More Framing

I made some more progress this past weekend with the framing efforts. I tore down the existing railing and faux post at the bottom of the stairs and framed it in. With the new wall, I left 1/2" between the back of the studs and the stairway stringer for drywall on the back side. I also framed in the offset wall.

On the back wall, I started framing over to the beam. Here, I was able to frame in place on the floor and tip the wall into place. The first time I tried, I ended up being off by about 1/8", so I couldn't tip the wall into place. So back to the floor, rip off the top plate, trim the studs, and nail everything back together. I'll be a little more conservitive with my measurement next time.

To box around the beam and provide a nailer for the drywall, I placed a 2x2 nailer on the top plate, and then sheathed around it using some 5/8" OSB.

I have another 2x2 nailer on the bottom of the OSB panel that the soffit structure will tie into.

Above is the front side and to the right is a picture from the back. You can see the 2x4 blocks I put in to keep the panel square with the beam.

Here, you can see the area that I will have to soffit around. The plan is to hang a panel on the right side of the duct run similar to the one I ran down the side of the beam. I'll run 2x4 stringers between the panels, tipped on their side to keep the ceiling height maximized. I'll also run supports up to the joists between the duct and the beam periodically to keep the 2x4's from sagging over time with the weight of the drywall. I'll probably run the stringers every 24" and space them to align with the light locations.