I am getting ready to add a 4th bedroom to my basement. My basement is an L shape so all i need to do is close off part of it by building a wall. My basement is already finished, my question is regarding the framing of the wall. Do i need to cut out an area in my carpet for the laying of the stud? Can i not screw the stud right through the carpet and into the concrete floor?

Thanks

 

with the consideration of water....remove the carpet under the bottom plate.

 

Since your basement is already finished out, you probably do not have a water problem so put the bottom plate on the rug and shoot it down. When wife decides on new carpet, cut along the plate.

 

The answer is quite simple. How good of a job do you want? You either do it half-assed or you do it properly. You anchor it to the concrete, if that's the floor surface, you don't anchor it to the carpet. Will there be any doors in the wall? How long is the wall? Will it be anchored to walls at both ends? Is it to be permitted? How permanent is it meant to be?

 

Thanks so much for all of your comments. We have never had a water problem in our basement ( we have lived here 12 years) so i'm hoping that won't be a problem. The wall will be anchored to one basement wall where it will extend to 8 ft in length, we will add a door after 8 ft and the side of the door jam will be connected to the other basement wall. It is not going to require me to get a permit, and yes, it will be permanent, at least until we move, what the people who buy our home do with it is up to them. I surely want the wall constructed in a safe and flush condition. I was hoping to bypass cutting the carpet as it will require me to put down tack strips on both sides of the base and i have never done that. But if it is the best way to do it then i guess i'll have to learn...lol.

Amy

 

Amy, tack strips are just hammered into the concrete but you could also use 2-sided carpet tape as there is no water problem.

 

Still don't see a problem in installing bottom plate over the carpet if there is no moisture problem. If it is "shot" into the concrete with power nailer it will be solid and will not be anchored to the carpet. Double nail it at doorways.

 

Would seem obivious to me that if ya got carpet on the floor, this must be a dry basement, count yourself lucky already.

If I'm picturing this right you've got an open L shaped area that has carpeting that appears seamless throughout the area and you just want to close off the L and make it an extra bdrm, which will increase home's resale value. Correct?
Take a real close up look at that carpet where you're wanting to close off the room. There very well could be a seam there, that's invisible from standing & looking at it. That's why carpetlayers make the big $$'s. A good one can hide a seam w/o any problem.

If this new rm is only 8' wide, I'd guess that it's fairly deep, 12' to 16' at least, anything less than that and your new room is gonna look more like a cell than a bdrm. JMO

Anyway back to the carpet, many times L shapes are laid by using 2 pieces of carpet. If this is the case, might make your life a bit easier, Just split (cut) the seam, lay your 2"x4" down so that the outside edge of it is flush with the seam, then cut your carpet & pad flush with inside edge of your 2"x4". P/U your 2"x, pull up the strip of carpet, and use some 2 sided carpet tape right away to keep the carpet tight, you may still have to restretch the carpet at the new wall, but you can cross that bridge when you get to it. If there's no seam, I'd still go about it pretty much the same way. With no permits to worry about you could shoot the base plate over it, but if you do measure your wall height carefully and cut your wall stud lengths accordingly.

Then build your wall laying flat, stand it up in place & use a Hilti or similar tool & shoot the base plate to the floor, concrete screws? new one on me, I use the Hilti, you can rent them at most decent rental yars.
I'd suggest you cut your threshhold out of the base plate after the wall is standing secure true and plumb, but watch that carpet with the saw-saw Best of luck & keep us posted on how it turns out.

 

here's my 2 cents worth as a former installer. sounds like you have stretched in carpet. so start in a corner and unhook it, fold it back and out of your work area. then cut the pad out of your intended wall area. i don't like the idea of building your wall on top of it for several reasons. if it ever does get wet for any reason,(sewer backup, rain from an open window, water pipe leak, overflowing sink, etc) you will never get it out from under your wall without removing the wall. also you are going to squash the carpet from probably 1" down to 1/4" which will more than likely create a valley on both sides of the wall that i don't think you will like the looks of. if you cut out a piece yourself you might just create more problems for your installer. once your wall is built you will be sheetrocking, mudding, taping and sanding. keeping your carpet clean during this process will be a real pain. and last but not least, never drill a hole through your carpet. i guarantee you that your drill bit will catch on a carpet fiber and cause a run in your carpet that will be very difficult to fix. so again, i recommend you just unhook it, fold it out of way and let your installer finish the rest when your project is done.
good luck!

 

dickh is making a good point, it would be better to completely pull it back to totally protect from the ravages of the wall construction, but the draw back is you're gonna definitely have to restretch the carpet afterwards. You can rent the tools, but ya gotta know how to do it to make it look good. Otherwise I assumed you're wise enough to protect the carpet during the construction.