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I know it sounds crazy, but I would like to cut my 7.5 inch thick bathroom wall down to 2 or 2+ inches. I have very little space and the 5.5 inches would be a great gain. What makes this tricky is that I have lathe and plaster walls which don’t seem to care for vibration too much. I have just about any cutting tool available to me (except lasers): Sawzall, circ. saw., Vaughn Pull saw, jig saw, and even a rip hand saw. Living in the far north of Wa state I’m lucky in that the would is old growth D.Fir and is as straight as straight can be. Any suggestions anyone?
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Hi Tom,
Seems like an ass over backwards way to modify the wall dimensions.
Save yourself grief and rip the entire thing down and reframe the wall with 1 1/2 inch metal studs and drywall both sides.
Rip studs down like you want is not only a waste of time but you may end up with a very wavy wall afterwards. If you've ever ripped a two by 4 or 6 you will remember how twisted the pieces can be after the cutting.
Gabe
*Tom, are other walls in your house that thick? If it's just the one wall,it's quite possiblly full of vent stack, or waste line & plumbing to upstairs bath if you have one. Have you made a small peep hole and had a look in there for treasure or whatever? Joe H
*Tom, If there are no mechanicals in it, rebuild and save the salvaged material. If bearing wall, head off with req. load bearing beam and fill in with 1 5/8" or 2+" metal stud. If non bearing, many sizes of met stud available in 25 ga.(strong enough to hang drywall on). As Joe says, something that thick usually is hiding something. best of luck
*Well, as it turns out, the wall will fall ;( I knew I had some dry rot around the closet bend cast iron, and have now found the creeping rot under the wall as well. The wall was 7.5" thick because they had misplaced the cast iron when building the house in 1947 by almost 3". Now, about taking down that wall, there is a metal grid in the plaster where the wall meets the ceiling and another wall. Any suggestions on getting that cut without cracking the ceiling and other wall? I've had good luck with a masonary blade on the circular saw, but then again, how would I get it into the corner? BTW, thanks everyone for the speedy advice!
*Hi, Tom,Sounds like you've removed enough wall to find the expanded metal corner bead. You could snip it wire by wire but with a straight claw hammer, using the claw, you can whack your way quickly thru the metal mesh without damaging the adjacent wall/ceiling. You need not be extremely aggressive to be successful. Once you fatigue the metal it rips out very easily.When you rebuild the wall you're still going to have to tape and mud the joints so a little OOPS is OK.
*Tom, If you can find it, there is a sawzall blade made by lenox or milw. for cutting plaster. They used to have a 3" but now I think the smallest is maybe 5". The originals had very little if any set in the teeth. The new, a little more. With a chisel, knick through the plaster in the corner. Gradually enter at that pt. with the blade and you're on your way. Keep the saw at an extreme angle to the work (opposite of perpendicular) and straddle the corner with the shoe. You must go deep enough to cut the metal. You'll get the idea quick. Use eyewear and a mask and expect a bit of a mess. Best of luck.