Carpentry and Woodworking - putting up stud wall in place

I'm just about finished tearing out the old kitchen cabinets counters and lath and plaster down to the solid brick exterior wall. The old wall was parged with cement and there is other slight unevenness to it. I'm going to be using 2 by 3s for the new studs and base plate. Now to get started with the wall to make it even I guess I should find where it sticks out the most where a stud will lay against it and this is the point where i"ll be building out to, shimming out the other studs as required for evenness. So far so good I hope? Now this house in an older 1 1/2 story house so I can attach the studs to the ceiling joists and close it up later by installing a header between the studs as a fire stop. Would this be the best way to go? The studs will also be attached to the wall at about every 2 feet vertical as there were pieces of 5/8 wood inbedded into the brick wall. Once the wall is in place there will be new cabinets going in. 2x3s are being used because of plumbing and electrical wire placement. The wall will be insulated with a vapor barrier and finished in plywood an tiled. Any suggestions out there as to the wall construction would be greatly appreciated as its my first time putting up a wall under these circumstances. Thanks

My immediate concern is the brick wall. Is it structural? Mostly, exterior brick walls are only veneers and offer no structural support. You may want to post a couple of pictures of what you have on a site such as photobucket.com and copy/paste the HTML code to your reply post. That way we can see what you see and offer better advice.

Larry

Ideally you would build the wall on the floor and roll it up into place. This will tie bottom and top plates together and keep the wall straight without having to as you say "shimming out the other studs " and you will still be able to find the point that sticks out the fartherest and square the new wall to the other walls and attach the plates to the ceiling joists and the floor joists.

You will probaby need a pursuader to wedge the wall between the ceiling and the floor, but you want it snug anyway.

Please install the studs 16" on center. not 24" You want to support the drywall and I assume your new cabinets which you will want to srcew to the studs. If no studs are there, well , what would happen? A stud wall is just another foundation.You need to support any intended load accordingly.

Thanks for the replies I'll try to answer some of the questions that were brought up. I can't build the wall on the floor and raise into place, not enough room. The exterior wall is solid(double) brick so it is structural. This is an old (100 years) 1 1/2 story house with dormers built onto it. This room has 9' ceilings and I was hoping to attach 10' 2x3s to the ceiling joists as there is plenty of room to accommodate them above. then install individual headers or fire stops between the studs. Has anyone ever come across this type of situation before? I believe its doable. I would post pictures if I knew how. Thanks again

If the brick wall is structural by itself, use 2x4 studs and plates. Elec. boxes can be extended very simply and inexpensively. Plumbing can also. I wouln't trust 2x3 to hold up cabinets, especially 9'ers. Tie to the brickwork to keep the brick from leaning, not wall suppport. Solid block in between each stud bay at the ceiling line, for fire stopping.
No need for plywood, unless the brick is not structural. Be safe, G