Thanks to all for the advice on taking down the plaster on my kitcen wall. You were absolutely right about just do it and stop thinking about it. I took it all down over the weekend and now I’m glad I did.
My question – the wall I exposed is slightly bowed to the outside. If I put up a straight 2×4, flush at top and bottom, it is proud in the middle by about 3/8″ or so. Is that bad enough to need to address, or can I just rock it and forget it? One thought I had was to sister on a new stud at every location and screw to the new studs. This could be overkill though. I don’t know if you’d even notice the bow after everything is installed. Thoughts?
Replies
Is the entire wall bowed outrward? Might be a sign of a problem. To answer your question...if it will bother you when the job is done, then shimming or adding studs is the only answer.
Do it right, or do it twice.
That's a good question. I assumed it was all bowed because two studs were. However, now that you ask, I'm wondering if they all are. The two I noticed were on either side of a chimney I removed, which had some water damage in the past. They are not rotted at all, but the sheathing was at one time. The house is 80 years old so I figured it was just from age.
So you think even a 3/8" bow should be "fixed" with adjoining studs before adding new sheetrock? Is the sistered stud method the best way to do it?
Thanks for your help.
So you think even a 3/8" bow should be "fixed" No, I didn't say that. I said, if not fixing it will cause you to always see the problem, and wish that you had fixed it when the wall was open, then yes it has to be fixed. If it will intefere with hanging cabinetrs or bookcases or whatever, then maybe it has to be fixed. It's your call.Do it right, or do it twice.
Will the bow be visible and a constant irritation when you see it? Will you be hanging cabinets on this wall in the future, which will be easier and look better if you fix the bow?
-- J.S.
Well, just looking at it I can't really tell that it's bowed. 3/8" on an 8' expanse isn't radical enough to look out of whack, at least at a glance. The wall will have cabinets installed up and down.
As long as you have it all open, go ahead and straighten it by sistering your studs. It'll make the cabinet job easier and better looking. The bow may be hard to see now, but put cabinets up against it, and there it is....
-- J.S.
Thanks, John. I guess that would be pretty easy, and definitely easier than after it's drywalled!
Thanks for replying.
i agree, sistering new straight studs(maybe even steel studs) will make cabinet instalation and countertop scribing, much easier.if you use steel studs addplywood pieces at the screw heights for you cabinets, typically 30-35, 54-59 and 80 to 85 inches from the floor, 1/2 inch ply is about right.
put the ply behind the stud flange so that its behind the drywall
if the bow is on the outside, of the house? leave the outside alone, but buy some stright studs, and nail, not screw them in leaving the inside of your walls nice and stright for your drywall and cabinets
just shim out the other studs as necessary (common practice when setting up bathroom tile work where we use redwood lathe strips) and check with a level, not a 2x4. no need to sister with new 2xs, unless maybe you are concerned about cause of bow. they are 16" oc, correct?
brian
Thanks Brian. I considered the shim option, but it seemed to me like it might actually be easier to put up new studs as long as they were nice and straight. I thought I might run into problems trying to figure out exactly where and what thickness to put in shims. Is there a trick you could give me?
They actually are not all 16" OC. There are random widths in there - it's an old house and they didn't always pay attention to that. You can see pics in my other post - "Plaster wall/kitchen - pix".