hoping to be able to finish basement

[SoonToBeNewHome]

We are in the process of purchasing a house built in 1925. Therefore the basement walls are made of stone. There is also a rather large crawlspace that is divided by a stone wall between what the sellers try to call the finished part of the basement. (They put a wall in the middle of the room, no ceilings and the wires that visible are simply scary.)
I suppose my question is two fold. Is there a way to sheetrock over stones? And I know that without actually seeing the wall, I am wondering if wall dividing the crawlspace could be removed to open up the usable space in the basement. If it is structural, are there ways around that?
If any one has any advise or has heard of possible solutions, I would appreciate it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[awesomedell]

Hello & welcome to the forums.

The center wall may indeed be structural, in which case the support of the load will have to remain there, in the form of posts at the least. As to finishing the exterior walls, best bet is to fram a wall slightly in front of the outer wall and then hang your drywall on that. This allows for installation of insulation and a moisture barrier.

Other option would be to attach furring strips made of treated lumber directly to the masonry walls. You can attach them with a ramset, which is a powder accuated fastening system. The fasteners are called pins and are fired into the wall by a .22 caliber cartridge. There are automatic and hand tools available for sale or rent. Either type can be dangerous is used by the untrained, be sure to wear ear & eye protection and read & follow all directions when using this type of tool.

Get the place bought, then post back with as much detail as possible concerning the existing structure including conditions of existing stone walls, framing etc. Pictures would be very helpful, they must be posted on a photo hosting site and then you can post a link to them here within the forums.

[Ed Imeduc]

I think you will find its not worth it for what you will gain .To try and dig out a crawl space. You have to stay so far back from the footings.

ED ;)