Working around water pipes and other obstacles as you finish a basement can be a challenge when you frame a wall or closet! Framing three short wall can be a challenge too! Carefully measure around the duct and build the frame of your wall, then tip it into place. Use the 3-4-5 method to square the corners and you'll be on your way to a finished basement!

>Home >Our progress >Around the corner

Around the corner

After a weekend off for a vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains (see review) it was time to get back to work! I needed to build the walls coming around the corner, and ending up with a closet beside the stairwell.

This part was a bit of a challenge because it consisted of three short walls (meaning double studs at each corner) and ended up with a closet under the stairs. Since this area will be tiled, I again needed to make sure the corners were square (again using the 3-4-5 method).

Here's how the closet area under the stairs will look when it's done.

To complete the top of the closet, I had to work around some copper pipe and a sump pump line. The framing went pretty well, but when I got to the closet door area, I ran into a bit of a snag.

Clearance for ductwork

I decided to use 30" doors for the closet and the office. However, main duct is close to the closet, and there might not be enough clearance for the door. Since I didn't know the exact location of the soffit for the main duct, I decided a good workaround would be to install a 30" bifold door instead of a regular 6 panel door. This should solve the problem.

Also, in looking at doors online at Lowes.com, I noticed that not every prehung door has the same roughed-in frame size. Some require an opening ½ taller and/or wider than others. Because of this, I decided to get the doors now- just to be sure. This way I won't have to recut any openings later. I guess that's next weekend's project!