which makes for a good work out. We required approximately 130 pieces of lumber for our basement.


Before any of the framing could be started, the first task was to continue the waterproof barrier above delta membrane up to the top of the ceiling. He opted to use foam board because it was easy to work with and also provided insulation from the exterior. It is important to note that when adding something above you have to seal it so it is one continuous surface (we spray foamed the top of the delta membrane and again the top board). Otherwise you could draw moisture up from your weeping tiles into your finished walls.

future bathroom

When framing a basement you must use pressure treated or preferably blue wood for the bottom plate. This is to prevent moisture wicking. We also opted to use a Sill Gasket (the pink stuff) for moisture protection. Each vertical stud must be 16" on centre to the next stud when possible to ensure ease of drywall insulation. Use the 3-4-5 rule to make sure your partition walls are square to your perimeter walls!

Future storage/electrical room

Future storage/electrical room

Bathroom & Storage room together

The sill plates (bottom piece) were attached to the floor using tap con 4" screws. We rented a hammer drill to pre-drill the holes for the tap con screws. Each pre-drilled hole received a squirt of silicone for moisture protection. We went through the trouble to waterproof and we're not letting a single drop get by.

family room

family room

Reinforcement for the future wall mounted TV

Since we will be moving the HVAC vents in the future we had to leave space for them in the framing now. We also had to work around the existing venting that will be moved shortly. We will have to complete some of the framing after the HVAC is venting is complete.

Laundry room

New tool alert! A Brass Plumb-Bob. A fun little tool to ensure walls are vertical or plumb as they say. It's a tool that goes back to ancient Egyptian times.

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