Order of Work?

Good morning! I'll be brief with this one. We live in Louisville, KY. On January the 5th I was awaken by my wife with a kiss and her saying, "Good morning honey and happy birthday! By the way, I was working out in the basement and I noticed some water on the floor. You better go check it out." What a birthday present! Anyway, I found water seeping in where the floor meets the basement walls. This is the only place where water is coming from. All of the water drained out the drain as it is supposed to. Our house is 41 years old and does not have a sump pump. All of the gutters have 4" tubing attached and drain away from the house. The house sits on a plateau with the grade running away from the house. The floor has the usual surface cracks with no water coming in from them. The walls have some cracks as well (much bigger than the floor does) and no water came in there either. After visiting with several neighbors and some folks at Lowes and Home Depot, the leading suggestion is to apply a sealant along the joint where the floor meets the basement walls. They say there is a sealant which bonds to the joint just like mortar. It is not an epoxy. I haven't checked it out yet as I want to make an educated decision. Also, I have always painted my garage floors and I would like to do this in my basement with the floor and walls. Also, over the weekend, I pressure washed the entire basement and dried it to a "T" in order to prepare for the next steps, whatever they may be. Please advise me as I am open to all suggestions! Thanks for your kind attention to this matter!!!!! Truett

I'm finishing my basement and planning out my framing for a 20 ft wall. At the ceiling and running alongside the length of the wall is my duct work. The duct is 3 ft wide for about 8 ft long then it tapers down to 2 ft wide. For the 3 ft wide section - it is butted up against the existing wall and ceiling joists. I therefore have no means to attach my top plate to the ceiling joists. The 2 ft wide duct is out from the wall - so I do have acess to the ceiling joists. How do I handle my top plate where I have no access to the ceiling joist - just butt up to and glue to the duct work? (BYW - duct is insulated) Then step up for the remainder of the top plate and nail into the joist. Will wall be sturdy enough in this manner? Any advice appreciated - thanks...Hope I explained this well enough?