framing a basement Archives - I Finished My Basement

Masonry Guns

January 10, 2014 by Jason 14 Comments

I thought once I starting using my framing nail gun and air compressor that I was pretty much being as bad-ass as humanly possible while finishing a basement.

Then I asked around about how to fasten my wall securely to the concrete floor and discovered.... A Concrete Gun!

If you are framing a wall for a finished basement, and you need to secure it to the floor, the best way to do this, in my opinion, is to nail it to the concrete with a hammer actuated masonry gun. That's right, a gun, with gun powder! Today I'll cover how and when to use this bad boy. [Read more...]

Basement Insulation

January 15, 2012 by Jason 88 Comments

Basement insulation is a common feature on newer homes. If you're finishing your basement you're probably wondering "what should I do with the insulation that is already on my basement foundation walls?" The big silver padding that you see nailed to the wall of your basement is the insulation.

Should you remove the existing basement insulation before framing your basement walls? My opinion on this topic is purely that, an opinion. This really is an "it's your choice" decision. I left my basement insulation up and framed the walls outside of it. Today I'll walk you through my thought process so you can make the best choice for your basement project. It really was a decision making process, this question bugged me for about 4 or 5 days. [Read more...]

Buying Lumber

January 6, 2012 by Jason 64 Comments

Today I want to cover the first and, to newbies, most intimidating step of framing a basement. Buying lumber! If you've done this before then just skip right past this article.

But if you're like I was, this was sort of a stumbling block. I had a lot of questions and the books that I had did not cover this basic but important basement finishing step. [Read more...]