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Which to build first? Walls or floors? David Bonnell 06-04-2008
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Posted by David Bonnell on June 4, 2008, 11:52 am
Finishing my full concrete basement. People I have spoken to tell me
to build the walls first, then the subfloor. It seems to me that it
would be much easier to lay down the entire subfloor and then place
framed 2x4 walls on top of the floor...there would be just as much
work building the walls, but considerably less work putting the floor
in place (you would only need to cut plywood at the edge of the
foundation, instead of custom cuts to fit around every interior wall).

Nobody has given me a good reason *why* the walls should be built
first. On upper floors (supported by wooden joists), walls are built
on top of the subfloor, right?

I suppose that if there was water damage in the basement, it would be
easier to remove a section of subfloor that wasn't being held down
underneath walls. Any other ideas why it might be a bad idea to build
the subfloor first?

Posted by Enthusiastic Amateur on June 4, 2008, 11:04 am
I saw on some tv show that they put basement walls OFF the floor for various
reasons. Then cover the gap with moulding or something. If that's the case,
what's the diff?


> Finishing my full concrete basement. People I have spoken to tell me
> to build the walls first, then the subfloor. It seems to me that it
> would be much easier to lay down the entire subfloor and then place
> framed 2x4 walls on top of the floor...there would be just as much
> work building the walls, but considerably less work putting the floor
> in place (you would only need to cut plywood at the edge of the
> foundation, instead of custom cuts to fit around every interior wall).
>
> Nobody has given me a good reason *why* the walls should be built
> first. On upper floors (supported by wooden joists), walls are built
> on top of the subfloor, right?
>
> I suppose that if there was water damage in the basement, it would be
> easier to remove a section of subfloor that wasn't being held down
> underneath walls. Any other ideas why it might be a bad idea to build
> the subfloor first?



Posted by David Bonnell on June 4, 2008, 1:47 pm
> I saw on some tv show that they put basement walls OFF the floor for vario=
us
> reasons. =A0Then cover the gap with moulding or something. If that's the c=
ase,
> what's the diff?
>

No big difference...but it's easier to lay out 4x8 sheets of plywood
in an open (no walls built) area than it is to cut-and-fit pieces of
plywood to fit the contour of each room. Less waste too. Hence the
reason for my question. I'm not concerned about a gap (mouldings will
be installed).

Posted by Wayne Whitney on June 4, 2008, 1:08 pm

> Finishing my full concrete basement. People I have spoken to tell me
> to build the walls first, then the subfloor.

What are your plans for a subfloor over the concrete slab? The reason
I see to do the walls first is if anchoring the wall bottom plate to
the slab through the subfloor would negatively impact the performance
of the subfloor. E.g. if it is supposed to be floating.

Cheers, Wayne

Posted by David Bonnell on June 4, 2008, 1:59 pm
> What are your plans for a subfloor over the concrete slab? =A0The
reason
> I see to do the walls first is if anchoring the wall bottom plate to
> the slab through the subfloor would negatively impact the performance
> of the subfloor. =A0E.g. if it is supposed to be floating.
>
>

Wayne,

Good point w.r.t. floating floor. Although my floor may be anchored
at points, that sounds like enough of a reason for me.
Most local subfloors are built on 2x4 sleepers. I'm using a different
approach to maximize headroom...so the floor can't be anchored down
every 16".


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