Is this the year you've promised yourself you're going to organize your basement once and for all? It's a noble goal, but difficult for one reason: if you have an unfinished basement, organizing it will always seem like an unfinished project. One way to begin bringing order to your basement--and to begin the process of finishing your basement--is to build interior walls along your basement's exterior walls. (Note: If your basement is prone to flooding or excessive moisture on the exterior walls, you should deal with that problem first.)

Building walls in your basement is simple, if not easy. The first step is to attach the lower wall plate--usually a 2x8 or larger board--to the basement floor, 3/4 of an inch from the exterior wall. You can anchor the wall plate to the concrete floor by drilling through the wall plate and two inches into the floor using a hammer drill with a 1/4-inch bit. Do this every four to six feet. Hammer two 16d sinker nails through each hole, and the wall plate should be secure. Attach the upper wall plate to the ceiling joists so it is plumb with the lower plate, then install wall studs every 16 inches on center. With this done, you're ready for insulation and drywall.

 

Basement walls can aid in organization in tangible and intangible ways. The presence of the walls and the studs behind them make it simple to add built in shelves, hooks, and peg boards that make organization easier. Insulating the walls will moderate basement temperatures, making it a more pleasant place to work and lowering heating bills to boot. And even if you don't choose to paint the walls, the wall board itself will brighten the space much more than masonry walls, which also makes it a more pleasant place in which to work. Finally, if you hope to finish your basement some day, with the walls installed, most of the heavy work is already done.

 

Ask the Builder, Basement & Unfinished Space - Finishing / Construction Tips, by Tim Carter