Framing a half wall

[JCadorin]

We recently had to frame a 2x4 half wall which is 4' high and about 4' long. It connects to a full height stud wall on one end. The end which is not attached sways considerably side to side.

We are considering shearing it with 7/16 osb which would be glued and nailed to all of the studs. We are not sure if this will completely fix the problem.

Another thought tossed around was to add some diagnol bracing within the wall. Adding a post to the ceiling is out of the question. I'm sure some of you out there have ran across this before. What do you think?

[WarriorWithWood]

Run a post through the floor into joist blocking or better yet to a joist if possible.

[TWhite]

WWW nailed the answer.

[Bluewoodrock]

What warrior said is best- but if that's not an option a couple of gang nail plates bent at 90 deg. and nailed as much as possible to the floor and end stud works fairly well. Double your end stud too.

[Jon Blakemore]

I have never had to do this, but have kept it in my bag of tricks. Simpson has a lot of hardware for holding down studs in seismic and high-wind areas, why don't you get one of these and put a few on your wall. The tension will help stiffen things up.

http://www.strongtie.com/products/co...rs/HDA-HD.html

[bluemoose]

If you're on a slab and can't run a stud through the floor to a block, nail about 4 plates onto your bottom plate in between the end stud and the 2nd to last stud. If you nail them pretty tight, you can nail the end stud to those 5 "bottom plates" all stacked up and it will give you some good rigidity in your wall.

Adam

[WarriorWithWood]

If you're on a slab and can't run a stud through the floor to a block, nail about 4 plates onto your bottom plate in between the end stud and the 2nd to last stud. If you nail them pretty tight, you can nail the end stud to those 5 "bottom plates" all stacked up and it will give you some good rigidity in your wall.

A little construction adhesive between the plates might help this approach too. (I've never tried it, just thinking outloud)

[Eastbuild]

what is the floor made of and if it is floor joists are they running purpindicular or paralel. If you let me know I will tell you how I do mine and advatec is a lot more ridge then osb.
good luck.
Jason

[Lavrans]

Putting ply on one side of the wall won't do anything to ameliorate the problem, it'll just make the wall thicker.

Joist direction is crucial to your answer- if the joists run parallel to the wall you will have to open up the floor & add blocking. If they run perpendicular to the wall adding some sort of L-bracket can help if you don't want to open up the floor & attach to the joists (which is the correct way to create a stiff pony wall).

I have used 1/4" steel L. The longer the legs the better, then cut it 3 1/4" wide, drill some holes & lag it to the joist below & then to a stud. Use several of them & it can make a fairly stiff wall.

[Jordan]

We normally recommend a bent plate, 1/4" thick x 3" wide x 1'-6" tall, bolted through into something solid below (like a concrete slab), or a 3x3 HSS steel post with a real base plate .

You could try blocking below the wall to ensure that you're not rocking on subfloor, then using some simpson A34 or A35 angles attached to the sole plate and the subfloor. You've created a cantilevered post (a long thin one), so the thicker/stiffer you make the wall, the better. 2x8s instead of 2x4s would make a huge difference, especially if you put a double row of screws through the sole plate into joists/blocking below.

Good luck.

Edit: Another option would be to prestress the end post. Reframe the end of the wall with 4-2x4s as a box beam (|=|) with a 1/2"x3.5" gap in the center. Then put a plate washer on the top (3x3 up to 3x6, 1/4" thk) and run an all-thread rod through the gap, thorough the sole plate, and down into blocking below - maybe a 4x6 between the adjacent joists. Put on the nuts and _tighten_ it. I've done this (well, something similar) on a freestanding newel post with excellent results.

[George Roberts]

A 4' x 4' x 3-1/2" torsion box should not move at all.

Glue it to both the wood stud and wood sub floor.

[WarriorWithWood]

A 4' x 4' x 3-1/2" torsion box should not move at all. Glue it to both the wood stud and wood sub floor.

George,

I've never heard of a torsion box.
Do you have a link or is it a joke that I'm not getting?

[JCadorin]

We ended up running a post through the floor and attaching it to some cross framing we had to add between floor joists. This was the right choice. I wouldn't go as far as saying we would could drive a truck into it (which my lead carpenter thinks), but it is very sturdy.

Thanks for the input!

[Joe Carola]

We ended up running a post through the floor and attaching it to some cross framing we had to add between floor joists. This was the right choice. I wouldn't go as far as saying we would could drive a truck into it (which my lead carpenter thinks), but it is very sturdy.

Thanks for the input!

It doesn't matter what way the joists run you can always nail blocks whether they're parallel or perpendicular. Also the joists are running perpendicular to the wall and there's a joist 3-4" away from the end of the wall you can nail the studs to that joists.

[George Roberts]

WarriorWithWood ---

A torsion box is simply a lightweight core with plywood faces - very stiff for the weight. SIPs are one example. Another is a wood frame with plywood faces.

If glued to the wall and floor, the free corner should deflect very litte.