problem with floating walls - DIY Chatroom

ron0805 · 10-10-2009, 01:07 AM

Im building floating walls in my basement.Im in wyoming and im leaving a 3" gap at the bottom which i was told to do.So when im installing the doors im going to have a problem.I know i can leave the gap at the top but floating walls are new to me and the little information im getting its telling me to float from the bottom.
Also i know the baseboard is going to cover the gap at the bottom and that i can let my sheetrock hang down over the gap.Now the 3" gap plus the 1 1\2 2x4 is 4 1\2 from the floor.How much can i let the sheetrock hangover the gap? im thinking just a little so as not to defeat the purpose of the gap. I dont want to install big baseboards because im in a basement with low ceilings.

thx

**thekctermite** · 10-10-2009, 01:27 AM

Three inches is rather extreme. We have very very expansive soils here and I don't think I've ever seen anyone do more than 1-1/2". My personal opinion is that you leave the bottom plate elevated and extend the baseboard down. In the event of a floor slab heave, the wall won't negatively affect the floor joists above....But the baseboard of the wall will shear off.

Willie T · 10-10-2009, 01:31 AM

Uh, wouldn't that be "extend the basebaord UP"?.... nailing it only to the isolated floor plate? So that the baseboard just slides up the drywall in the event of a heave.

ron0805 · 10-11-2009, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thekctermite

Three inches is rather extreme. We have very very expansive soils here and I don't think I've ever seen anyone do more than 1-1/2". My personal opinion is that you leave the bottom plate elevated and extend the baseboard down. In the event of a floor slab heave, the wall won't negatively affect the floor joists above....But the baseboard of the wall will shear off.

so wat do u suggest about the doors?

thx

AllanJ · 10-12-2009, 10:40 PM

I am thinking that sheetrock should overhang (here, the bottom edge of the plate) no more than an inch.

You could put metal kick plates on the door bottoms to span most of the space under the doors.

Having the lower edge of the wall move back and forth an inch or so because it is not fastened to the floor slab is always a problem. ONe way to combat that is to put doorways only where two walls come togehter at an angle. Closets at strategic locations will give you more wall sections that come together at 90 degree angles.