Thin Wall

[William.Deans]

I have a room which I would like to turn into a hallway and a room. The problem is that if I stud out a wall the room, with the minimum width hallway, will be just less than the magical six feet wide. Would I be violating any codes if I made the wall out of a piece of 0.5 inch CDX or OSB held in place by 1x3 molding at the the top and set into a groove 3/4" deep routed into the floor at the bottom? I would then panel both sides with the paneling edges staggering the CDX edges and use surface mount electrical. I could even use tongue and groove plywood.

Is there any proper way to make a THIN wall?

Thanks.

Room currently: |-------------| | | | | | | | | |-------------|

Room with hallway: |-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------|

[<aemeijers]

A wall structured as you describe would look cheap, and have a negative effect on resale value. If the floor is hardwood, routing a slot in it would be a sin.

I&#39;d look into doing a cabinetry style wall. Think Japanese sliding panels, except not sliding, or like in a divided-up government office. Hard to make specific recommendations w/o seeing the space, and knowing what the new room is to be used for. Home office? Additional bedroom? If it may ever need to be converted back, a jam-fit wall made up of 2x2 (or edgewise 2x4) studs and horizontal pieces, with lots of cross pieces, skinned on both sides with glued paneling, may be stiff enough. You would have to have a thick frame around the door, probably with a skinny jackpost from floor to ceiling right there, to keep the door square. The rest of the wall could just be basted into place with a few easily patchable nails or long screws. Electric could be surface mount on the non-public side, fed from ceiling light, or even fed through wall from a discreet hole in ceiling, hooked up in attic- shallow boxes are easy to find. I&#39;ve seen temporary walls done this way many times in office and home situations. With a little artistry and luck to match adjoining wall coverings and trim style, they blended right in, and when no longer required (like when the kid moved out) were easy to reverse and reclaim the space for the original use.

aem sends...

[GeorgeD]

Mobile home walls are made with 2x2?s skinned on both sides with plywood. The resulting wall is about 2? thick.

Walls a single plank thick (as you suggested) were used a long time ago and are found in historical buildings. I think it would look OK; I don&#39;t know how rigid it would be; noise would be a consideration. I would not cut a groove in the floor. You could cut grooves 2x4?s and use them top and bottom, although that seems unnecessarily complex.

You can make a wall out of strands beads; they were popular in the 60?s. The walls are thin and you needn?t worry about doors and such.

If the space is inhabitable and you put up a wall, you will have to meet code requirements such as electrical outlets every six feet. Also the HVAC system and fire safety must be considered. It is simpler if the space is storage like a closet.

I doubt a small room like you suggested would be desirable by future occupants. I would look at a temporary partition. There is a wide variety used in offices; some even look like real walls. Look around; there might be something satisfactory to you. Offices come and go and you could possibly snag used materials from the office outfitters or a building super.

Regards,

[buffalobill]

[SteveF]

Electrical outlets are not required every six feet. NEC section 210.52 requires that at no place on the wall will an outlet be more than six feet away. For a long wall that requirement would be met with an outlet every 12 feet. Additional rules apply to short wall sections and kitchens.

Steve.

[Lawrence]

Maybe in some places down south but not in Minnesota. All new mobile homes built or sold in MN are required to have a 2x6 stud wall just like a real house. The old ones were built with 2x2&#39;s, for sure, and are still around. The trailer parks still have them, side by side with the newer ones. When someone abandons one of those old ones they bring in a trac-hoe to demolish it and haul it away in a dumpster.

[Dean]

To build on the other posts a bit;;How about metal 2x2 track n studs? You can get shallow electrical boxes if needed for switch/outlet..If light gauge studs it wo&#39;nt be load bearing but they are easy to work with and used in commercial construction to build semi-easy to remove walls below drop-tile ceilings,,the track can be screwed,,glued or nailed in place,,if all screwed it comes apart easy later..The only bad thing would be electrical if needed,,You need metal conduit run thru the holes pre-cut in the studs wich can be a pain sometimes..Just an alternative to the wood 2x2 idea..Oh yeah,,some sub-floors are only

3/4" thick,,I would&#39;nt cut a groove in the floor either... Dean

[trader4]

Just out of curiousity, what is this new room going to be used for? Around here a room 6 ft wide is called a closet or store room, because it can&#39;t be used for much else. And unless code says something about a 6 ft minimum, I don&#39;t see why the extra few inchs taken up by a wall being 2" or 4" wide makes much difference.

[GeorgeD]

Gosh! Times have changed. I lived in a mobile home in North Dakota. It had 2x2 walls. I was comfy, but I guess oil was cheaper then. 2x6 walls sort of eliminates what little was left of mobile in mobile home. I bet you transport them for $0.50 a mile anymore either.

[Lawrence]

LOL, everything was cheaper then and we were younger. The MH&#39;s are not as mobile as they used to be but they are still on wheels and have a hitch. I had mine moved for $2.50/mile.

It is a specialty and they use a truck which is customized for that purpose. It has a hydraulic hitch which can be adjusted up and down or back and forth to get it underneath. Usually you only see brand new ones being transported to their final resting place. Most in the trailer parks will sell their house rather than move it.

I don&#39;t like my MH but was desperate when I bought it and now it is paid for. I am thankful I was able to move mine to my 20 acre country property and didn&#39;t get trapped in that terrible place.

The MH&#39;s and parks are about the only affordable thing left for low income folk and there are three generations living side by side in the trailer park. The shit that goes on with those trailer people is unbelievable and I was lucky to just get out with my skin.