Straightening and plumbing old walls
I’ve just spent the last two days gutting a bathroom on the first floor of house built in 1884. The horsehair plaster and lath is gone as are the two ceilings, tub toilet etc. and now we’re down to bare full thickness studs. In the past when I’ve done jobs like this, I’ve always used furring and shims so that the walls end up reasonably plumb with a reasonably plane surface. Anyone who has done this knows that the work is a bit fussy and time consuming.
A friend suggested I use light guage steel half studs which can be ordered in any length. It would seem to me that using these would take some of the fiddling out of plumbing and planeing (if that’s a word) a wall. Any opinions out there?
Replies
You could sister 2x4s to the existing studs, spaced out to the fartherest out of plumb member, creating a plane at that point. A vertical laser line would make this easy.
People on here have recommended that (using steel) for getting a flat cieling so I don't see why not.
Yeah, I'm guessing the "half
Yeah, I'm guessing the "half stud" is an L shape rather than a C shape, so it can be sistered to the side of the existing and not intrude into the stud bay. Makes a lot of sense.
You do have to change techniques a bit using steel -- use grommets on any plumbing or wires that pass through the steel, etc. But it's not rocket science.