[svaic00]

Hello,

Question with regards on how to know if your wall is straight when framing a wall for finishing a basement. I am doing the stick framing method, laying out bottom plates, and then using plumb bob to transfer the location to the top plates, please no arguments with regards to stick framing, vs building wall on floor and standing it up. I understand how to get it vertically plumb. My question is, what about if the foundation is skewed at an angle along the length of it. If I measure say 6" off the wall at one end, and 6" off the wall at the other, snap a chalk line, and lay my bottom plate off of that line, yes it should be parallel to the foundation wall, but it may not actually be "straight", it could be skewed at an angle, compared to other walls. How do i determine if the wall is straight or not?

I understand how to check for square, using the 3-4-5 rule at the corners, can that be used to help verify a straight or skewed wall?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[jagans]

Of course, square is square, Plumb is Plumb, and level is level. Anyone that builds a foundation out of square is nuts. Pick the longest wall, and go from there, then make sure you are square and plumb. Im sorry to disagree with you re how you frame. The only way to do it is lay out where you want your walls. Fasten a pressure treated plate to the floor with 1/4 inch rawl spikes, build your walls, stand up shim and screw to the floor joists. The way you are doing it is painful to listen to, but we all pick our poison.

 

[jlmran]

"Straight" and "square" are two different things. Non-right triangles and parallelograms are composed using straight lines.

Go with your instinct and use Pythagorus to make square walls if that is your intent.

 

[jlmran]

Anyone that builds a foundation out of square is nuts.

Here is my daily dose of being a butt:

What if the plans show a layout with angles other than 90 degrees?

 

[svaic00]

Of course, square is square, Plumb is Plumb, and level is level. Anyone that builds a foundation out of square is nuts. Pick the longest wall, and go from there, then make sure you are square and plumb. Im sorry to disagree with you re how you frame. The only way to do it is lay out where you want your walls. Fasten a pressure treated plate to the floor with 1/4 inch rawl spikes, build your walls, stand up shim and screw to the floor joists. The way you are doing it is painful to listen to, but we all pick our poison.

I have had people say they can frame quicker doing the way you say, and Ive had people say they can frame quicker with stick framing. Plus I dont have the room to build the walls on the floor right now. You do not get as good of an attachment though by building on floor, because you have to leave the wall short, and then shim, and depending on how un-level the floor is, some shims will be greater than others. Your only attachment then is through the top plate, through the shims, into the joists. Yea it will still work, just not as solid.

 

[sixeightten]

I have had people say they can frame quicker doing the way you say, and Ive had people say they can frame quicker with stick framing. Plus I dont have the room to build the walls on the floor right now. You do not get as good of an attachment though by building on floor, because you have to leave the wall short, and then shim, and depending on how un-level the floor is, some shims will be greater than others. Your only attachment then is through the top plate, through the shims, into the joists. Yea it will still work, just not as solid.

We stick frame basement walls all the time. It doesn't really take any longer, and one man can do everything if needed. Most of the time with an existing home, you have plenty of obstacles that make the build and stand method more difficult.

 

[brockmiera]

I guess if the wall is plumb (vertically level) and square with the other walls, what does it really matter if the bottom plate is a little skew?

 

[joecaption]

The wall will look wavy if that bottom and top plate are not 100% straight.