Spacing from perimeter wall to interior wall base plate.

Hello, I have been working on designing my studio in sketchup and I have a quick question. What is the desired spacing or gap I want to use between my basement concrete walls and the interior isolated wall base plate 2x4? Do I need any space here, or can I place the 2x4 wall plate up against the concrete wall? Currently there is a 1/4" spacing that i am using in my design, but if this is not necessary I would like to remove it. Or do I need to increase this spacing to something like 2"? Thanks for youe advice.

IIRC any space is good. The place where how much space becomes important is the gap between wall systems. In my basement remodel, I'll be working with a 1" spacing which will give me a 3 1/2" gap between inner and outer walls.

Lee's right; if you base plate or wall frame TOUCHES your outer concrete, then it isn't "isolated" any more, and that's NOT a good thing. Try a search on "sway brace" (without the quotes, of course) and you should find some recent links to Pac international, Kinetics, etc, who sell sway braces designed to support framed walls away from concrete ones... Steve

do you guys suggest using a 2x4's to frame the walls? Or should I save some room space by using something like 2x3's?

Depends on a few things - What will you use for wall panels, and how many layers? What's your sound isolation requirement - are either you or your outside environment really loud, and need to NOT be? How small is the room, and how important is an extra inch or two of floor space? IOW, we need more info before we can offer much useful advice... Steve

Personally, I can't imagine using anything less than a 2x4 to frame a wall.