Know a thing or two about Basement Walls

People with basements should consider themselves lucky.  After all, basements are not just for storingstuff you hardly use and neither are they just a place where you do yourlaundry.  Many homeowners are now discoveringthat their basements, which so far they’ve ignored or thoughtless of, areactually a jewel in the rough.  They canbe converted into different rooms to suit your family’s needs at any giventime.  For instance, if your family isgrowing, they can be developed into an extra room for your child or anapartment for another member of the family. Basements can also be converted into a family room, a home gym, a hometheater area and even a home office.  Allit takes is a good bit of imagination and creativity.

Before embarking on a basement remodeling project byyourself, it is essential to know some basic stuff about erecting basementwalls, which serve as a major component of the basement.  Basement walls are important because, well,they hide the plumbing pipes and the electrical wiring for the house as well asprovide insulation to the room.  With somuch riding on these basement walls, you need to really do a good job ofputting them up or better yet, maybe it’s a good idea to simply hire aprofessional basement finishing contractor who is also adept at building coderequirements.

The very basic thing with basement walls is how they areframed.  Framing is the process ofputting together a “framework” onto which the walls will be attached.  Basement walls are usually put in place tocreate a more finished look to the room or (if you have a large basement) tocreate partitions between rooms.  Thereare two ways to framing.  First, you canbuild the entire wall frame, raise it and then fit it into place.  This isn’t as easy as it looks becausesometimes, the floor of the basement is uneven and then you have to compensatefor it.  Most people find that buildingthe top and bottom plates first and then attaching nail studs in between ismore practical since it’s also easier to build around pipes and wires.  This is what you call stick buildingframing. 

Either method works fine depending on the condition of yourwalls and flooring.  After you’ve framedthe walls, you can now attach the drywall. A drywall is simply an alternative material for wood used primarily forinterior walls and ceilings.  They’requite easy to attach because they’re usually pre-cut into standard panels. 

One thing though, if you’re on a budget and can’t afford toinstall new walls or partitions, then you can make use of textured paints totransform your dull walls into something original and that suits the motif ofthe rest of the room.  The importantthing to remember before you do any painting on your surfaces is that theyshould be pre-treated for moisture and water seepage.  Once moisture sets in, your painted wallswill bubble and peel off.