Hi,
I'm building closet in an area where every inch counts. I was wondering about the poissiblity of turning the 2by's on the their sides and making 1.5" thick walls. Is that acceptable? I appriate your thoughts.
Thank you,
Aaron
Aaron-
It depends on the location of the wall and what kind of "traffic / use" the wall will see.
Walls that hide pocket doors often have studs turned sideways and they "work" (well kinda, they're pretty flexible when just covered with dry wall)
I've built a couple "thin walls" but on the inside of the closet instead of using drywall, I used the cheapest multi-ply plywood (like Baltic Birch but not the good stuff).....
Thin plywood (only 1/2") and I ran the stiff direction of the plywood with the "studs". Nailed (16 gage brad nailer or 16 gage staples) the crap out of it (like 2" o/c) to create a stiff composite member floor to ceiling. You could glue it as well but that's too "permanent" for me. If you wanted it really stiff / strong...plywood on both sides. Skim coat with drywall mud or spray texture on the visible side and it will look like just like drywall.
cheers Bob
You can get plywood considerable thinner than 1/2", like 1/8" or 3/16" (more of a veneer than plywood).
I have two built that way backed up to a common 'normal' wall. Haven't had any problems. Both have bifold doors.
Harry K
One thing to keep in mind is that you may need or want electrical outlets in these walls. If so, a standard single gang box certainly won't fit.
The solution is to use a 1.5" deep 4" x 4" or 4 9/16" x 4 9/16" square box (depending on box fill). The square box is covered by a single gang mud ring of depth equal to the finish layer (e.g. 1/2" drywall). I'm not sure if these parts are available in plastic, they are definitely available in metal.
I seem to also remember a specialty "shallow but wide" plastic box that would work.
Cheers, Wayne
There are 1.5" thick walls in my house where there are pocket doors. Never had a problem with them. Obviously, the thinner walls are not as strong, not as insulating, and may require special plumbing/wiring.
I realize that thinner plywood is a available but the objective is to achieve composite structural behavior (like an I-beam) .....
Multi-ply plywood at 1/2" is about as thin as you can go and still have build a wall that has rigid global behavior (bottom plate to top plate stiffness) AND won't "oil can" locally when someone pushes on the wall.
Thin veneer type plywood won't adequately span from stud to stud. If you went down to 1/4" or 3/16" the resulting wall would be substantially less stiff than even 1/2" drywall.
cheers Bob
That's a good idea, and I'd add that if there'll be a joint in the wall I'd either run it through the table saw to make it T&G or else buy T&G plywood in the first place.
nate
Definitely BX or conduit. I can't see how else you could build it to code.
nate
If you have a table saw you could rip 2x4's in half and piut them perpendicular to the length of the wall. That would probably have less flexing than using 2x4's sideways. You could also buy 2x2's, but they cost more that 2x4's. About 10years ago we had a big flood in certain parts of town, and afterwards I was replacing an a/c and heat system in one that had gotten about 3 feet of water. They had the drywall removed
4 feet high and I noticed that several interior walls were built just like you are talkiing about. House was about 30 y/o at the time, so I guss they never had any problems. Larryit's done a lot. Go for it.
s
I recently had to tear out drywall where the studs had been turned sideways. It had bowed quite a bit into the kitchen from the adjoining bathroom. We thought it may have been mould. Thankfully not the case. The wall was built this way on both sides to accomodate the plumbing from the bath and sink. I clamped and drew the bowed studs back towards the bath side of the wall and glued/screwed 1/4 inch plywood gussets everywhere. So my thoughts are; Don't do it. Tom
There are 1 1/2" steel studs available.
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