Stud wall

WillyNelson · 15 May 2013 at 13:21

[Now with added DIY porn]

Following on from this thread I've started the ball rolling on the project. Using that most modern of technologies, masking tape, I've laid out on the floor of our open plan living room where the hall and dining room walls will be. The hall wall will be 100mm wide and the dining room more like 180mm, as the existing 'stub' wall the other side was built out to match the RSJ in the ceiling.

So before I get stuck in, ordering timber & ripping up the flooring, etc, any advice from anyone who's done this type of thing before would be greatly appreciated.

WillyNelson · 15 May 2013 at 13:53

That is a ruddy good point! I suspect the steelwork is clad beneath the plaster. I may have to do a bit of investiagtive work to check what sort of fixing I can get in.

Would drilling into the RSJ be a big no-no then? Or is it just a question of difficulty?

edit: How about fitting the header plate for that part REALLY tight to the underside of the RSJ, ie. using tight fitting studs (+2mm so you really have to hammer them in) and some sort of gripfill adhesive on the upper side of the header plate?

WillyNelson · 15 May 2013 at 14:23

Excellent. I think glue & hammer will be the way to go. I don't much fancy stripping plasterwork & drilling steel if I can safely avoid it. Thanks chaps

Good advice re the extra noggins Nightglow. I may be old fashioned but I think Id prefer to nail them in. Tall skirting in our place too so I'd be less confident gripfilling that.

WillyNelson · 16 May 2013 at 12:15

Nightglow said:
And don't forget studs at 16" centres.

400mm? I thought that 600mm would be sufficient for 12.5mm plasterboard. Plus most insulation material comes 600mm as standard.

WillyNelson · 16 May 2013 at 15:46

Yep, fair points. Less chance of flex in the boards I guess.

WillyNelson · 7 Jan 2014 at 16:27

Nope, I've not got round to doing this yet. Electrical work booked in for the week after next so I'll have to do it after that...

I have one final niggle in my mental planning, the width (thickness) of the door casing. The way I calculate it I'll have 63mm of timber, 25mm of drywall (2x12.5mm) and 6mm of skim (2x3mm), which is 94mm. A standard off the shelf door casing from Wickes is 106mm (quoted nominal size of 115mm), which is 12mm wider than the wall.

So do I fit the casing & then plane down to the wall or rip the casing down to 94mm and then fit?

WillyNelson · 7 Jan 2014 at 17:44

MatteH Oxford said:
Rip it down first, how would you plane all the way to the bottom with the door lining in situ?

That is a jolly good point.

WillyNelson · 21 Jan 2014 at 12:03

Right then, work has finally commenced!

Friday we had the sparky in to replace the old fuseboard for a new consumer unit and do some rewiring. I spend a fair part of the weekend tearing down the old staircase wall, no mean feat thanks to the mix of nailed & screwed timbers, with lots of filled in screw heads. All in not too much mess made.

I left the studwork in place as a temporary handrail.

Monday morning and the timber yard deliver 40 3m lengths of framing timber.

As the hall/lounge wall will run between two ceiling timbers I pulled up some of the bedroom floor to install noggins to give me something to screw into. Sod's law that the heating pipes & cables all ran through this void but plenty of space to slip a noggin under them.

After careful removal of some skirting & coving I got the basic frame in for the first part. I was pretty careful to get it as straight & plumb as possible and I'm pretty happy with it. I had hoped to have all the studs in this bit by the end of the day as well but failing light for cutting outside and a child back from after school club stopped play.

I borrowed a chop saw from a mate which is making the job a lot quicker, even when I do mistake the 260cm mark on my tape for 250 because the 6 is scratched and I'm reading it upside down!

I've had to come into the office today but I'll get some more done tomorrow.

WillyNelson · 21 Jan 2014 at 12:27

Sweet! I'll keep an eye out.

WillyNelson · 21 Jan 2014 at 12:33

Another question that sprung up. The stud adjacent to the front door partially covers the old lounge light switch. I've removed the switch but I'm left with the box partially exposed. What's the best way to fill this in before its skimmed over?

WillyNelson · 21 Jan 2014 at 13:54

I was thinking maybe pack it out with a bit of wood behind, then gripfill in a square of plasterboard and tape over it with jointing tape.

WillyNelson · 21 Jan 2014 at 15:22

Adam said:
Are you going to put the stud wall up to block up everything from the left of the door on the right hand side? Where will the door go?

The wall runs from the inner front door to the foot of the stairs and then encases the stairs, then a small stub wall comes out between the dining room & lounge leaving a 60" doorway between the two. Living room door to hall will be where you se ethe 5 dark stained boards (where is would have been originally) and the dining room door to hall is adjacent to the foot of the stairs.

It's essentially your typical 2up2down terrace with the lounge/dining room knocked through, only someone ripped out the hall wall as well. That's not ideal for us so we're reinstating the hall wall.

Cosmic182 said:
Why on earth didnt you use 4x2? you wouldnt have had any problems with your casing then as 4x2 regularised finishes under 4. Betime youve got your plasterboard on and skim it works perfect followed by architrave. For a wall that size too I'd of deff used 4x2. Plus you only need 9.5mm plasterboards, use the 4x3 handi boards, or 6x3, set your studs/noggins out for them and its much easier to cut and board.

The narrowness of the hall was a consideration so I'm trying to keep the wall as thin as possible without being flimsy. 63mm framing at 400mm centres and 12.5mm drywall, filled with rockwool should give me a sturdy, well insulated wall (for sound and heat) and be under 95mm thick.

WillyNelson · 24 Jan 2014 at 01:12

Didn't get much done yesterday as I had a funeral to go to, so got stuck in today and got the hall wall frame up completely.

Dividing wall and door frames tomorrow, plus the sparky is coming back and I need to go buy some insulation.

WillyNelson · 24 Jan 2014 at 20:38

Mark A said:
Looking good. Looks like you might have ordered a bit too much timber?

One thing i'll add that i dont think has been mentioned. When you come to put the plasterboard on, make sure you don't have any joins above the doorways, as these will crack.

Yup, I've planned to board like that.

And I've only got 4 lengths left of the 40 and I'll probably use at least one finishing the framing for the under stairs cupboard. The rest will become a new workbench for my shed.

Nightglow said:
One tip fix some skirting blocks to the bottom plate, between the studs, it will give a bit more fixing area for a deep skirting.

Already fitted them, an extra noggin on top of the floor plate in each section.

Framing nearly all done. I've replaced the old studs by the kitchen door this evening. Didn't get round to doing the door casings, which is a pain.

WillyNelson · 27 Jan 2014 at 15:25

Framing got finished Saturday morning and the plasterboard was delivered. The 8x4 fireboards were unexpectedly heavy! I couldn't board on Saturday as my wife was out for the day so I had a day out with my daughter.

Sunday my dad came over to give me a hand. Fireboards on the living/dining room side of the hall wall, cavity filled with rockwool and the hall side in standard wallboard. Finished about 8:30 last night with the majority done. Just a few infill bits to do, which I'll be able to do on my own, and all the screw heads to check for depth. Then I need to fit the casing for the built in bookcase in the reverse of the stub wall.

View from the front door

I did over order on the wallboards - I've got 5 left of the 9! Plasterer coming round tonight to check it out & give us a quote for the finishing skim coat. I'll need to ask him whether he wants me to fit the door casing before or after he skims.

WillyNelson · 27 Jan 2014 at 19:39

tigerstyle said:
Not being rude, but why?
Looks a bit claustrophobic around the back there?

Mostly for heat & sound insulation. With it open plan both just travelled straight up the stairs. But also to put back some of the original character which was lost in one large room.

Our neighbours' houses are a mix of completely original and various conversions and we've been in them all to look and compare. The hall is a little narrow which is accentuated by the 2.5m ceiling height, but with some careful decorating it should look fine.

Mark A said:
Is that a join I see above the doorway?

It'll be better to put the casings on so that the plasterer can skim up to them.

Shouldn't be, no. Both doorways are single boards. I've not done above the double doorway yet so you can still see the studs there. That bit might have to be a couple of smaller pieces but as its a double stud there, it that bit moves it means the whole house is coming down!

WillyNelson · 28 Jan 2014 at 23:25

Mark, it seems I misread your original post about boarding above doorways. I've done it as in the pic you posted, though looking closely it does say 'bad joint location'. Ah well, you live & learn.

Should be ok though. The lounge door will be closed nearly all the time and the dining room door will mostly be open all the time.

WillyNelson · 11 Feb 2014 at 16:27

Plasterer was round at the end of last week. It should be fully dry by now so I'm hoping to get the first coat on before the weekend.

And the hallway, looking less claustrophobic now, hopefully. The massive rad is being replaced by a much smaller, slimmer one.

Some handcut rebates for the 60" door casing (I was quite proud of these, despite them being a quite simple)

WillyNelson · 17 Feb 2014 at 16:04

Well I've not started painting yet so it should be properly dry by the time I do

Used up the leftover plasterboard and rockwool slab relining the internal walls of my daughter's bedroom where the original lath & plaster had blown/cracked/split. That was a messy job!

Nasty lumpy-bumpy & split old stuff

The inside of the upstairs hall wall

And some nice(ish) new board. I hadn't quite finished by this point on the saturday night but I had an appointment at the pub.

Plasterer comes again on Friday

WillyNelson · 29 May 2014 at 10:54

Bit of an update as we finally decorated the living & dining rooms.

Thanks to all for your help & advice. We now have a lovely cosy living room and the dining room feels much bigger as a defined space, instead of most of it being a thoroughfare.

Living room

Dining room

Before & after