Non LB Wall – Cutting Top Plate?
I am trying to route a kitchen exhaust vent without building a bulkhead (wife thinks it will be ugly). What does code say about taking out a 10″ section of the top plate between studs of a 16″ on center 2×4 non load bearing wall? I am sure it is terrible for shear strength but all the wall is doing is holding up sheet rock and some cabinets.
Replies
If it's non-load bearing and if you are going to install crown at the ceiling to hide my idea... Consider a lagged plate connecting the two walls back together spanning the cut plates. A 1/4" x 3' x 20", drywall would probably hide this if relieved at the back.
can you block between studsin the bay that you are cutting the top plate out of? On non load bearing walls I think I would be comfortable with that.
On every house I built in MI, we whacked the plates out of both load bearing and non-loadbearing plates to run the heat ducts and return air chases. I guess each house would get anywhere from a dozen to two dozen spots with the plates cut out completely.
The houses were still standing tall when I left there in 07.
Plumber do it every day...
sometimes twice.
A La Carte Government funding... the real democracy.
cut it; you'll be fine
There's no code saying you can't do that even if it's a load bearing wall. They are notched like that every day with hvac ducts.
I will throw a caution out here that hasn't been mentioned.
Make certain the two halves of the wall are tied into your ceiling framing somehow or place a strap across the cut out sections on each side of the wall to replace the top plates. (Should have a strap anyway as a nail plate across the duct.)