what goes into adding a wall?
Sorry if this is the wrong place. I wasn't sure where to put it.
I have a large family in a somewhat small house. We have a finished basement. I am considering the idea of splitting the large family room so that two children would have a bedroom at the bottom of the stairs, then a wall to divide that room and he tv/family room. (My husband likes to excersise privately at night using the wii fit. There is no where else with enough space to do such a thing. The tv is like glue to my kids when it is on, no matter how boring.) I've also always wanted a wall/doorway between the tv room and the laundry room. (It's loud, so hard to hear the tv.)
What is involved in adding a wall? Can you add one anywhere once the house is already built? Is there a great diy adding a wall step by step web page you could link me to? I am doing the research, but I will have my husband and father actually do the work:laughing:
As far as building a wall, you can put it anywhere subject to enough windows for light and ventilation in the rooms on each side and minimum floor space for each room on either side and enough means of exit. These rules vary from one city to another. In most cases a bedroom may not have its only exit through a bathroom or another bedroom. A book called the International Residential Code gives the minimum standards for construction.
If the wall has a door in it then any exit requirements are satisfied.
You build a framing generally using 2x4's and then you put paneling, usually drywall, over it. In its simplest form the framing consists of a 2x4 flat on the ceiling, a 2x4 flat on the floor, and upright studs perpendicular to the wall surfaces and 16 inches apart including one at each end, against the abutting walls.
You will need to add electrical outlets generally no more than 6 feet from a doorway and no more than 12 feet from the next outlet (not measuring diagonally across the floor). A section of wall between two doors must have an outlet unless it is less than two feet wide.
If you add a wall where none was before and as a complete project then your wall is "non-load-bearing" and the construction requirements are less rigid compared with a "load bearing" wall.
Putting sleeping quarters in a basement requires more then a bed, or a wall. You need an egress window or another door so people can get out in case of a fire.
Do you have one?
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