I have a big question. I have 9 foot walls and need to know how to make it square. When it was torn down the top plaster was only paper thin and the bottom of the wall had at least an inch of plaster so I know it is off so when I put greenboard up what is the proper way to make sure that my walls are true so that I don’t have crooked walls.
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Replies
You can cut tapered rips or nail new studs next to the old ones. Tack them first and use a straight edge or stringlines to get them in plane.
Chuck S
Is it better to use a 4 foot level to know when I have it back where it belongs or should I use something else?
For a nine foot wall, you need at east an eight foot level or a laser or plumb bob. A dozen ways to do it according to what ools you have.I would sister straight studs to old. That is far easier than ripping tapers.Hang a plumb bob from top plate at one end of wall. Mark floor.Repeat at other end of wall.. Use chaulk line to connect the dots. Run sisters from top plate to chaulk line
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whenever I do the 'sistering' method I use metal studs, they are much easier to work with and are straight.
Orbs
Yeah, and I think they're available in a 2x3 as well. With 2x3 you don't have the problem (very much) of siding nails, et al, forcing the stud to be placed farther out than you'd like.Of course, it depends in part on how much adjustment is needed where.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Wouldnt this be a good place for a Mooney wall? Easy enough to shim out on the 1 X's wherever its necessary and you'd get the thermal benifit to boot!
Doug
What is a Mooney wall?
65624.1
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."-Thoreau
Depends how much he needs it shimmed. say an inch and a quarter and it gets pretty funky shimming...And I read now that he is framing in a unique window too...
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One of those laser plumb bobs is great for this.George Patterson
I typically string three lines from one end of the wall to the other. One at the top, one at the bottom, and one about midway up the wall.
Measure the variations at each point and either rip some 2X to fill void or sister studs to existing and hold out to line as needed.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
First study it closely to decide what's crooked. And decide whether you want flat, plumb, square relative to something, level relative to something, etc?
And if there are doors/windows, do you need to do something for their trim to come out flush?
Does anything need to be strengthened? Has the floor sagged, and will you be jacking it up?
(I know this sounds basic, but it's a step too often skipped. A little up-front study can make things come out much nicer, with fewer "aw sith" moments.)
Simplest solution to get things out to a consistent plane is to sister 2x3s to the sides of the existing studs.
I have no way to sister right now for my glass block window. What is the best way to frame it? What is the best place to look up step by step instructions for this.
I need my walls as best as possible since I am installing subway tiles and need the lines perfect.
If the original is real plaster then this structure is over 50 years old. There's no cookbook. You invent as you go along.In some cases you're going to have to rip tapered shims to make trim and the like to come out correctly. Might be the place to have one of those EZ guides or whatever.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
When I sister studs, I use the small metal studs (something like 1.5"x2") and screw them to the side of the wood studs. This is what I would recommend if the original wood stud is bowed.For cutting tapered wood shims, you can't beat a radial arm saw. It's very easy to do.George Patterson
My yard sells furring felt (about 1.5" of 30ish # felt) that works for walls not too far off. Might do what you can with wooden shims or tapers, then tune with the felt.
Do it like Piffen says. Plumb bob (?) end studs first. Rip two nine foot 2X stock to a thickness of about 1 1/2 inches then, using some shim stock (heavy rosen paper or tar paper), install the two end pieces plumb and don't nail, use screws. Top, bottom, middle and two in-between those the remaining. Once the two ends are plumb, install string lines top, bottom and middle the full length of the wall. Then measure the smallest gap from strings to the highest studs in the middle of the wall. Cut(rip) a bunch of 2x stock the same width as the smallest measurement(not tapered) then install one ripped pieces on each intermediate stud and shim it out till it just "kisses" the string, top, bottom, middle and in-between. Actually, don't let it kiss too much, hold it back so that you don't gradually build a bow in the wall.
Best to cheat the string out by the thickness of a match book cover and then shim out to the strings with the match book just kissing the string, at each intermediate point, then pull the match book cover out and go to the next one.
This assumes the wall is not hugely out of line of being straight or out of plumb. Make some preliminary measurements first before you start. I wouldn't do the tapered shim trick because your starting by creating a lot of work (in my opinion). Keep it as simple as possible, it's a lot of work but, hey, it's an old house.