Sheet rock for balloon frame wall


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Old 03-13-17, 07:35 AM
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Sheet rock for balloon frame wall

As I was nearing the end of my bathroom project, I noticed that the wall for the vanity was bowed enough that I felt it needed to be fixed. Previous work was so bad that I tore down the sheet rock and the plaster and lath behind it. By the time this is over, I'll have to do the first step of this project a second time. Fun.

I now have old timber studs that are shockingly 16" on center. I'll need to make some plywood strips to make everything plumb, but I have faith in my ability to do that. I'm certainly able to do it better than those who came before me (they screwed in a 3" piece of flat molding to the floor and ceiling (nowhere else) as a sort of sister and attached drywall to that).

QUESTION;
Because this is a balloon frame house, that wall does not have a bottom plate. Should I install Nogging to build a bottom plate? If so, what dimensions?

Thanks
 
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Old 03-13-17, 08:00 AM
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What's Nogging?
You need to add fire blocking at the top and bottoms of the wall to make it legal.
It may be easier to use an electric plane to just knock off the high spots then using shims.
 
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Old 03-13-17, 08:05 AM
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You can... I would probably just lay a 2x4 flat. Same for the top plate if there isn't one. Be sure you use a long straightedge to check that the wall studs are in the same plane. Walls don't necessarily have to be perfectly plumb, but you want them to be flat, so look for dips and humps as you check across 4 or 5 studs.
 
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Old 03-13-17, 08:22 AM
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The subfloor cover everything. Do I still need additional lumber as a firewall?

Space is at a premium there. I really don't have room for a 2x4 across them all. I would just go without the plywood strips to gain about 1/2", but that would make a gap at the ceiling that I do not feel prepared to address.

"check across 4 or 5 studs."
I have only five or 6 studs. Should I go buy something six feet long just for this project?

The studs themselves appear to be just fine (or close enough), it's just that previous work involved adding 3/8" plywood strips on some bare studs, and even wider strips on studs that already had lath on them, and nothing on top of plaster adhered to lath that was not attached on one end. Not sure why someone would spend several hours to do a poor job when a good job would take 30 minutes longer.

Nogging;
a horizontal piece of wood fixed to a framework to strengthen it.
Or, as it is defined in my head "horizontal cripple stud"
 
 

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