Which to build first? Walls or floors?

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?

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

You are going to put subfloor in your basement that has a concrete floor?

If you like trouble and pain so much, why not just take your hammer and hit yourself on the head a few times. Much faster.

Use a good tile or even a thick pad and carpet. Easer to replace.

Yes. The whole point of this exercise is to create a comfortable living space. With no subfloor, the room would not be as comfortable as it would with a proper subfloor.

What insight! A subfloor might not build itself, but I certainly wouldn't call it much trouble compared to the overall project scope.

Not likely. Tile is far too cold in my neck of the woods (even when installed on a wood subfloor above a heated area). Carpet+pad alone may be adequate in the short term, but it is subject to moisture/mold problems. I'm not comfortable with that...I've been in enough basements to know better.

Carpet may be 'easier' to replace, but the walls/subfloor will be built specifically to handle potential moisture problems.

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).

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".

Ouch, disagree!

A proper subfloor has many advantages over concrete, it is warmer, has a better feel, and is easier to work with. As well, if there is a small amount of moisture coming through the concrete, the results will be better... (Of course you want some spaces for ventilation too.)

on 6/4/2008 1:44 PM David Bonnell said the following:

My finished basement does not have a subfloor. Just wall to wall carpet and heavy duty padding over the concrete, and it is not even attached with tack strips. I'm not in a flood area, so the only water damage would be from internal plumbing failures. If there is a water leak large enough to damage the carpet, I'll just roll it up and replace it. There are no tools required.

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replying to David Bonnell, Linda wrote: Stud walls need to be installed over double plated floor joices for the extra weight. So, if you put you subfloor down first it will probably take just as long if not longer to do all the additional measurements to find the plates for accuracy. Remember this is not a house trailer where subfloor is installed first and interior walls are stuck anywhere and are not over double plated juices anywhere unless regulations changed and I missed it.

Concrete is porous and allows moisture. That can cause mildew and mold to carpet.