How to Anchor Stud Walls to Basement Floors

Concrete Nails

• 1

  Raise the assembled stud wall into position. Place a level vertically in several places along the wall to make sure it is plumb. Bump the top or bottom of the wall as needed until it is in the desired position and the bubble in the level is between the two marks.

• 2

  Measure the bottom plate of the stud wall and make a pencil mark every 18 inches.

• 3

  Drive a 3-inch or 3-1/2-inch square-cut concrete nail through the bottom plate and into the concrete floor at each mark. Use a large nonhardened hammer — not a framing hammer — when driving concrete nails.

Concrete Anchors

• 4

  Raise the assembled stud wall into position. Place a level vertically in several places along the wall to make sure it is plumb. Bump the top or bottom of the wall as needed until it is in the desired position and the bubble in the level is between the two marks.

• 5

  Measure and make a pencil mark every 18 inches on the bottom plate. Drill through the marks with a wood bit that is equal to the diameter of the anchor installed into a power drill. Stop drilling when the bit makes contact with the concrete floor.

• 6

  Install a masonry bit in the power drill. Place the bit in the holes in the plate and drill into the concrete at least ¼ inch deeper than the length of the anchor. Clean the debris from the drilled holes, using a shop vacuum or a wire brush.

• 7

  Thread a washer and bolt — included with the anchor — into the anchor a few turns. Insert the anchor through one of the holes in the bottom plate. Tap the head of the bolt screwed into the anchor with a hammer to drive it through the bottom plate and into the drilled hole in the concrete. Repeat to install the remaining anchors in the drilled holes.

• 8

  Tighten the bolts in the anchors with a torque wrench to the tightness specified in the instructions that came with the anchor.