Framed wall in basement, what to do with air gap?

[EndZone]

I have searched the forum and googled the topic of stud walls and air gaps in basements. The thing is, I'm considering tearing down the existing stud walls in our recreation room, where wooden studs and insulation have been used directly against the outer wall. The moisture situation is probably not entirely okay in these walls even though we haven't noticed any smell yet. But... then comes the part about doing it right. I read that you should use steel studs and leave an air gap against the outer wall. Then you can put up drywall. That's completely fine, so far I'm with you. Then I read several tips about needing an air gap between the ceiling, floor, and drywall. I then immediately start wondering how this can look?

Should there be a visible opening at the top of the wall against the ceiling? Or should some kind of trim be used? And isn't there a risk that over time, a lot of dust will accumulate behind the wall (i.e., between the outer wall and the drywall)? Dust should logically, over time, be able to provide a breeding ground for mold?

Does anyone have a picture or more information on how this should be done correctly? Perhaps explained so well that even an idiot like me can understand?

 

[Kromo]

Same pondering here!

 

[EndZone]

Cool, I'm still contemplating myself, almost three years later

 

[Johnjohn2]

Lay a Nivell floor that does not go flush against the walls. Place the metal studs on the floor, insulate and install MDF and then gypsum but leave a couple of centimeters "air gap" against the ceiling. Hide this air gap with a cornice and install a humidity-controlled fan for a good setup. However, if you have known moisture problems in the basement coming from outside, google Nivell floor and consider their solution with fans, etc.

 

[Kromo]

But I don't want a short story floor; the floor should be tile or carpet. Yes, I know some say no to that. But then you need to start a new thread about it. I want to know how to ventilate the walls if I put paneling on them. Using metal studs with a wooden strip on them to attach the paneling doesn't go all the way down to the floor. So I won't have any issues with the ceiling or floor track. But I would like to bring the paneling down and up to the respective things. So how to solve this? Is a perforated ceiling trim enough? Perforated baseboard? How to create air rotation? Is it necessary?

 

[Johnjohn2]

I don't know, Kromo. I wouldn't lay carpet directly on the existing basement floor... But IF you choose the Nivell system, you can lay carpet on it and you'll get air circulation in both the walls and floor, problem solved

Then I saw that I wrote mdf in the post above, it should naturally be osb...

 

[AnneFi]

I don't know, Kromo. I wouldn't lay carpet directly on the existing basement floor... But IF you choose the Nivell system, you can lay carpet on it, and you get air circulation in both walls and floors, problem solved

Then I saw that I wrote mdf in the post above, of course it should be osb...

Why wouldn't you lay carpet directly on the concrete? A carpet that allows moisture to pass through is much safer than enclosing the floor, right?

 

[Johnjohn2]

With Nivell, (or a similar brand), you don't build the floor into the concrete. It creates an air gap between the concrete and the floor, which is good considering moisture and its "associated problems". If you absolutely must place something directly on the concrete floor, choose paint or tiles.

As mentioned, there are a multitude of different techniques, but in the problem described by kromo, I wouldn't have an air gap between the interior and exterior walls and then ignore the floor, but that's just me

 

[AnneFi]

But laying carpet is not worse than placing a rug on tiles, right?
I think tiles with warm cozy carpets and plastered walls take precedence over any construction of air gaps against floors and walls.