I am putting in a wood/sheetrock wall in my basement, but don't know how to attach the wood frame/studs to a cement floor. All help appreciated.

Fr_Chuck

drill and use a cement fastener. Use a nail gun make to sink nails into concrete, they are powered by blanks basicly.

David Shepherd

Thanks for the quick reply, Fr. Chuck. Just so I am clear - do I need a special drill to drill into cement? And what is a cement fastner?

And if I drill holes into the cement, shouldn't I then use screws rather than nails?

(As you can probably tell, I am just a regular homeowner with no more tools than your usual hammer/saw/cordless drill. I would have to rent the nail gun or any special drill.)

Thanks much.

Fr_Chuck

sorry two different methods.

yes if you drill in ( you need special drill bits and a powerful drill depending on the hardness of the concrete) then they have special screws with expansion fittings that go into the concrete .
** sorry I don't know the real names for these, I don't use them often


And the other option is a special nail gun ( you should be able to rent one) for some reason I ended up owning one. But it actully "shoots" a nail though the board and into the concrete. you load ( at least in my version) one nail at a time and put a blank shell in the top part, you hit the top of it with a hammer and it shoots the nail right in.

And of course my friend just glued one in, they made sure it fit vey tight from top to bottom and used speical glue so that the bottom just held between the glue and the tight fit.

skiberger

You can use Tapcon screws. The are blue colored screws made for masonry. The masonry bits you need will be on display next to the screws.

Or, you can by a Remington masonry gun. This shoots masonry nails and a 22caliber blank is used. They're loud (gun shot) so use ear protection and eye protection. They come in a trigger style and a hammer (wack it with a hammer) style.

krobar

go to the local hardware store and buy some tapcons, buy the box that comes with the drill bit in it

ballengerb1

You may want to use pressure treated lumber for the base of that wall. Concrete allows some moisture through to the surface. If that surface is now covered with a pine 2x4 you can get rot and/or mold. Rot is bad but mold is worse!

myoldhouse

Have done a couple of basement room mods since moving to PA from TX (love that extra space!) and after taking a quick look at Lowe's, decided to buy the Remington .22 nailer and appropriate power charges and nails(the hammer style, as it was only about $20 bucks a couple of years ago)-be sure you use nails specified for pressure treated lumber, and as suggested above, use that type of lumber for where you're working. In taking apart a 35-year old prior basement 1/2 bath install to make way for a full bath, I have found lots of moldy 2x4 plates that are now junk-the stuff up the wall is ok, but floor contact in an old, un-barriered concrete floor or in an area that may get occasionally wet (where's your washer? or, possible toilet backup, etc.) just about requires use of treated stuff. As above, use ear and eye protection when using the power nailer, use a strong enough cartridge to fully drive the nails, use care when making sawdust with the treated lumber, and enjoy your new room. Good luck//dlr