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framing basement walls with furred ceiling

9K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  BlueBSH 
#1 ·
I am going to drywall the basement walls and ceiling, but to get it where it should be the ceiling needs furred down 1 1/2" so I can level it out and go over a few obstructions (water lines that are mounted on the joists bottoms right now)..

I want to frame the outside walls with 2x4's, then furr the ceiling down with either 2x3's or 2x4's so I have a nice nailing strip for the ceiling drywall..

should the walls have a double top plate in this case? the walls are 8" concrete block outside so its all supported by that already, this is just a wall for insulation and wires to run basically. but if I do it with a single top plate there would be no top nailing edge for the drywall, or is this even needed at the top?

if there is a single plate that would but the furring strips at the same height as the top plate, if there was a double top plate that would give the walls a top nailing edge for the drywall.

that top edge is what I wasn't sure if you needed or not for drywall, I noticed that other places in the basement the builder didn't have a top nailing ledge for drywall, but they put a suspended ceiling in those areas..

if I should be doing a double top plate, what is the best way to attach it to the joists? I can't exactly nail through 3" of wood and get the joist with a 3 1/2" nail from the bottom goint vertically, would have to toe nail that...

any insight on how to do this would be great! thanks!
 
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#3 ·
how would you go about attaching the top of the wall to the joists with a double top plate?
 
#6 ·
would it be a bad idea or good to use 2x6's for the top plate that is nailed to the joists? then 2x4's for the one under? that would give me not only the double top but more room for drywall nailing so another furrind strip isn't needed
 
#10 ·
12penny said:
In my experience its easier to attach a double top plate one plate at a time. Also makes it easier to stand up a wall thats been built on the floor because the wall is 1.5" shorter.

But hey...toenailing would work too...
No, I agree with you on how to handle the too plate.

I think I must be misunderstanding this whole thing because I'm thinking he is asking how to nail the joists on top of the top plate. But I've never worked on a basement so I'm picturing joists and walls between a first and second floor.
 
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