JB's Big-Ass Basement Finishing Thread

[Jeffreybomb]

I added two 45° walls to the wife's hobby workshop. I didn't do them in the traditional way, mostly because I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. So, I improvised!

The walls have two bottom plates and two top plates. Rather than load the Ramset hand-cannon, shoot nails into the floor, and then realize I made a mistake with these walls, I built them in a way that would let me move them around until I was confident they were positioned correctly — even with the adjoining walls already completed.

The bottom and top plates were cut at 45° angles that butt up against the bottom and top plates of the traditional walls. The second set of plates were cut at an opposite 45° angle, allowing them to sit on the plates of the traditional walls (you can see the cut on the right 45° wall). This gave me a "tab" of sorts that I could shoot a nail through and connect to the plate of the adjoining wall.

As an aside: the double top plate on the four foot wall was done just to keep the wall more stable.

Building the 45° walls allowed me to carve more space out of a utility area. On the left side, the radon system is framed behind a 45° wall. That 45° wall is allowed to extend beyond what a 90° corner would've allowed. On the right side, I was able to frame around the whole house humidifier sticking out of the furnace. Again, the 45° wall allowed me to extend beyond what a 90° corner would've allowed.

(The 45° wall on the left also frames in the spot where I was originally going to put a 90° corner. At that point, that's when I realized a 45° wall could be a better option.)

I'm considering building some bookcases into the 45° walls. Once finished, the workshop should measure about 8' by 12'.

So far, so good. I just wish I had more time to work on it all!

Three Things I Learned Today (even though this part was build much earlier in the week):

1. Metal-cutting reciprocating saw blades are awesome for slicing through nails you accidentally shot earlier than you should've.

2. Keep looking up: there's little that's more frustrating than building a wall, dragging it into place, hefting it upwards, and then figuring out that you didn't account for an air duct or metal pipe.

3. Improvising: sacrificing a traditional layout (90° corners) in favor of something a little more complex (45° walls) pays off (carving more room around obstacles).

 

[Jeffreybomb]

I guess it’s not too much of a coincidence that I began framing the bar area a few days after Illinois became one of the first states to issue a “shelter in place” order. What else can you really do but bottoms-up at a time like this?

It doesn’t look like much right now. The bar will run from where I stood to take this picture to the wall across from me. We’d like to put up some cabinets, maybe flank a TV with them.

There’s an entire assortment of water pipes as electrical conduits running the length of the basement in this area. I’m planning to use a drop ceiling to hide a lot of that hardware. Since the wall’s position put it right under the pipes, I put up some blocks to drop the height of the joists to a more manageable position. The ceilings are pretty high as it is, so I’m okay with losing 3”.

I haven’t decided if the drop ceiling will cover the beams or if we’ll use a wood facade to cover them, similar to what I did in our last basement:

Painting the ceiling joists and hiding the beam was mostly function: the ceiling was a little under 7’ high. I taped off pipes and HVAC ducts to retail their silver and copper colors. It turned out looking fantastic.

I had a really cool bar top idea that I ultimately had to abandon from my last basement project (as I omitted the bar entirely): I want to mount a couple old monitor screens just under the surface of the bar top, similar to cocktail table arcade games. Either I’d use a couple classic game systems I currently own, or I’ll put together one of those Raspberry Pi systems that I hear so much about on vintage arcade forums.

Three Things I Learned Today:

1. I really should invest in a laser level. The plumb bob is great and all, but using it by yourself is tough. Originally, I couldn’t justify the price for a single application: lining up framing. The more I think about it, the more applications I could use it for: wainscot and cabinets, just to name a couple (edit to add: I ordered a laser level shortly after writing this update).

2. Along those lines, FaceTime and a work phone is a helpful way to get a so-called second set of eyes on the plumb bob, despite the ever-so-slight delay (edit to add: the laser level I ordered arrived today).

3. I had a warped top plate. It wasn’t too terrible of a warp, but it was fighting me while trying to bend it back across studs. I nailed down the first stud. On the second stud, I used a 3” wood screw. Surprisingly, the screw pulled the entire top plate down across the eight remaining studs. I was able to use the framing nailer the rest of the way without a problem. I’m going to have to remember that little trick (edit to add: I'm pretty excited about my new laser level).

 

[jeepins]

All you northerners with your basements. I wish I had a basement. Then again, I'd have that much more crap. But I wish I had a basement.

Excellent work so far, enjoy threads like this. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Jeffreybomb]

Progress, progress, progress...

My brand new laser level. Aside from using it to transfer frame lines from the floor to the ceiling, I’m finding more and more uses for it as I go.

For instance: overhead obstructions. Drop the yet-to-be-framed top plate on the ground directly under the joists that it will eventually be nailed to. Let's say you've got an I-beam above. Move the laser so it sits on one side of the beam, mark the top plate. Move the laser to the other side of the beam and mark the top plate again. There you go: you've got your cut points. Frame the wall, cut the spot with your circular saw, reinforce with a cross-member or two, and lift it into place.

Eventually, we'd like to wainscot the walls. This level will be an incredible tool for that part of the project.

(By the way: splurge for a model with 360° lines. It'll toss lines all over the place without needing to readjust its position.)

Warped, twisted wood sucks. This plank was part of the frame surrounding the staircase. I ended up burning a perfectly good stud on replacing this piece of crap.

The ends were useless; the stud had been toe-nailed into place. I cut them off and ended up using it as scrap. The shorter you cut it, the less the warp/twist will have an adverse effect. This specific piece had to be cut pretty small, but I was still able to make use of most of it.

This was the last of three windows I had to frame out.

I thought framing windows would be the toughest part. As strange as it sounds, I actually enjoyed this part of the process — probably because framing a window was a process in and of itself. There's a beginning and an end. Being a gamer, I liken it to a “side quest”. I’m a little bummed I don’t have more of them to frame.

The speed square was a huge help in window framing. When you cut out the window frame, the studs you're cutting swing or sway out of position. Lining up the segments of studs that are left is vital. In holding the square in the corner between the frame and the stud, it's easy to ensure you have a properly adjusted frame, aside from the speed square's very many other assorted uses.

I’ve been using my chalk line throughout the process, but thought I’d offer up a one-man suggestion:

I’ve been weighing down the free end of my chalk line with a half-full paint can. You can use anything that has a good amount of weight; it has to be heavy enough that the line won't shift when you're pulling it taut to drop the line. Also, when you weigh down the hook, don't include the section of the line that's being weighed down on the segment of floor you want to mark! Since the line is sitting under something heavy, it won't lift up when you prepare to drop the chalk.

Make sure you get a chalk line with teeth on the hook. Pressing the teeth into your first joist will keep it from dropping off while you move into place at the opposite end. While you're moving, make sure you give the line some slack so you don't accidentally pull the hook off the ceiling. When you finally move into place, the teeth will keep the line from slipping out of place while you pull the line taut.

Three Things I Learned:

1. It helps to double-check work that wasn't done by you. I found the twisted stud in my second picture doing just that.

2. Don’t nail down anything if you’re already frustrated or annoyed by something else. If you're distracted by something that pissed you off, you'll get more pissed off when you realize the distraction caused you to skip a step.

3. I’m getting good at this, but I don’t have much left to do. What a bummer.

 

[Jeffreybomb]

At long last, an update!

After lots and lots (and lots) of research, often followed by a disappointing lack of information, I found help in adding a landing to the basement stairs.

I have an above-ground sewer line running from inside the house through the foundation wall (this is a design that helps prevent flooding problems from the city sewer line).

The problem here is that framing out the pipe and the stairs only leaves a 30” opening between both. Additionally, the stairs exited towards an external wall; there’s a 180° turn to actually get into the basement from the bottom of the stairs.

This makes moving furniture and other large objects into and out of the basement extremely difficult, if not impossible.

So I decided to add a landing level with the second step from the bottom.

I used my laser level to transfer the surface of the second step’s tread to the studs surrounding the landing. From there, I used my speed square to measure down 1”. Those lines would serve as the mark for the top of the landing’s frame. The inch space above it will be the landing’s surface.

I transferred measurements from the inside of the stringers to the outside using a two foot level and speed square. In a nutshell:

1. The horizontal cut is at the same level as the top of the second step’s tread.

2. The vertical cut is 1 1/2” in front of the nose of the third step’s tread.

I had to clear out the drywall up to the third step in order to have room for my circular saw. I marked half an inch forward from the nose of the third step’s tread on both sides.

I added two sets of 2x4 studs for some additional support: two directly under the third step’s tread, two more about halfway up the stairs. All were secured to the staircase at the stringers: three construction screws at each contact point.

Unfortunately, I had a little more work to do.

An outlet on the other side of the staircase would prevent me from making the appropriate cut.

After about 30 minutes, I was able to remove the wiring and conduit. I made a cut along the stud in the way, removed the bottom, cleared out a little more drywall (right at the joint), and was cleared to cut.

VICTORY!

The circular saw chewed right through the stringers with no issues. The second step’s tread was nailed to the third step’s riser with several nails. I used a sawzall with a wood/nails blade to cut through the nails.

Since the stringers w rest on the landing, I had to make a cut along the bottom of the third step’s riser in order to even it out. I used my Dremel Saw-Max to make that cut.

Finally, some landing joists going in. The only joist I haven’t attached yet is under the stringers. I was able to level out the landing framing pretty easily. It made attaching the joists a lot easier and faster. I squared up the contact points using my speed square and attached everything using 2 1/2” construction screws.

The landing passed the 225 lb. Irish Jeeper test with nary a creak! Success!

I still have a bit of work to do:

1. Two of the four sides of the landing are not bordered by studs. I have to build short frames under those boards to support the landing.

2. Two sheets of 1/2” plywood are waiting in my garage to be cut down to size. They’ll serve as the surface of the landing.

(Side note if you follow similar build: if you plan to use a hardwood landing, you’ll need to compensate for the depth of that wood in the landing.)

3. Build the bottom step.

To the right, you can see the sewer pipe. Adding the landing gives me a new opening of around 58”, substantially larger! It will also open up that area of the basement a little more and feel less claustrophobic.

Behind the pipe will be a built-in bookcase sitting level with the landing. I have fun plans for that part of the project.