I want to remodel my living room and utility room by removing the existing wall, and building a new wall 3 feet further into the living room. This wall will be the entire width of both rooms. I have two questions: Can I nail in place the top plate and bottom plate, then add the studs? I don't see how I can fabricate the wall beforehand due to lack of space. Should I put a vapor barrier on either or both sides of the new wall?

I’m redoing my basement and have three questions regarding the wallboard material I should use: 1) On the exterior walls (50% below/50% above grade) is there any benefit to using greenboard (i.e. moisture resistant drywall)? I don’t have any seepage issues and will use proper vapor barriers but am willing to use greenboard if there is any potential benefit. 2) Just in case I should ever get a few inches of water in the basement (e.g. failed sump pump) should I use cement board instead of drywall for the bottom 1 to 2 foot of the walls (I’m using steel studs and beadboard on the lower half of the walls)? If so, should I use foam panels to insulate the walls so it would dry out more easily (versus fiberglass)? Or is this all in vain (i.e. the walls would have to be torn open for even an inch or two of water)? 3) The basement stairwell is rather narrow and takes a lot of abuse (knicks, scrapes, gouges). It has knotty pine right now but I think just painting it will result cracks in the paint between the tongue and groove panels. So, is there a better, more durable material that can be used instead of drywall? I seem to recall hearing about something called Hardiboard and/or Homosote. Are these viable options to drywall in a high traffic/abuse area? Thanks in advance for your response! Ed