Old House Renovation Help Needed!

[JSUPreston]

I've been thinking about this one, and I think I like Jim D's idea. I've never tried, but I wonder if you could get cabinet grade ply (1/2 to 5/8"), hang it like sheetrock, and then mud and tape the joints? Then, paint or wallpaper (I think paper might hide joints better). My only concern with this idea would be the amount of weight it would add to the wall.

In my old house, a previous owner bought it as a foreclosure and flipped it (and didn't do some things right). We found a lot of rock was hung directly on the old 70's style thing paneling. Made for very strong sheetrock, but was a pain when running phone and cable drops.

[jseklund]

Hi all,
Thanks so much for all of the replies. I know deep down that rebuilding the wall would have been the right way to do this - but I went with a couple of the ideas above.

I bought some strapping in 3 foot sections and nailed it all the way up one side of 3 of the studs. It seemed to decrease deflection a little - but not a lot. I think if I put it up both sides of the studs I would have seen more improvement, but I had wiring that I had to nail to those studs, so I couldn't put wire staples through the steel very well - so I only did 1 side.

Then, I used 1/2" plywood and hung it directly to the studs. Then, I put 3/8" sheetrock over that. By the time I was done, it had some deflection, but I could put both palms on the wall and put my weight into it without feeling the deflection anymore. My dad said that he could see it a little from the side, but not much. I definately feel that base cabinets on the bottom will allow me enough stiffness to hang 1 1/2 cabinets on this wall with no problem.

Thanks again for all the input, the advice here has been of great value - even the advice I didn't put to good use. I know I should have done it the right way, but this way allowed me to focus on other projects that are of greater concern (like the 15 food span of 2X6 joists in the living room).

[cabinetman]

Hi guys,
No, I won't be responsible for anything, they will be. I'm not worried about that - the house is actually in my mom and my aunt's name and my grandmother lives there. They are responsible, and I know they would never put liability on me - but I don't want to put liability on them either.

Ultimately you will be responsible disregarding your family. This will be the case if there is injury. Sounds like work like that would require permits, and possibly engineering drawings sealed by a licensed structural engineer. If the premises is a rental, and if push comes to shove...and it usually does, work done by unlicensed contractors can be criminally charged.

.

[jseklund]

Cabinetman - you're correct, and I think I mis-worded my statement or it came across wrong. That was kind of my point - it's not like my family is going to put liability on me, but on the same hand I don't want to put any on them, and I want to do things the right way.

On the same hand, I have more important issues to spend resources on in this apartment - such as the floor mentioned in the second thread I made. Someone falling through that floor may be more likely than them pulling a cabinet off a wall, and much more dangerous.

In this case, we're talking about a non-load bearing, partition wall that has been standing for over 100 years. There are other walls in the house just like this one - one right next to the stairs actually, that are solid as can be.

This wall has/had flex, and I am really only going to be hanging 1 24" cabinet on it, and the second half of a corner cabinet.

I've put metal strips AND 1/2 plywood on top of the 2" thick studs. Once both sheets were up and I put the drywall up, this thing does not move much anymore. I weigh about 280 and I can put both palms on the center of the wall and push HARD now and I get minimal flex.

Also, something else I forgot to mention- a previous contractor had come in years ago and built out a new ceiling in this room. He nailed 2X4's below the ceiling, to the studs all around the room and made a frame to hange a new ceiling 4" or so below the old ceiling. Not sure this is exactly how I would have done it, but whatever...

So, in order for a cabinet to fall off this wall, which I can now screw to both studs and plywood, that is tied to a ceiling and a ceiling above that and no longer flexes. If someone were to load 200 pounds into that 1 cabinet, the studs would literally have to snap for it to come off....and I don't think 200 pounds would even get it to flex that much at this point...