Final Wall

Finished up the last wall which pretty much took all day - as I didn't finish until after 8. Framing out the window was a pain, and the existing wall was a fair bit out of level, so with the use of a plumb bob, 4' level and a lot of tweaking, it took a lot longer than I was anticipating. I was able to salvage some of the wood from the existing closet which worked out nicely though. This wall was different, in that I built it in place, instead of pre-building it and lifting into place. I screwed down the bottom plate, then temporarily screwed in the top plate while I adjusted for plumb. When I was happy that it was level from top to bottom, I started adding the wall studs.

before

after

One thing I discovered, as I ran out of 8d nails, is that 10d are a lot more effective. They take a bit more heft to hit in, but overall things seemed more secure with them (luckily I discovered some I had bought earlier). Another thing I made sure to do, and not forget, is to block out any gaps in the ceilings (so that there are studs to fasten the drywall too), and also block out the corners for the same reason.

Close up of the studs blocking out the corner.

Closer look at the framing around the window.

Framing the uneven wall

I had to tweak the framing for the dividing wall as it was flush with the concrete foundation wall. I wanted to install insulation around the foundation, so I pushed out the wall 1-1/2" overall. That entailed using 2x2 studs against the concrete wall and specially cut 2x4s to push out the rest of the wall.

Here's a look at all of the work together - a 2x2 base plate added, a 2x2 top plate, 2x2 studs against the concrete walls with the foam installed against the concrete, and the 2x4 studs added to the existing wall.

from top...

to bottom.

Here's a closer look at the 2x4 studs I had to cut to sit flush against the beam in the existing wall. I used a 4 foot long level to make sure everything was all straight up and down. I used plenty of shims to keep studs level and when nailing into the floor joists above too.

I used my table saw and jigsaw to cut out the notches.

Framing the walls

I started forming the 2x4 walls around the room. For any wood that touched concrete (the base plates and the 2x2 used next to small section of concrete wall) I used all pressure treated wood. For any nails I used on the pressure treated wood, I made sure to use the "hot dipped galvanized common" 8d nails. For nailing into the regular wood, I used bright common 8d nails. To attach the pressure treated wood to the concrete I used construction adhesive and Tapcon 1/4" x 2-3/4" concrete anchors. I didn't really want to deal with shooting nails into the concrete. I used a Tapcon drill bit to use with the 1/4" screws and while a couple holes seemed impossible to drill out, it worked out quite well.

Here's a overall before and after of the two walls I completed.

before - foam all installed.

after - new wall secured with 24" on center studs

before of dividing wall

after with foam installed over concrete section

Sealing the ductwork

When I ripped down all the walls I discovered the ductwork was barely held together, and when they'd finished the basement, it wasn't just the electrical work that they did a horrible job on. Most of the new ducts that were added on were barely connected, and the standard duct tape that they'd wrapped around to fix the gaps had dried out and wasn't doing any good.
I'd used the proper metal tape on the joints between the 6" diameter ductwork, but for the connections to the main duct, that wasn't really feasible - so I used mastic and fiberglass mesh tape to seal up the gaps. In some cases, I had to screw the 6" elbows into the main duct as well to secure them.

before - with some nice gaps.

Some mesh tape added where the biggest gaps are.

Smearing on the mastic via gloves.

So far, sealing up all the gaps seems to have helped. Although it hasn't really been that cold to test out. It definitely won't hurt things.

New Walls Part 1

Finally got to the point where I could start working on putting up the new walls in the exercise room. I cleared up all the walls first, and glued 1" R5 rigid insulation to the walls. I made sure to use Loctite Power Grab which is safe to use on foam. After I glued it to the concrete I taped up all the seamed with IPG red seam sealer tape. Got it from amazon and it works great. Uber sticky. It keeps the moisture barrier intact. After that I used expandable foam around the bottom and tops to seal those gaps. I could have used caulk instead, but some of the gaps were a little too big.

before

after!

before

after!