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I am adding a new large closet, 3 walls and a door, in an existing bedroom. Can I attach the baseplate of the new walls directly on the existing oak flooring, or do I need to cut a channel in the oak flooring so the base plate is attached to the subfloor? What about the ceiling top plate?

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  • Depending upon the type of flooring that you have it may be desirable to cut through it and attach the bottom plate to the subfloor, This would be particularly important for some types of "floating" flooring installations or where flooring is a type that normally has an expansion space under the baseboard. If you anchor down such floors in the area where you place the walls you could end up seeing buckling of the flooring during seasonal climate changes.
    – Michael Karas
    May 30, 2015 at 1:52
  • Agreed... and buckling of the oak flooring is more likely if the new wall runs parallel to the grain of the floor. You might consider drilling oversize clearance holes through the oak and screwing directly to the floor joists. May 30, 2015 at 14:25

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If you're not removing any of the existing structure, you can absolutely frame on top of the existing floor. Same goes for the walls and ceiling, you can frame your new walls without removing anything else (unless you need to run wires or something). One thing to check, however, is which way the existing ceiling joists are running. Depending on how long your new walls are, you might want to cut out the ceiling where the new walls go so you can add some 'nailers' (small blocks of wood) to run between the existing ceiling joists, so the top of your new wall is firmly fastened to the framing.

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  • Get a stud finder and try to hit as many ceiling joists as possible if you don't cut through the ceiling to find the joists.
    – ssaltman
    May 29, 2015 at 21:01

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