How to Divide Room Framing

Measure the length and width of the room you want to divide. Transfer your measurements to 1/4-inch graph paper. Center the room on the paper so that you can show portions of the adjacent rooms. This will allow you to see the relationships between the rooms.

Draw in the thickness of the walls, windows, doors, niches, fireplaces, openings, fixtures, appliances, cabinets or other features. Jot down the measurements. Place your drawing on a table and tape it down. Tape tracing paper over your design.

Sketch in possible wall dividers. In more traditional homes, wall dividers can be short, floor-to-ceiling dividers composed of open bookshelves and columns. The alternative is to frame in a doorway or archway with 2 to 4 feet of wall on each side. Your plan should reflect your family's needs.

Transfer your favored plan to the floor. Measure from the walls and place painter's tape over the flooring surface at the locations on your plan. This will allow you to feel how the new walls will affect the room. Adjust your plan and tape until you feel you have the right configuration.

Move a stud finder along the ceiling in the location where you want to install the wall. Locate your ceiling joists and mark the locations with an X. If your joist runs parallel with the wall you should move your wall to center it under a ceiling joist. If your joist runs perpendicular with the wall you can lay out your wall exactly where you want it. Move your floor tapes if you must change your wall location to fit your ceiling joists.

Cut along the sides of the tape outlines using a utility knife to cut through and remove existing carpeting and pad. Pull out staples with pliers. Cut the tack strip next to the baseboard with a rotary tool and remove. Cut the baseboard 1-inch wider than the wide side of a 2-by-4-inch board.

Cut a 2-by-4-inch board the length of your new divider wall. Nail the board to the subfloor using a framing nail gun. Use two nails every 8 inches. This board is called a bottom plate. Measure the width of your ceiling. If you are installing a short floor to ceiling wall your bottom and top plate will be the same size. If you are installing a framed opening your top plate will run the full width of the ceiling. Hang a plumb bob from the ceiling to locate the exact vertical location of your ceiling boards over your bottom plate.

Cut and attach your ceiling plate directly over your bottom plate and as wide as you need for your design. Nail through the plate into the ceiling joist at each joist. Measure the height between the plates against the outside wall. Cut a 2-by-4-inch board to height. Place the board against the wall and toenail the board into the top and bottom plate with two nails at each end.

Frame a header for a doorway. Measure the thickness of a 2-by-4-inch board. This measurement will be less than 2 inches. Transfer this measurement to the outer end of the wall bottom plate. Measure from your inside mark to the underside of the ceiling plate. Cut a 2-by-4-inch board. Toenail the top and bottom of the stud into place against your inside mark. Keep your board level and straight. Repeat this framing on the second side.

Measure the rough-in height of your doorway. Subtract the thickness of a 2-by-4-inch board. Cut two pieces at this height. Place one board on the end of the bottom plate. Nail the board to the full-height stud immediately adjacent. Repeat for both sides. Measure the distance between the full-height studs above the cut rough-in height boards. Cut four boards to this length.

Stack and nail the four boards together to create a header. Place the header over the top of the rough-in height doorway studs. Nail the header in place. Measure from the center of your stud closest to a wall. Measure 16 inches and mark. Measure every 16 inches and mark. Measure the top of the header from the center of the full height stud 16 inches and mark.

Measure the height of each stud at each mark. Cut and nail in the stud to the framing. Toenail the studs to the bottom and top plate. Toenail the cripple studs from the header to the top plate. Measure the width between studs. Cut short pieces of board. Stagger the boards between the studs, nailing the blocking in place through the ends. The blocking helps to strengthen and tie the wall together.