Email me if you have questions.
Don't Move or Buy and new home just Remodle the home you have. I truly feel you can make an older home a better place to live and add value at the sametime. All it takes is some time and a little effort.
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With housing the way it is now, you should think of remolding your home, not buying a new one. Here we will build a simple interior wall. If you have an area in your home where you imagine having that one extra storage space, that one more small private room, that one special place for activities. If you know how to use a few hand tools such as a hammer, framing square and saw, and can take measurements and follow simple instructions, you can build an interior nonbearing wall.
Follow this guide for building a simple partition, conventionally framed with 2x4s every 16 inches on center, and finished off with drywall. It will be a nonbearing wall, one that does not support any structural house weight.
When building a wall it is important that it be anchored securely. If the wall is to run parallel to the ceiling joists, the frame should be located directly under and nailed to a joist. If the wall cannot be located under a joist, use a good construction adhesive and toggle bolts to secure the top plate to the ceiling. If the wall is more than 16 feet long, however, you should open up the ceiling and insert 2x4 cross blocks between the ceiling joists for nailing the top plate to. If the wall will run perpendicular to the ceiling joists, secure the top plate where it intersects the joists. The frame should also be anchored at each end by nailing into the studs of the existing wall. If this is not possible, use construction adhesive and toggle bolts here as well. These building instructions can be carried out to build more walls and bigger room, tear down walls and remodel rooms into larger ones.
Good luck and if you have any questions you can email me.
What you will need; Tools
1- Crosscut Handsaw
2- Framing Square
3- Chalk line
4- Level
5- Plumb bob
6- Hammer
7- Pencil
8- Tape measure
9- Utility knife
10- Stud locator
11- Broad knives (10" and 6")
Materials
2x4s for studs and plates
Nails: 8d and 16d common
Wood shingles for shims
Metal connectors
1/2" drywall to cover both sides of wall
Drywall nails or screws
Joint compound
Fiberglass joint tape.
Planning: Choose exact location of wall. Choose location of door and draw plans to scale on graph paper. Clear a large work area in the room. Wall will be built in plac.
Step - By - Step: Measure and mark wall position. Snap chalk lines for top plate, end studs and sole plate. Mark the stud locations and the door opening on top and sole paltes. Install top and sole plates. Measure, cut and install studs and door frame. Install and finish drywall.
Key to Success: Take the time to select good stock. Silght, crooks, warps, bows are acceptable, but use the straightest 2x4s for end pieces, plates and around door opening. Be sure measurements are coorect. Measure twice and cut once, as the old-timers say. If the new wall will be in a damp area like a bathroom or kitchen use water resistant drywall. Choose drywall in the size which best corresponds to ceiling height; for a high ceiling, 4x10 or 4x12.
Laying out the Partition:
Part 1
1 Measure along edge of ceiling from the top of existing wall to the point where one end of new wall will intersect, and mark with a pencil. Repeat this step at the opposite end of the room.
2 Drive a nail halfway at the mark at each end. Stretch a chalk line between the nails and snap it. This marks the line for the outside edge of the top plate on the new wall.
3 Drop a plumb bob from each end of the chalk line to floor and mark with an X. Snap a line between the two points to mark edge of sole plate. Snap lines on walls connecting ceiling and floor lines.
Framing the Partition:
Part 2
1 Measure the ceiling and floor lines and cut the top and sole plates. They may not be exactly the same length, so label the boards as "top" and "bottom." Mark the placement for studs every 16 inches using a framing square.
2 Mark the location for the door. The rough opening for any door is 2 1/2 inches wider and 1 3/4 inches higher than the door itself. Door sizes vary, but a common size is 30 inches by 6 feet 8 inches. Using a 30 inch door, the R. O. would be 32 1/2 inches by 6 feet 9 3/4 inches.
Tip; When you mark the rough opening on the sole plate, you will have 3 lines showing placement of the wall stud and placement of the jack stud butting it. At the middle line, cut halfway through from the bottom side of the plate. When you remove this section of the sole plate from the doorway later, you can cut through from the top without marring the floor.
3 Double nail (2 nails driven side by side) the bottom plate to the floor along the chalk line; use 16d nails. Begin a few inches from the wall and drive nails about every 16 inches along the plate through the sub floor.
4 If the wall is parallel to the directly under a ceiling joist, nail the top plate to it. If perpendicular, locate ceiling joists and nail top plate to joists where they intersect every 16 inches on center.
5 Measure and cut studs individually. Nail them into top and bottom plates where marked. If a stud is cut a little short, shim it at the top plate with a piece of wood shingle.
6 Fasten each stud to the plates at the top and bottom with metal connectors, using 8d nails. Alternately, toenail the studs to the plates (see toe nailing diagram) using 16d nails. While working, use level to check that studs are plumb.
Toe nailing is the term used for driving nails in at an angle to fasten one member to another that is perpendicular to it. It can be frustrating if you have not had practice: The stud walks off the mark with each blow, the angle of the nail is wrong so the nail splits the stud end or misses the plate completely, or, using your foot as a brace, you nail your boot to the plate. Until you get the knack, cut a spacer 14 1/2 inches long and nail loosely into place to brace each stud against the previous one. Nail against this first; then, removing the spacer, brace the nailed side with you foot and carefully toenail from the opposite side.
Framing the Doorway:
Part 3
1 Saw through the top of the sole plate at the inside edges of the king studs, to meet the cut you made earlier in the bottom. Remove the cut portion of the plate.
2 Measure and cut the two jack studs to be 1 /34 inches longer that the height of the door.
3 Nail the jack studs to the frame studs with 8d nails placed one foot apart from top to bottom.
4 Cut two 2x4s each 35 1/2 inches long (for a 30 inch door) and nail them together. Place this double header on top of the fake studs. Secure them by driving two 16d nails through each side of the door frame studs.
5 Measure the opening between the top of the header and the top plate, and cut three cripple studs. Nail one against each frame stud, and center the third over the door opening.
Tip: If you drill the first stud to be nailed you won't split the stud and you will have a tighter joint. It will also be easer to toenail if drilled first, use a drill bit the same size as the nail.
Drywall:
Part 4
1 Lightly mark the center of each stud location on the floor and ceiling with pencil. This will provide you with the lines for nails or screws when drywall is in place.
2 After measuring and marking, cut the drywall with the utility knife along the face of the sheet, using the framing square as a guide.
3 Break the drywall along cut line with a gentle snapping motion. Fold it up and cut the paper along the back of the sheet.
4 After nailing or screwing in place along the top and bottom plates and studs every 16 inches, apply fiberglass joint tape to the seams, with the sticky side to the wall.
5 Apply joint compound over tape with 6 inch broad knife and smooth out over the seam by holding handle at a tight angle to the wall. Let dry and least 24 hours, sand, and repeat process using 10 inch broad knife. Let dry and sand. You can now paint or paper with anything you like to finish off the room.
Tip: Pry'er to drywalling any wall you should do any wiring and lighting you would like in the room, place you light switches boxes and outlet boxes in the stud walls and wire them (see electrical pages for instructions.)
Installing a Garage Door Opener