I have plans to frame a wall against an exterior wall in a furnished basement. I am aware that organic materials are considered a "risk."
Opinions vary on how to minimize the risk and how significant it is.
I have spoken with craftsmen, specialist stores, and read countless posts on the subject on various forums.
The advice ranges from "just frame up and install regular drywall" to "you can expect major problems."
From experience with other issues, I know that you can get this range of responses. However, this time I have struggled to come up with a relevant solution. The only common advice I have found is that it's best not to build any wall at all, but to simply plaster and paint with a type of silicate paint.
This post is therefore an attempt to assess the knowledge status as of 2012 for a specific case:
Framed interior wall in a basement space. Double wall panels to achieve necessary soundproofing and for ease of mounting things on the wall.
Conditions:
Solution
Opinions vary on how to minimize the risk and how significant it is.
I have spoken with craftsmen, specialist stores, and read countless posts on the subject on various forums.
The advice ranges from "just frame up and install regular drywall" to "you can expect major problems."
From experience with other issues, I know that you can get this range of responses. However, this time I have struggled to come up with a relevant solution. The only common advice I have found is that it's best not to build any wall at all, but to simply plaster and paint with a type of silicate paint.
This post is therefore an attempt to assess the knowledge status as of 2012 for a specific case:
Framed interior wall in a basement space. Double wall panels to achieve necessary soundproofing and for ease of mounting things on the wall.
Conditions:
- Single-story house from 1973 with a furnished basement
(the entire basement is now demolished so that (almost) only concrete and cement remain) - Walls consist of cement cinder blocks and LECA earth pressure blocks.
- The drainage around the entire house was redone in 2012.
- Outside the basement walls below ground level is 200mm Pordrän.
- Above ground level, there is no insulation on the basement walls. If I am to insulate this part of the wall, it will also be outside with 100mm EPS or similar.
- There is no insulation under the concrete slab, and I will not place any there either.
- No underfloor heating exists in the basement floor, and will never exist either
(as long as I manage the house for the bank)
Solution
- Metal studs are so obvious that they need not be mentioned.
- Material for wall panels?
- Alternatives to paper-covered drywall and OSB seem to exist.
- Are these alternatives completely inorganic? Do they work in practice?
- Ventilation?
- Is it important?
- What does the minimal solution look like, and what are the perceived risks?
- Other?
Are you going to install exterior wall boards or also put up an interior wall?
The best option for boarding an exterior wall in a basement is to build a new wall inside. Frame a wall a few centimeters inside the existing basement wall and use spacers at the top and bottom, and attach the base and top plates to these. This way, you ensure 100% if you install a ventilated floor trim and maybe lower the ceiling trim (like shadow trim) by 5mm so you have circulating air all around.
Then, the question of whether to use metal or not is up to personal discretion.
Personally, I see nothing wrong with wood as long as it is not in contact with something it can absorb from.
If you're going to switch wood for metal, you might as well switch the gypsum board for minerit =)
Best regards, Michael
The best option for boarding an exterior wall in a basement is to build a new wall inside. Frame a wall a few centimeters inside the existing basement wall and use spacers at the top and bottom, and attach the base and top plates to these. This way, you ensure 100% if you install a ventilated floor trim and maybe lower the ceiling trim (like shadow trim) by 5mm so you have circulating air all around.
Then, the question of whether to use metal or not is up to personal discretion.
Personally, I see nothing wrong with wood as long as it is not in contact with something it can absorb from.
If you're going to switch wood for metal, you might as well switch the gypsum board for minerit =)
Best regards, Michael
It's the wall directly adjacent to the outer wall that we're talking about, which I think you mean by "board the outer wall."Michael86 said:
Just as you mentioned, I have considered placing studs a bit away from the stone outer wall.
The thing I'm unsure about is how to achieve ventilation.
Your solution is based on a gap at the top and bottom. It's a simple and inexpensive construction, so if it's considered sufficient in combination with non-organic boards, I would be very satisfied.
Are there more suggestions?
The air never stands still. What will you do with the floor?
Tore out a basement wall setup by the previous owner. Rock wool insulation against stone and wooden studs with particleboard. Closed off so that no air could move. At that time, the house was not re-drained.
There was no black mold. Only damp insulation at the bottom. 25 years old. Now you should never insulate a basement wall from the inside. Especially not without air.
You have leveling systems if you're a bit anxious and want mechanical ventilation behind =)
Tore out a basement wall setup by the previous owner. Rock wool insulation against stone and wooden studs with particleboard. Closed off so that no air could move. At that time, the house was not re-drained.
There was no black mold. Only damp insulation at the bottom. 25 years old. Now you should never insulate a basement wall from the inside. Especially not without air.
You have leveling systems if you're a bit anxious and want mechanical ventilation behind =)
In the particular room where we want walls, as discussed, we have chosen a wall-to-wall carpet. The carpet is chosen considering it will be in the basement, so it is not a "regular" wall-to-wall carpet. It wasn't easy to find. In all other areas it will be conservative: Tiles, plaster, and silicate paintMichael86 said:
During the demolition of all the interior walls, I found a lot of black mold behind the plasterboard. In the worst spot, it was almost completely covered with black mold about 1 meter up from the floor.
The construction followed the building code from the seventies: Wooden studs, stone wool insulation, moisture barrier, and plasterboard + wallpaper. It's a risk construction, we knew this from the start and it was noted in the report. So it's not really a surprise.
Now we have re-drained and insulated from the outside, as I wrote in the first post.
I have looked at Nivell, but decided not to install it. We will likely only have wall-to-wall carpet as long as the kids use it as a playroom, and later in life as a "Recreational space." Then the carpet will be replaced with tiles. Therefore, I consider Nivell to be "overkill".
Yes, I think everyone can agree on that.alex86 said:
What I want to know is what new constructions minimize these conditions?
For example, we have discussed ventilation.
We have talked about sheet materials. Minerit as an example. Can you get black mold on Minerit? The manufacturers claim at least that they "are durable."
Are there alternatives to Minerit?
Putting up boards will provide certain advantages.mycke_nu said:
One of them is soundproofing. The room is currently used as a playroom, and in a few years as a "Recreation room/teen room".
There will be a lot of sound, music, video games.
Today there are many electrical conduits on the walls which would need to be embedded into the wall. I will also install for 7.1 sound and future projector.
In short, there are some benefits to putting up an interior wall. But if it turns out to be unnecessarily risky, I'll plaster and find other solutions for the remaining parts.
Sheets of gypsum or Minerit will not provide you with any acoustic benefits, rather the opposite I would guess. Possibly the electrical tubes can be plastered in, but that is a bit beyond my limited knowledge on the subject.
Agree with mycke_nu. Plaster the wall!
Then you'll never have to wonder what's hiding behind the boards. Any moisture penetration will be visible immediately.
Channeling grooves in the plaster to run VP pipes is not particularly advanced. It just gets a bit dusty.
Then you'll never have to wonder what's hiding behind the boards. Any moisture penetration will be visible immediately.
Channeling grooves in the plaster to run VP pipes is not particularly advanced. It just gets a bit dusty.
Plasterboard has a sound-absorbing ability. This is indicated in the specifications for plasterboard, and if there's anything I can infer with certainty from posts on this forum, it's that plasterboard has a sound-absorbing effect.mycke_nu said:
Double plasterboard (or other board on the backside) reduces the risk of what's often described as "bongo sound."
From youth and the time as a "garage musician," one remembers the difference between the rehearsal space in the school's shelter (just stone walls) and the youth club's rehearsal space (guess it was standard plasterboard walls).
And I can also perform the ultimate test by going down to one of the rooms in the basement, which now stands empty with bare walls. And sure, you hear a faint "echo." It is not at all the same sound image as it was before we tore down all the interior walls of plasterboard and stone wool insulation.
That being said, it can also be resolved with plastered walls. There are other tricks to use.
I am exploring all options.
Hello, there is only one safe solution (inorganic materials, plaster, minerit) and then there are solutions that might work, but it is harder to say beforehand.
Regarding mounting against an outer wall; it is not just capillary action that is a problem. Condensation against a cold outer wall is an example (not entirely comparable, but I still think it highlights the issue; try pulling down a roller blind in front of a double-glazed window on a winter day and look at the window in the morning).
I might be a bit narrow-minded, but in my opinion, organic materials do not belong in an old basement.
Regarding mounting against an outer wall; it is not just capillary action that is a problem. Condensation against a cold outer wall is an example (not entirely comparable, but I still think it highlights the issue; try pulling down a roller blind in front of a double-glazed window on a winter day and look at the window in the morning).
I might be a bit narrow-minded, but in my opinion, organic materials do not belong in an old basement.