Altering a supporting stud wall

thornmproblem · 4 Apr 2008

I have a question about altering a stud wall, which looks like it is also a supporting wall.

In a terrace house the stairs run from the front towards the back on the right hand side. To the left of this is the living room, and the wall is between the 2. What I wanted to do was basically put a hole in this wall, approximatly 2 foot wide by about 1 foot in height. The idea is to mount a flatscreen tv on the wall and build a unit that holds the DVD player recessed into the wall (essentially into the under the stairs cupboard).

I assume that the wall is supporting because there's a bedroom above it and the floor joists run from side to side. My idea was to cut the a hole in the plasterboard, and then cut through 1 stud, and then insert a cross member.

Does this sound like it would work? Would I need to get approval from the building inspector or get someone in to assess it?

Thanks for any advice?

breezer · 4 Apr 2008

stud wall cant be a supporting wall

thornmproblem · 4 Apr 2008

breezer said:
stud wall cant be a supporting wall

hmmm, that's what I thought, but if the floor joists run side to side, and the stairwell means that the bedroom floor doesn't run from one side of the house to the other then it must be supported by something

breezer · 4 Apr 2008

pehaps its not awhole stud wall?

a stud wall gets its name from the "studs"thast make the framework. the frame work is only to fix the plasterbord to, its not to take weight

thornmproblem · 4 Apr 2008

yeah now I'm confused! Well it's a 70's terrace, hopefully someone can tell me what the construction is, it's definitely a stud wall as I understand it; plasterboard each side and hollow inside.

Hopefully that means I can make the change without any problems.

Shytalkz · 5 Apr 2008

breezer was clearly partaking of alcohol when he said:
stud wall cant be a supporting wall

How did you come up with that statement? They can and they are.

If it is load-bearing, you can form an opening by putting in a timber lintel to support the studs. The lintel is supported on cripple studs at either end, which are nailed to an adjacent full height stud. Size obviously depends on the load onto the lintel and the span of it. But for what you're talking about, two 50x125s nailed together should be more than adequate, with 50x100 (or whatever depth the main studs are) cripple studs.

noseall · 5 Apr 2008

we have built stud walls in the past that have acted as intermediate supports for the roof joists in a bungalow.

each upright stud was positioned directly below the corresponding ceiling joist.

a 2' wide hole is not a hill of beans, but may interfere with at least two upright studs.

Richard C · 5 Apr 2008

Have you checked to see if there is an “I” beam or back to back bolted channels within the ceiling. Sometimes the joists are supported within that so the wall below could be stud a; it's not actually supporting the joists, it just looks like it is.

gangman · 5 Apr 2008

breezer said:
stud wall cant be a supporting wall

I've just built 3 stud walls that are structural walls. One will have a stairs built onto it and the other two are taking triple trimmers which carry the floor joists.

Anyone taking out these walls thinking that they are not supporting anything, because they are stud walls, will have most of the floor above down on them. These walls are not taking a bit of weight they are taking a lot of weight, just because it's timber don't assume it's not a critical structure.

^woody^ · 6 Apr 2008

breezer said:
stud wall cant be a supporting wall

Does a timber frame house have supporting stud walls?

What holds the roof up?

Shytalkz · 6 Apr 2008

^woody^ said:
What holds the roof up?

Chuh, as any fule no, in a timber framed building, it's stainless steel sky hooks - normally at 450 centres

thornmproblem · 7 Apr 2008

Shytalkz said:
If it is load-bearing, you can form an opening by putting in a timber lintel to support the studs. The lintel is supported on cripple studs at either end, which are nailed to an adjacent full height stud. Size obviously depends on the load onto the lintel and the span of it. But for what you're talking about, two 50x125s nailed together should be more than adequate, with 50x100 (or whatever depth the main studs are) cripple studs.

Thanks for that, sounds sensible. I think the existing studs are about 62mm deep (x 37 wide), with the plan of using two 50x125s as a lintel would that result in a height of 250 or 100?

Also if the cut-out started at 2 foot up and was 1 foot high, would the cripple studs need to run from the floor up, so roughy 3 foot high, or just the 1 foot height?

Richard C - not checked that, but there is some flooring in the bedroom overheard that is screwed down so I should able to have a look.

Shytalkz · 7 Apr 2008

thornmproblem said:
I think the existing studs are about 62mm deep (x 37 wide), with the plan of using two 50x125s as a lintel would that result in a height of 250 or 100?

Also if the cut-out started at 2 foot up and was 1 foot high, would the cripple studs need to run from the floor up, so roughy 3 foot high, or just the 1 foot height?

Use a single 63x125 as a lintel if the studs are not very deep. Put them in above the level you want to form the opening. Cripple studs run from floor up to whatever level you want.

thornmproblem · 8 Apr 2008

Shytalkz said:
thornmproblem said:

I think the existing studs are about 62mm deep (x 37 wide), with the plan of using two 50x125s as a lintel would that result in a height of 250 or 100?

Also if the cut-out started at 2 foot up and was 1 foot high, would the cripple studs need to run from the floor up, so roughy 3 foot high, or just the 1 foot height?

Click to expand...

Use a single 63x125 as a lintel if the studs are not very deep. Put them in above the level you want to form the opening. Cripple studs run from floor up to whatever level you want.

Thanks for all the advice

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Altering a supporting stud wall

breezer

breezer

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