An Old Wall Hidden

Not the most interesting post, but I always like to show what sometimes has to happen behind  a blank wall.

Pipework and rough uneven plaster work ment something had to be done about this wall

 The wall in this old house was out of level, the old plasterwork wouldn't provided a key to new plaster and there was pipework to box in.

The timber stud built around the pipework

I decided that the best course of action would be to stud the wall out. This would mean that the new wall would be level and it would also hide all the pipework and the new plasterboard would give the plasterer a much easier job to get a good finish.

All hidden!

Once all this stud work was installed it was time to plasterboard it so hopefully it's never seen again!

I've still quite a bit of work to do in this bathroom but it's only being done on the weekends so not as fast as some of my other jobs.

Building A Stud Wall Step By Step

Here's a step by step guide of how I installed a stud wall for a customer yesterday. This is going to make a large walk-in wardrobe with long length shelves and rails

Setting out. Always tricky in a old house. In the end I went square off the wall with the window as it looked right.



The outside frame up. It's essential to get this level. Cut the uprights long enough to wedge the head and sole plate in place.
I screwed these in but I also used a grab adhesive to stick them to the walls, floor and ceiling



Next add the studs that will form the door opening.
Make the opening a couple of mm bigger than the frame you're going to fit

Add the other studs. so that no spacing is wider than 400mm (16").
Also cut out the sole plate where the door is.



Add noggins at to carry the plasterboard joint (1.2m).
Also add the head to the door and an upright to carry the plasterboard

Here I've added extra noggins as I know I've got to fit a large shelve and hanging rail later

Extra noggins give you a solid fixing later in a job



Plasterboard one side of the stud wall



Plasterboard the other side, making sure no screws are left sticking out
(you can add insulating between for sound proofing if you want to)



Add your door lining- take your time with this and make sure it's plumb and not in twist - it will make hanging the door much easier later. This was a hardwood door linning so I countersunk all the screws to accept hardwood pellets to hide the screw heads.

That's as far as I can go for now.

Now I've just got to wait for Sean the plasterer to come and then I can finish off all the trim work (architrave, skirting), hang the door and then add all the shelves and rails that the customer wants.

Stud Work On A Farm

Finished the first stage of a local job yesterday on a farm house. To build a new downstairs toilet as the old one was too small- in fact it was only a couple of feet wide!

The room all stripped out and ready for me to start

 I managed to convince the customer to allow me to decided the height of the ceiling as where he wanted it my head would have been brushing against it the whole time, but was where the old one was. Having it higher meant the room would feel bigger and it also gave me a great fixing for the ceiling on top of the brick wall at the back.

Stud work up

I got the stud work up quite fast once I'd insulated the slopping ceiling, then I installed the ceiling joists, making sure the plasterboard would be supported all the way round.



Ceiling in to provide some storage above

The customer did make me laugh when I was doing the insulating (I'm sure he wont mind me saying why). I accidentally brushed one of his wires he had tapped up out the way with my elbow, a loud bang with a big spark followed, I shouted him over and showed him what had happened

 

"Good job you never made a hole in that pipe when the wires touched it." He said dryly

 

"How about - good job you never killed me!" I replied

 

 He smiled as he spoke "Yeah, that as well..."



Door linings in and the wall plaster boarded ready to be skimmed

The last couple of jobs were uneventful just to plasterboard the walls and install the lining for the door and loft hatch. Making sure the studding was dead level and plumb when I built it meant that installing the lining was a quick job.

Taking the plasterer to see the job today and hopefully finish it all off fairly soon.

How did everyone else spend their Saturday?