Finishing My Basement - Framing Floating Walls

I explain the difference between a floating wall versus a conventionally framed stud wall. I then show the process as I frame the longest wall in my basement and discuss some of the challenges I addressed as I proceeded.

I share a few of my 'techniques' along the way as I address a few challenges as I work around a few features in my basement.

Here in Colorado, we have expansive soils due to the existence of bentonite - which will expand when wet. As a result, it is possible for a basement floor to rise (or heave), so we 'float' the stud walls in our basements. Building codes very from county to county. In our county there is no requirement, but floating basement walls is recommended. Further south in Douglas County, for example, basement walls must contain at least a 3" gap! Even without expansive soils, the basement floor of a newly constructed house could potentially settle - so floating the walls may also be a consideration then.

I discussed the reason for floating walls in my previous video:
"Finishing My Basement - Floating Wall - Base Plates" -    • Finishing My Basement - Floating Wall...  .

FWIW - I have hours and hours of footage - I sorted through my footage trying to keep this video reasonably short. As a result, I only covered the installation of one wall. Some of the other walls in my basement provided their own challenges. If you see something I missed or have additional questions, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a professional. I am a do-it-yourselfer working alone with fairly simple tools. I attempt to research what I'm doing and apply what I've learned, but I do not claim to be an expert. So please consider this before proceeding on your own project.

I appreciate all the feedback, comments and questions. I will do my best to respond.