A/V Room Construction

Just started this after restructuring the support wall, but here's the first shot of the new wall I've created for the A/V room. After I put this one in place, I'll remove the existing wall that framed in the utility room next to it.

So, here's the new wall in place, and the old wall that framed in the utility room removed. I installed the wall similar to all the other walls in the basement. I used construction adhesive and concrete screws to secure to the floor and used a combo of 16d and 10d common nails to secure it in place. I made the 2nd full wall about a 1/8" shorter than the shortest point to the ceiling and then used shims to secure it in place (The ceiling had a difference of almost 3/4" from the shortest to tallest point).

Utility room has some more breathing room now.

A/V room all done! (Just need to create a door opening).

Making sure the future drywall had enough studs to attach to (where the walls/ceiling meets) was tricky, and framing in the ceiling especially, as I had to create a frame around the ductwork. In the end I was quite proud of what I created, as it worked out really well and was uber solid.

I used 2x4s as the "ceiling joists."

Closer look at the joints.

For the ceiling joists I notched out the 2x4s so that they would fit around the 2x4 wall studs (cutting out a 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" section). I then added horizontal supports for extra support for those joists, and to ensure that the drywall had something to attach to. Took a while to think through the best way to create the support, but I think it worked out really well.

A look at how the ceiling joists attached to the other side.

On the other side I just used a 2x2 to nail the joists into, then nailed that into the beam of the wall. To get it all in place I used my handy Irwin plastic clamps to hold it into place while I nailed them in securely.