Basement Question - where to attach studs?? (roof, ceiling, plumbing)

[Peter M]

I have been putting up studs along the walls in my basement and now have come to a point where I am in need of help. At one point in the ceiling of my basement is a long beam (support beam for the whole house) and on either side of that is either ducting work and/or copper pipes for plumbing. It is about 12-14 inches lower than the rest of the ceiling. I know about building soffits for covering this, however, when studding the wall under this are I now have no roof stud to attach the wall to. So I do I anchor the top of the wall? A friend said to attach 2x4/2x6 to the cement wall and then nail into those. I have a Hilti gun so that is not a problem but is that correct?

[jackclough24]

you need to make a stud wall that is only the height of the stuff that needs to be boxed in and the top plate is nailed up into the ceiling joists. So, if your beam and other junk is coming down 12 inches below the ceiling then your studs will be 9 inches in length after you subtract 1 and 1/2 inches for the bottom plate and 1 and 1/2 inches for the top plate. And of course those 9 inch studs should be spaced 16" on center just like all the other walls.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Something like this-

The main thing is getting the fire-blocking correct. The more convoluted the framing, the harder it is to fire block correctly-or at all.

[Peter M]

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. The picture is great and sort of what I am up against. I know about making the soffits, however my soffits will be about 60" apart and I did not want to have that big of an opening" without nailing it into something. In the picture where your soffits are going through the wall, my end on the wall of my basement (cement). Any further advise would be great!!