What a week (plus a day)! My family drove down to Ohio to build a basement guest suite for my husband’s cousin. Was it worth it? Yes, absolutely, because we’ll get to stay there when we visit. 😆
BUT, my biggest challenge was figuring out how to hide a bunch of pipes and wires that hung at an angle across the part of the space that we were making the bedroom. Ordinarily, making a bulkhead might not have been that difficult, but these pipes angled down towards the door so that there was only 3/4 inch between the top of the door and the lowest pipe. And they angled weird across the room, so I didn’t want to just paint them like we did in a section of the bathroom.
So. If you’ve got a tight space, here’s how we made our bulkhead!
Supplies:
- 2x4s (length depends on your space, we used 8 at 8 feet long)
- 1x3s (we used 4)
- Construction screws
- 4×8 drywall sheets, 1/2 inch wide (we used 2)
- Drywall screws
- Joint compound
- Paint
Tools:
- Drill
- Tape measure
- Level
- T-square
- Mud spreader
- Paint rollers/supplies
- Utility knife
Step 1: Measure. We had to get this exactly right, and I checked measurements constantly. But to start, I decided to judge everything off of the position of the beams. Going from the floor didn’t make any sense, since everything would have to connect from the beams anyway. First, I found that the lowest point where I could possibly go was 13 inches down. That would leave me room for our 1/2 inches drywall – always remember to keep in mind the added width of the drywall!
I then figured out how far from the wall the bulkhead would have to go to cover all the pipes and wires. The farthest out wire was at 42 inches. Taking a T-square and marker, I measured and marked the beams where this outermost point had to be.
For the length of this whole bulkhead, I went from that pesky doorframe to the far wall we created for the bathroom. This wall had to stop at the height of the pipes at that point. This end was helpful because I could just stick all the boards going across on top of the wall and screw them to attach to the top of that, since they’d be hidden inside when it was done. The space between was 9 ft.
Those were the main measurements I had to work with. Time to cut wood!
Step 2: Create the front. Since I had to come down 13 inches, I wanted to attach 2x4s to hang down from each beam and create the front of the bulkhead. I decided to go up 5 inches to screw each 2×4 into each beam securely. So, I cut seven 2x4s to 18 inches each. I also took two 1x3s that would run across the fronts of these 2x4s at the top and bottom to help the future drywall attach and give a sturdy bottom edge.
Taking my 7 pieces, I marked them at the 5-inch point and also predrilled screws above that line to make it easier when screwing them into the beams.
Taking a small level, I found the mark on the beams I’d made before and marked a line 5 inches up. I did this on each beam across my space and marked on the left side of each, just to be consistent. Then, I took one piece at a time and held them against that line to keep them level as I screwed them into position.
I waited on the 1x3s…because I forgot about them. But you could put these on now too. For the top, run the 1×3 right along the ceiling. Along the bottom, screw one end on so that the bottom of the 1×3 sits flush with the bottom of the 2×4 – you don’t want it sticking lower or it will be too low! Using a level, make sure the 1×3 covers all the bottoms of the 2x4s on the beams, then secure once level. I used drywall screws for these.
Front ready!
Step 3: Add a connector along the back wall. First I had to make a whole frame for that back wall, using 2x4s. If you already have a back wall, just find and mark your studs. I had the added wonkiness of the pipes going into that back wall, so my connector had to stop and start around those pipes to get all the way to that end.
Basically, I measured 13 inches down from the ceiling beams, just like with the front side. Along the back studs, I marked at 13 inches. (I also marked 1/2 inch down from this to know where the drywall should end…and this line completely screwed me up so that I put the connector on the wrong line and now the door doesn’t open all the way. 😖 Don’t do that.) I used a level and double-checked, and the line for my connector was level all the way across.
From there, it was easy to screw a 2×4 onto the back wall studs, making sure to keep the bottom on the marks I’d made at 13 inches down. (We’ll pretend I did that right, anyway.)
For the space on the back wall between the pipes, I took a shorter piece of 2×4 and also screwed that into the studs at 13 inches down.
Step 4: Create a middle beam. If your bulkhead doesn’t need to be that wide, you might be able to skip this middle support. But 42 inches wide is too far for drywall without a middle support.
This was a little tricky because I had to find a place at the door-end of the bulkhead where a 2×4 could fit and run all the way to the other end. I had to put mine up a ways, but I found a place to secure it to a stud on the wall over the door. I also used a little block of 2×4 to set it on as I screwed it in place.
I purposefully had this board be 10 feet long to reach all the way to the wall at the other end, and it stuck over enough to sit on top of the wall there. Taking a level, I made sure the 2×4 was level from the door-end to the wall-end, and I propped the wall-end up on blocks that I screwed together. When I was sure it was level, I screwed the “beam” into the blocks.
For what came next, I really could have used a third arm…or asked for help. Taking a long level, I held it against the bottom of a front 2×4 and held it at level with one hand. With my other hand, I took a tape measure and measured from the top of my beam to where it met the level. This was 9 inches – after several tries to keep the level level.
So, like I’d done with the front, I needed little 2×4 pieces that hung down from that new beam. BUT, I needed to subtract the 3/4 inch that a 1×3 would run across the bottoms of the pieces. That meant my pieces needed to be 8.25 inches instead of 9.
I cut these little 2x4s, predrilled holes above the 3.5 point (the part where they’d connect to the 2×4 beam), and held them so that the top of each was flush with the top of my beam. The placement of these along the beam just depended on where I had space to fit my drill. I did make sure to keep them as evenly spaced as I could.
With those on, I was able to take another 1×3 and run it the length of this beam, screwing it into the bottoms of each little 2×4 hanging from the beam.
Worth noting – I couldn’t get anything near the door-end for this beam. There just wasn’t a way to connect anything in the middle because of how the pipes curves. But because that was at the end – and I had the back connector there – I figured this would be good enough.
Step 5: Put up drywall. Start with the underside/ceiling of the bulkhead. For this part, I was finally smart and asked for help. 😆 First, measure to be sure of the size. We had 4×8 sheets of half-inch drywall, so we had to add a bit at the door-end, which I was fine with since that part was troublesome anyway. For width, we measured and cut the drywall with a utility knife to 42.75 inches, which allowed us to run the drywall all the way from the back wall to just cover that front 1×3.
Using the brute strength of my two assistants, they lifted the drywall into place, making sure the back end was tight against my back wall connector while also tight against the wall-end. I was ready with the drill and drywall screws, and I started along the back wall connector, screwing up into the underside of that 2×4. At the other side, I screwed into the bottom of each 2×4 hanging from the front beam. For the middle, we could see where that 1×3 ran because of the gap where we hadn’t drywalled yet, so my taller husband quickly used my T-square and drew a line down the center of the drywall where the board would be. Then I screwed a few screws along that line to secure the middle of the drywall.
Once that first piece was on, we measured the remaining gap at the end and again lifted it into position – closing the door to make this easier – so I could screw it into the back connector and front boards. There was a little bit of the middle connector that still ran this far, so I screwed into that too.
(It was at this point that I realized my mistake with that back line, because the door wouldn’t open all the way. 🤦♀️ Do as I say, not as I do.)
For the front piece of drywall, this was obviously a much smaller piece. We again had to add a separate piece at the end where there was a gap, but our first piece was 8 feet long and 13.5 inches wide. This extra 1/2 inch ran down to cover the drywall of the underside, making a nice smooth look from the front.
The helpful thing to remember here is to use an uncut side of drywall at the bottom. This makes the bottom edge perfectly straight and clean, and you don’t need to add any kind of corner piece to make a nice corner.
Step 6: Cover screw holes and seams with drywall mud (joint compound). Make sure all your screws are sunk into the drywall just enough that they don’t stick up. If your seams are rough…hypothetically…you might need drywall tape and/or mesh to make them smooth(er).
Taking a little spreader tool, I applied mud over everything that needed it. I also added a bit (translation: a lot) to the underside part of the corner so that the bottom was a nice corner where it met the front drywall that was a nice, perfect edge.
That took a long time to dry because my mud had to be so thick, but giving it overnight usually is enough. (It depends on your joint compound directions too, of course.) Once it is dry, sand the mud smooth.
Step 7: Paint. With the bulkhead ready for this final step, all you have to do is pick your color and paint! I painted the bulkhead and was happy with how it turned out – it was certainly less of an eye sore that those angled pipes had been! – so I left the rest of the room for my husband’s cousins to finish.
You could paint the bulkhead a completely different color from the rest of the room if you want it to stand out, but I think they’re going to leave it the same color as the room since it’s a smaller room and this light color brightens things up.
…In hindsight, this wasn’t all that difficult, but it sure seemed like it while we were doing all the other work at the same time! (And before anyone asks, the door opens wider than pictured above.) 😆