Layout is the next step to finishing your basement.
It is important to decide where all walls, lights, switches, outlets and other
mechanicals will be located before you start building.
When laying out walls in a basement, great care must be taken as to where
they are placed. You always want to be sure you include space for all
utilities, built in fixtures and plan ahead for door openings.
Spacing of wall studs must also be considered. They cannot be
placed just anywhere. Keep in mind that most wall finishes come in 4 x 8
or 4 x 12 sheets. You will want to layout your walls carefully to avoid
floating joints and not waste material.
The most common layout for wall framing is 16" on center. When laid
out and framed correctly, the edge of the drywall or other finish
will break on the center of the studs in 4' increments. This will keep
your waste to a minimum.
To layout your basement walls, you will first need to mark the top and
bottom edges of the first wall. I usually like to start near the corner of
the basement and layout my longest wall first. I use a
laser level
and a tape
measure to mark this wall both on the basement floor and the ceiling. After
marking this wall, I will use a tape measure to mark openings where doors and
other openings will go. Then I will go ahead and mark the floor where studs,
outlets, and other fixtures will go.
Tips & Tricks
I will always try to set my openings so they fall within
the wall studs. I know this will make my framing much easier.
After marking my first wall, I will continue to one of the walls on the end.
I always like to layout the outside walls first. This will make it much easier
to layout closets, bathrooms and other rooms. For example, When I am marking my
closet and I realize that the wall is going to fall between 2 studs, I can easily
make the closet 8" bigger or smaller and save myself from framing in an extra
corner joint.
Wall layout is a fairly simple process with the proper tools.
Don't forget to plan ahead so the edges of the drywall don't end up in the
center of the studs.
After you get a floor plan together you can go on to the next step which
is :
Tips & Tricks
When you need a measurement between two walls, and you can’t reach the whole
way across with a tape you can use a
laser tape. 
Set the laser in the middle of the room and use it to measure to one wall.
Rotate the laser and measure to the opposite wall. Add the two
dimensions for the total length.
Tips & Tricks
Buy a
top-quality 30ft. tape 
with a 1-in. wide blade. The extra stiffness
provided by the wide blade allows you to extend the tape farther before it
buckles. This is a great help for all kinds of measuring tasks but is especially
useful when you’re working alone or from a ladder.
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Listed below are tools that will help you with the layout process.
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