Wall / Floor anchoring question

[Larry Fox]

I am in the process of finishing my basement and am looking for a recomendation on how to anchor the walls. When I have done this sort of thing in the past I have drilled a hole into the concrete slab and popped a Red-Head anchor into it and screwed the bottom plate down and gone from there. That won't really work in this case as the concrete I have to drill into is thinner than the rest of the slab due to a French Drain system I had put in. What I am contemplating instead is to anchor into the block wall with a bracket of sorts that I cna connect to the wall and hold it. I am looking for recommendations on how to do it. I am looking for something that will be very strong.

The first thing that occurs to me is to rent a Hilti gun and do it that way but thought that I would ask here before I did to see if anyone had any other recommendations. I also have some places where I can and need to anchor to the floor. If a Hilti is the answer, am I correct that these can anchor into poured concrete as well?

Thanks in advance for your time.

[Mitchell Andrus]

I used steel in my basement (dry, 20 years and not even a sign of surface rust) and it was a breeze. Drill and screw right through the steel. Your wall isn't going to be under lateral forces (like wind) so don't sweat anchoring it like your berthing the Queen Mary. Red plugs and screws every foot or so should work fine no matter how thick or thin the concrete. Bolster any areas that will support cabinets or a flat panel TV with wood and place an 1/8" insulation membrane on the concrete first so moisture doesn't migrate.
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[Larry Fox]

Mike, thanks for the time for the reply. I am really concerned about putting anything in the concrete that is over the French drain. It was really expensive and don't want to get anywhere close to something that might void the warranty or cause any instability so I am really looking at the block walls as the answer for anchoring.

[Jerry Bruette]

Larry

In the past I've used some anchors called Con-Sert. They were blue colored and come in phillips drive flat head or slotted/hex head. You still need to drill a smal pilot hole and then screw them in.

Carefull how you drill into concrete block. It has a tendency to bust out on the back side when you use a hammer drill and then you don't have any thickness to screw into.

Jerry

[David G Baker]

Epoxy or construction glue has been used to anchor walls.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Tap-con screws.

[Larry Frank]

I build walls in my basement using the older lead anchors and being careful on the depth. I put down a pressure treated 2x4 down on the floor and anchored it down and then built a wall on top of it using lag screws on the top and bottom to hold it in place. This has come in helpful in the area of the hot water heater and furnace. I pulled the wall out to replace them and then put it back in place after the job was complete.

[Steve Clardy]

I always just used the cut nails. They don't bend like concrete nails do.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Larry,

I don't know what local code requires but I'd think you could use construction adhesive in the area where the french drain is. When tied to other walls, very little will be required for lateral strength. As stated previously, no wind in the basement.

[Dave Schreib]

I used a combo of tap cons and construction adhesive. The tap cons were a pain. I hit agregate and rebar a few times - ruining the bits. Snapped the heads off of a few of the tapcons too. By comparison, the adhesive was a pleasure to work with.

[Jim Becker]

I've only used the "gun" type nail shooting method...I have a cheap Remmington that you whack with a sturdy hammer. Works great. The one thing is that you have to determine the right load for the nature of the concrete involved.

[James Jaragosky]

I've only used the "gun" type nail shooting method...I have a cheap Remmington that you whack with a sturdy hammer. Works great. The one thing is that you have to determine the right load for the nature of the concrete involved.
The better quality construction adhesives will suffice in anchoring the sill in place.
tap-cons work well in block as a mechanical fastner but you could use construction adheasive there as well. construction adheasive is a good product when used according to the instructions. The draw back to using adhesive is you have to wait untill it cures before continuing on with your project.