How would you install a wall, a door, and how much would it cost?

Question

I live in the basement of my parents house, and i was think about putting a wall in the middle of it. So i would have my own room and privacy and stuff. Like, i want to put a wall in the middle of the basement so it splits it in half. Also i want to put a door in this wall, so again, it would be like my own room.

So how would i be able to install this wall, and a door?

Also, about how much would this cost?

Answer 1

OK in a basement it should be pretty easy especially if its unfinished meaning no drywall or ceilings. If this is the case you would need a bunch of 2x4 studs prob. 8 feet in length, they would eventually be place 16 inches on center meaning there is a span of 16 inches between the center of one stud to the center of another. So you would need to devide the total length of the needed wall by 16 to get the total number of 2x4 studs needed. You would also need to take the total length of the wall and multiply it by two in order to know how many 2x4s you would need for the base plate and top plate. 2x4 studs are about $3.25 a peice depending on where you live. Most likely your first floor joist will be about 8 feet up from the basement floor if its a newer house ( built in the last 20 or 30 years) so you will need to find out the specific hieght of the basement and cut your stud to length keeping in mind that you top plate and base plate will take of 3 inches. So once you have all your lumber cut  you begin by laying out the wall by laying the studs on the floor right in front of the future location of the wall once they are layed out you would than attach the top plate and the base plate to the tops of the studs. Remember dont lay the boards flat....Narrow side up. Of course you leave a space where ever you are going to put the door and you would box the top down to the top of the door opening. Once everthing is nailed together you stand the wall up and line the top of it to where you want it to be and than slide the bottom in. Once you get the wall tight in the space but not fully upright you may need to beat the bottom in with a sledge hammer. Once in and plumb simply nail the topplate into the floor joists and put a massonry nail through the bottom plate between every other stud. If your on a budget skip the dry wall and just use some wood paneling, it comes in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets and can be purchased for about $20 a sheet. This is a abridged addition but you get the point. some simple math will give you a good estimate on the cost