[hole_n_one]

[Billthedrill]

Are the bodies buried yet? I've always found it easier if they're already buried...

[Cindy]

DIVINE DESIGN with Candice Olson

[Chad Fairbanks]

That's the only carpenter that can help you...

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Have you considered Venetian Plaster as a finish? It's cheap but has an expensive look, a bit time consuming, but can be done in increments. I'm doing my entire livingroom, diningroom and kitchen. It looks awesome.

[MHGinTN]

Place your framed walls against the concrete; the weight will hold them down and you can attach them to the floor joists above ... no need to nail into the conrete, 'float them'.

If you have as much as eight feet to the bottom of the floor joist above, a dropped six inches suspended ceiling is a good alternative to a sheetrock ceiling ... ceiling at 90 inches leaves six inches over standard door and window heights.

An interlocking 'Pergo' floor is a good basement floor, but I reccommend painting (with a latex/enamel) the concrete before applying the sub and finished floor material. Cut four pieces of carpet and place 'fuzzy' side down then place the pooltable feet over each patch.

No, I'm not a professinal carpenter ... and oddly enough, I didn't stay ina Holiday Inn last night ?????

[farmfriend]

It would be my guess, and it is a guess, that an adhesive applied with a caulking gun would hold the 2x4 framing to the concrete. Your local home building supply should be able to answer any questions you have.

[Petronski]

1) I HATE the idea of nailing into my perfect concrete. Is there an alternative system that doesn't require nailing into the concrete? I once had a guy drill and put in bolt anchors but I'm sure that's time-consuming and more costly.

Do you mean anchoring the stud plates? Masonry nails are no more traumatic than anchored bolts.

2) Walls: Can you use an air-powered staple gun (like 9/16") to hang sheet rock or just go with the traditional nails for best results?

Neither. I recommend a rechargeable drill with a phillips head bit and drywall screws.

3) Ceiling: Has 1x2x12 floor joists from upper floor. Lights are installed, but my sheet rock guy hates doing ceilings. So I'm looking at alternatives for ceilings, again watching the cost and want a halfway-decent appearance.

If they are truly 12 inch centers, I'd recommend 12x12 tiles fastened in place by staples. But you probably have 16" or 20" centers. In that case, you can still put ferring strips on 12" centers, perpendicular (or diagonal) to the joists.

4) Floor: I might be putting an (idle) pool table down there. The weight my be hard on carpet but what would you guys (and gals) recommend for a floor? carpet, vinyl tiles, one of those interlocking wood kits, what?

I don't recommend interlocking wood on basement floors (swelling and puckering in moisture). If anything, I'd recommend the old fashioned asphalt tiles. But if you wanted carpet, it's not a problem, just use pieces of wood under the legs to distribute the weight over the carpeting.

[vikzilla]

1)2x4 or 2x2 studs can be glued to the walls. A little PL400 adhesive and they won't be going anywhere.Tie then into the ceiling structure if you'd like.

2) If your going to hang sheetrock use screws. A few years from now you won't have nails or staples poping out and making dimples in the wall.

3) I've never been a fan of the ceiling tiles look. Sheetrock and a textured finish has always been my choice.

4)Interlocking wood floors suck big time.(Pergo -BLECH!) I'd carpet for the warmth and feel. Maybe a tiled island look to rest the table.

I just finished remodeling my home. Take your time and spend the money to do it right the first time.

[ChefKeith]

1) I HATE the idea of nailing into my perfect concrete. Is there an alternative system that doesn't require nailing into the concrete? I once had a guy drill and put in bolt anchors but I'm sure that's time-consuming and more costly.
PL500 construction adhesive
2) Walls: Can you use an air-powered staple gun (like 9/16") to hang sheet rock or just go with the traditional nails for best results?DO NOT USE AIR ANYTHING FOR THIS!
Use drywall screws (they make them for metal AND wood studs)
3) Ceiling: Has 1x2x12 floor joists from upper floor. Lights are installed, but my sheet rock guy hates doing ceilings. So I'm looking at alternatives for ceilings, again watching the cost and want a halfway-decent appearance. Try a "drop ceiling" like used in a commercial building.
4) Floor: I might be putting an (idle) pool table down there. The weight my be hard on carpet but what would you guys (and gals) recommend for a floor? carpet, vinyl tiles, one of those interlocking wood kits, what? depends on how much $$$ You want to spend and what the long-term use will be(I need more info)

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Don't know a reasonable way for the ceiling, but if the floor is concrete slab, you can do a reasonably cheap and easy faux finish that can look like stone or tile. In fact, I wish I had a concrete floor to work with...I love the look! It looks like massive marble slabs or stone. One here in Vegas was done in very high sheen black 4 foot slabs, and the other I saw was done to look like slate. They had a crew do it, but what they did was cut shapes into the concrete and then used concrete stains to get a mottles affect. It looks absolutely wonderful and is very durable, easy to clean.

[ChefKeith]

Send Me a phone# and I will call with more info

CK

[Petronski]

Oh, if you carpet, don't buy residential grade. You want commercial grade, high-traffic carpet. It's maybe 20-30% more, but it wears like iron.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"1) I HATE the idea of nailing into my perfect concrete. Is there an alternative system that doesn't require nailing into the concrete? I once had a guy drill and put in bolt anchors but I'm sure that's time-consuming and more costly."

If it were mine, I would use a concrete anchor fastener such as a "TAPCON". It's fairly simple; drill hole, screw fastner.

Another option would be to rent what is called a "ramset" or "hilti" gun. These use a small cartridge similar to a .22 caliber to drive a fastener into the concrete.

Regarding your concerns about putting holes in your concrete...having your walls properly tied down to the floor is much more important than concerns about holes in concrete that no one is ever going to see

"2) Walls: Can you use an air-powered staple gun (like 9/16") to hang sheet rock or just go with the traditional nails for best results?"

If it were mine, screws and glue.

Second option, nails.

I wouldn't use staples on sheetrock in a dimocrats house.

"3) Ceiling: Has 1x2x12 floor joists from upper floor. Lights are installed, but my sheet rock guy hates doing ceilings. So I'm looking at alternatives for ceilings, again watching the cost and want a halfway-decent appearance."

Accoustical or dropped ceiling. Relatively cheap, easy to install.

"4) Floor: I might be putting an (idle) pool table down there. The weight my be hard on carpet but what would you guys (and gals) recommend for a floor? carpet, vinyl tiles, one of those interlocking wood kits, what?"

If it were mine, I would lay a square of real hardwood flooring that was the same size as the pool table, and carpet the rest.

[South40]

1) Frame the walls and attach them to the floors and ceilings only.

2) If you don't want to use nails use screws. You can rent a screw gun at Home Depot.

3) Get a new sheetrock guy or do it yourself.

4) Why not use floor tile?

[The Brush]

Floor: I might be putting an (idle) pool table down there. The weight my be hard on carpet but what would you guys (and gals) recommend for a floor? carpet, vinyl tiles, one of those interlocking wood kits, what?

In 1983 I put inexpensive stick down tiles over the asbestos tile on my basement floor. Two years later we flooded and the tiles had 18" of water on them for nearly 8 hours. To this day not one of those tiles has ever come up. (By the way, I didn't use any other adhesive, I stuck them right down after first cleaning the old tiles, you might want to add some adhesive if you put them directly over concrete floor)
Good luck!

[Wolverine]

Your basement will be cold in the winter. Ten feet below grade is in most parts of the country about 55 degrees, too cold for routine use in the winter.

Glue (Liquid nails) lathe like strips to the outside walls. Then staple two sided aluminum foil (like bubble pack available from ACE Hardware) to the lathe strips. This will act as a radiant barrier, preventing the cold from invading the basement from the outside 55 degree ground temperature. This barrier will also conserve any heat that is already in the basement. Heat always goes to cold...physics.

Now you can staple or glue the sheet rock or paneling to the lathe strips. No additional heating should be required, you will be comfortable throughout the year.

[Petronski]

Ach! Don't use glue anywhere. It is very easy to heat a basement to comfortable levels year around. Invest in stud walls for the basement if they aren't already in place. Don't use glue.

Ignore all advice in #31.

Glue (Liquid nails) lathe like strips to the outside walls.

This will NOT last indefintely. The glue WILL fail.

[Nita Nupress]

I'm certainly no carpenter, but I love to remodel so I have a little experience with it. If you have a relatively clean concrete floor, consider the faux painting as ETERNAL WARMING mentioned. I also love this look.

Several years ago I was about to move into a house and had to decide what to do with the floor. We had ripped up the old carpet because it was so nasty, leaving only the concrete foundation. We couldn't decide what to put down (carpet vs. tile vs. wood), so I started experimenting with paint and burlap. By the time I was done, I had somehow managed to achieve a floor that had a "warm feel" to it and looked like brown crumpled leather, believe it or not. Way cool! And with a few well-placed rugs, it looked like I had spent a lot more money on that floor than I really had.

If you're interested tell me and I'll elaborate on the method used.

Regarding the sheetrock, use sheetrock screws and a rechargable drill. My Ryobi 9 volt has been sufficient to get the job done, but on several occasions I wished I'd been working with a 12 volt drill. Just whatever you do, don't use nails. Nails are easier to work with in the short run but the screws absolutely will not budge! By using sheetrock screws, you'll never have to mess with touching up the sheetrock when a nail pops loose.

[John Lenin]

If you want to do it right you should use 1 x3's or 1 x4 furring strips attached to the concrete block with masonary nails in the mortar (fast way) or use a drill with cheap plastic mollys and screws. Than you can cover the walls any way you want to. Drop ceilings are easy to install. And the floor is up to you, carpet or tile.