Drywall – Can i leave existing drywall alone when adding two small walls to a finished basement

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I am building two small walls in a finished basement to create a enclosed landing at the bottom of the stairs.

The new walls will meet at 90 degrees, both will be coming off studs in the existing walls.

The new walls are each about 4' long, one has a doorway.

Thing is i'd rather not cut the finished drywall on the existing basement walls and ceiling.
I can locate studs and joists for where the new walls will attach,and i'm anchoring the walls solidly to the cement floor.
I will use long deck screws to anchor the top plates and end studs to existing framing (to get through 1/2 inch drywall) Neither new wall is load bearing, but one will have a door in it so its important that the structure is solid.

My Question: Does leaving the drywall on the ceiling and existing walls significantly weaken the integrity of the new structure?

Follow up:

Thanks for the answers everybody!

i think the threshold will be fine im going to put 2 pre-drilled concrete anchors through the bottom plate on either side of the base plate.

After serious consideration, I think I'm gonna leave the drywall on. I understand all the reasons for taking it off, but I'm confident that between the shearing strength of all my heavy screws and the very solidly attached bottom, the walls will be sturdy enough for my purposes. Even the force of a seriously slammed door is dissipated over the entire two wall system…..hopefully:)

Best Answer

You could but why would you?

You are going to have to mud/tape your corners whether you take the drywall out or not. It will take you no more than 10 mins to dremel or knife out those two tiny sections of drywall.

Why you should:

  1. You can see things easier.
  2. You aren't relying on drywall for wall structure. I know this wall shouldn't be supporting anything but any weight at all will crush drywall.
  3. Your nails or screws will not be binding to anything for 1/2-3/4 of an inch.
  4. You will not be able to frame really tight unless you crush the drywall.

Points 3&4 could lead to a wobbly wall. Think of taking a big couch down in this basement. Corner of couch hit door frame hard. You don't want the top moving.

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