Happy new yer BT’ers….
I am framing a walk in shower in my new bathroom, and was intending to frame it only 6′ high.
Does anyone have any suggestions about how to stiffen these shorter walls without ceiling attachment? I assume the angle, and the intersection will help, but I’m wondering of I won’t need some attachment to the ceiling at some point.
P.S. The inside shower walls will be made of solid surface material as opposed to tile, so the weight should be less. I also was intending to hang greenboard under the “marble”, is that correct?
Replies
A few ideas come to mind:
- Sheath one or both sides of the walls with a layer of plywood to stiffen them
- Run some lengths of allthread from the top plate down to some blocking in the joist bays below the wall, and put as much tension on the rods as you can
Given the layout of the walls, you probably won't have too much of a problem in the first place, but those two items will help anyway.
Bob
Well, I'm just a DIY'er. Not nearly as clever as most of the pros in these forums. However, I'm always asking questions here and feel guilty about not offering more contributions when others ask for help. So, this is my humble opinion for what it's worth. If I were building a 72" wall with no top support, I'd screw every board of that wall together - no nails. I'd also bolt/screw the short wall to the floor and interecting wall with extra large flat washers and use blocking in every stud cavity. If there's any wiring in that wall, it should probably be placed in well-secured conduit.
My two-cents,
Michael
Darlington, SC
1/2" plywood on both sides of every wall. (Use 2x3's if you don't want the walls to be thicker but 2x4's are better.) Don't skimp on the fasteners tying the corners together. And a welded plate of steel on top of the shower walls. 3/4" plywood might do for on top of the wall but since it's a shower and any movement might result in a leak, I'd go with the steel.
No green board inside any shower ever. Green board is only water "resistant" not water proof. Use cement board inside the shower area and don't forget some kind of flashing behind those joints.
What Bob K said, as well as DIY...
Screws are good.
Green board is bad. Use cement backer.
The angles will keep the wall extremely stiff.
Comment...
Do you need that extra wall jutting up from the last angle in the shower by its entrance? Seems like it would cramp your maneuvering room and make the room appear cramped also.
Check out the attached pics. One is a curved kneewall about 3' high with glass block perched on top. No ceiling support. Bolted to the poured floor, screwed framing, plywood on the curve for extra stiffness and mud on metal lath under the tile.
The other is 45 degree framing with the same half wall of tile and captured glass block on top. Halfwall was sheathed in cement board only.
Nothing loose or falling over in the10 years since I did those projects.
Thanks to all for the tips.I didn't realize that greenboard wasn't water proof, thanks for that tip especially.ralph, as far as that wall jutting out into the room from the shower, I think DW has a short wall spec'd there for a towel bar or some such.And the little piece that sticks out is a function of the way our program draws rooms, they need to be closed and a door or doorway for the program to figure their size, allow naming etc, so the angle will transition to that knee wall without what looks like a doorjamb on the entrance to the shower.
If you have your sub-floor up you should run your outermost 2x4 down passed your bottom plate and tie into your floor joist.
seems like alot of DIY answers. Just make sure you overlap the double top plates, drywall on the outside walls and cement board on the inside. It isnt going anywhere and is SOP.
With just drywall and doubled top plates I bet I could shake the towel rail wall silly without much effort. And I bet the DIYers could too.
Other post said it, but to reiterate, poke through the floor and tie in to the floor joists.
Skin with ply, PL glue wouldn't hurt either.
Don't forget to slope your pan...__________________________
Judo Chop!
Edited 1/1/2007 7:21 am by LEMONJELLO
Can you raise the wall to 6'-6" and run a continuous top plate across the door opening?
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Yeah I sure could, In fact after some more input from the plumber the wall needs to be 7' for the shower heads so a top plate over the door would make sense.
I know you all enjoy follow-ups, so here goes.I framed that shower wall today, I rotated the shower in the room, and simplified the design a little, to keep from having any plumbing in the exterior wall.I raised the wall hieght to 7', and used 2 top plates, overlapping the angle joints, with a fair amount of 3.5" deck screws, and good attachment at both end walls, my kids could use the thing as a jungle gym.So thanks for all the input, I may go ahead and sheathe the outside with plywood, but I think I'll wait for cement board and plumbing to decide.