Increasing thickness of interior wall


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Old 01-21-18, 09:54 AM
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Increasing thickness of interior wall

Hi there, this is my first time posting, please be kind! I'm sure I have found myself in the same position as many of you, starting a project and finding WTH to be the most common words out of my mouth.

We are in the middle of a basic refinish of our living room/dining room. The 3 of the walls (all are either exterior or used to be exterior prior to additions) are framed with 2x4s. The interior wall, is also with 2x4s except they have been turned so the wall stud is only 1.5" thick. While the walls are open we would like to move a door back to its original place (as visible now that the walls are opened up) to improve the flow and space efficiency of the room. Moving this door requires either a custom door jamb ($$$) or fixing the framing.

My question is what do we do in order to increase the overall thickness of the walls? Is it acceptable to essentially mirror what they have done? Stack/sister another 2x4 and a strip of 1/2" plywood on top of what is there to bring the thickness to 3 1/2 (so a pre hung door can be installed). This involves adding to the header and bottom plate as well. I don't know if this is detrimental to the structural integrity of the wall.

Any suggestions are beyond appreciated. I'd really like to move the door (and have the semblance of proper walls)

Thanks again!

Megan
 

Last edited by Shadeladie; 01-21-18 at 10:14 AM.
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Old 01-21-18, 10:03 AM
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Welcome to the forums.

A picture or two would be real helpful.... How-to-insert-pictures
It may be easiest to remove that wall and rebuild it correctly.
 
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Old 01-21-18, 10:11 AM
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Pics as requested. The problem with taking the whole wall down is that it will spur the drywalling of the bedroom on the other side of the wall. Something I just don't have the patience or finances for at the moment.
 
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Old 01-21-18, 10:20 AM
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I have seen walls like this quite a few times in older houses. Just think of the square inches they saved.

Adding to the existing framing is fairly straight forward. You should be able to screw/nail whatever you need to get the wall thickness to what you need for your door frame. Note: laying another 2x4 flat to the existing one might only get you 3" depending on the thickness of the existing framing.
 
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Old 01-21-18, 10:26 AM
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Thanks Tolyn. My plan was to add another 2x4 and 1/2 plywood, which should bring me pretty close to the 3.1/2 inches needed for the new door. I think it would also make my electrician happy that he can upgrade the boxes. I suppose I was just nervous about it effecting the structural integrity of everything, but by the same token - it's stood this long!

This entire house has been "why did they do that?!" between the framing, the flooring, the 3 ceilings and my most favourite - the weird pulp board that covered EVERY surface!
 
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Old 01-21-18, 10:29 AM
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Well if you are putting a door in this wall, stock prehung doors are 4 9/16". So just do the math. We can't tell you how thick the framing needs to be to equal 4 9/16. You didnt tell us how thick the wall is including your plaster or drywall. If you finish the open side with 1/2" drywall, you would take 4 1/16" minus your existing framing and wall board or plaster or what have you on the other side of the wall. You would rip lumber that size on a table saw and screw/nail it to your existing. That would be the simplest.
 
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Old 01-21-18, 10:32 AM
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Totally posted a reply without doing the math in my head... if anyone read what was originally here, just ignore it. I think I've got it

Thanks folks!
 

Last edited by megatron84; 01-21-18 at 10:34 AM. Reason: brain fart.
 

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