About

The Basement Partition Framer is a free stud wall calculator for planning a non-load-bearing partition in an unfinished basement. It was built by Chris Wentz, who lives near Boulder, Colorado and wanted a tool that did what a carpenter does on the back of an envelope — stud count, layout marks, cut list, one trip to the lumber yard — without the arithmetic mistakes.

What it is for

Straight partitions between a concrete slab and the joists above: laundry rooms, furnace-room walls, storage closets, basement bedroom partitions. It handles 16 or 24 in. on-center layout, 2×4 or 2×6 lumber, a single or double top plate, joists running either way, concrete or wood at each end, and one door rough opening.

What it is not for

Load-bearing walls, exterior walls, or anything under a beam or post. Those need a sized header and a designed load path from a professional. The conventions in the tool are ordinary residential practice, not a code citation — your local building department has the final word.

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