yes, you can scab in some 2x4 blocks from joist to joist and
fasten your new top plate to them. This would be normal and
preferred. I would use a scab about every 2 -3 feet.

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Toller" wrote in message
news

"I R Baboon" wrote in message
...
"Toller" wrote in message
...
I am moving some partition walls in my basement. I don't know
anything
about carpentry, so I will be asking a lot of questions.

I want to put one wall parallel to the joists above, but
unfortunately not
exactly at one. (there is a drop ceiling with lights in it,
so trying to
shorten it 1 inch so I can catch a joist would be more work
than the rest
of
the project) Can I put 2x4s across the adjoining joists, and
then put the
header up to the 2x4s?
It looks like it ought to be as sturdy as anything, but since
I don't know
anything, I could easily be over looking something basic.

Looking around my basement, I see another wall is made without
a header;
the
walls are nailed to the side of the joist. I couldn't quite
do that
either,
unless I cut the top of the 2x4s back an inch; then they would
fit fine.
Is
that acceptable? I can't see that the reduction is width
would much
matter.

Writing this made me think of a third possibility. If I made
my header
from
a 2x6, I would have enough width to catch the joist and be in
the right
place for the wall.

So, are any of these acceptable? Are they all acceptable? Or
is there
another way. (No, I mean beside hiring a carpenter. This is
how I learn
things!)


1) yea, that is how i do it and have been a framing carpenter
for 16 years
2) i dont completly understand the problem
3) ditto

by header do you mean the 2x4,6,8,10+ piece above a door?
or are you talking about the top of the wall, top plate?

Yeh, the top plate.
I need to put the wall so it hits about 1/3rd of a joist. It
has to be there or I have to redo the remaining drop ceiling.
Does it make more sense now? Thanks.