How to Frame a Wall With Pipes at the Top

Take out part of a concrete floor in the basement with a sledgehammer or rented electric jackhammer if you need to reach the main drain. Snap a chalk line to mark the concrete to remove. Score the lines for concrete removal. Use a sledgehammer and brick set or a circular saw and masonry blade to do the scoring.

Break out the concrete and dig a trench. Dig the dirt 2 inches deeper than the main drain. Trim edges of the concrete taken out with a cold chisel. Attach a pipe connection to the main drain line.

Dry fit and mark new drain and vent lines for the wet wall. Cut them to fit and use stakes to support lines in the dugout trench. Slope the lines to follow the fall dictated by city codes. Fit any ground-level pipes and have lines inspected by your local building department. Plan the wall framing around overhead pipes that you will not remove, such as water lines or drain lines coming into the wall space from above.

Fill the floor trench with soil and concrete, finishing up the concrete to be level with the basement floor.

Frame the wet wall with 2-by-6 or 2-by-8 boards-- even if the wall is not in basement space. Don't use typical 2-by-4-inch framing boards, because you will need to makes holes in the framework in several places and provide support for plumbing lines.

Cut a top plate and bottom plate with a circular saw. Allow studs further apart than typical placement on 16-inch centers to fit pipes coming down from the floor above. Assemble the plates and studs on the floor by nailing them together and lift the wall framing into place. Nail the top plate, cut with holes for water lines or vents along that plate, with 10d-inch nails at each joist.

Cut boards for horizontal bracing between studs for plumbing openings in the wet wall. and nail into place.

Drill holes in the studs with a hole saw for pipes to run horizontally. Assemble all parts of the drain-waste-vent system and connect the vent to the main stack.

Install shutoff valves on the supply lines and extend copper supply lines to proper places in the wall. Tack protective plates where the lines pass through the studs. Support supply lines with straps or blocking. Get the wall inspected before you apply drywall.