Hanging Basement Walls

We just bought a new home and I am not willing to wait 1-3 years to finish the basement as the builder recommends to allow for settling. I've been told I could hang the walls from the ceiling with a void at the bottom and then taller baseboard moldings to hide the void to allow for expansion of the floor. Should I use metal studs since they are lighter? How do you attach the top of the studs at the ceiling/floor joist above? How do you secure them at the bottom? I have a lot of ideas that seem common sense and sound to me, but I haven't been able to find a book on this technique for framing walls in a basement.

 

Can I infer from your handle that you live in Colorado? Colorado has lots of expansive soils, so the "floating walls" technique you mention is standard in finishing basements with concrete floors.

There is lots of information available on the floating wall technique. You can do it with either wood or metal studs. In both cases, you start with attaching a pressure treated 2x4 to the concrete. Build a regular wall three inches shorter than the floor to ceiling height. Securely attach it to the joists above. There will be a 1.5" gap between the plate you put on the floor, and the bottom plate on your wall. You can ***temporarily*** support this with 2x4 scraps while attaching the wall to the ceiling. Then drill holes through the bottom plate of of your wall, and nail large spikes through the holes into the plate on the concrete. Then remove the 2x4 scraps!!

When you drywall, only drywall down to within 3" of the concrete, attaching only to the bottom plate of the wall. Then use a 5" baseboard, attached only to the plate on the concrete and not to the drywall or the wall itself.

This technique allows the floor to move upwards up to 1.5" without causing damage.

You should be able to find a lot of information on this technique. Look for information on "floating walls".