Basement Reno: Up Go the Walls

Shoved somewhere between dance, dinner club and other errands, we Mathlete managed to make some basement progress. I take partial credit since I was on full time kid duty while Mathlete worked in the basement.

See all those wood beams? Yep, that is framing of a wall. We have wall framing…at least in parts of the basement.

Let’s back up a little though and talk about how we got here. After putting up the fire stops, it was time to start our framing.
First, Mathlete measured from the floor to the ceiling and subtracted three inches to account from the top and bottom plates. Then, he subtracted an additional quarter of an inch to get the height of the stud. Conveniently, he can write the measurements directly onto the existing “wall” of insulation.

Using a radial arm miter saw, he cuts down the 2x4s to the correct size.

Once the boards are cut, he makes the overall outer frame and uses the nail gun to staple the corners together. From there, he fits in the boards that run down the length of that section.

After all the boards are secured in place, we raise that section up and fit it in where it will eventually become a wall!  This is when the big “guns” come out.
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To secure the frame to the existing concrete that is there, he uses this “fancy” and extremely loud .22 gauge nailer. First, he puts the nail into the barrel of the nailer

and then load the shell into the chamber.

Position it where you want the nail to go in and push down on it.

Then, the tap it with a hammer to make it “fire”.  

Voila! Nail in concrete and wall frame secured.

So, in about a day, he was able to frame the entire length of one side of the basement. Progress…it is definitely encouraging!