The Girl's Wall

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
I'm about to embark on a little project, that I've been meaning to do for a while, and now I'm stuck doing it with a set deadline :doh:

When we rebuilt our house, the "Girl's" bedroom was designed as one large room for the two sisters, who were quite young at that time, 7 & 5 years old, to be exact, Now, seven years on, the two girls really, REALLY want their own rooms :rolleyes: I figured this would happen, so I had the original room built with two doors, two windows, two closets, two lights, two light switches, and even two air cons.

The structure was built under the floor, wall and the ceiling to add a wall at a later date...... that later date is now.

I want to make the wall fairly sound proof, so I'm building a Double Stud wall, using 2x6 as plates, top and bottom and 2x4s as the wall studs, staggered so that I don't have any part of the two sides of the wall touching, which should cut down on the sound transmission, I hope. I'll also not put any electrical outlets into this wall.
kids_wall_framed.jpg
Not a real exciting picture, but you get the idea.
After the wall is built, I have to then convert a bunk bed into two loft beds, all by the 20th, when they get home.....:eek:

I've got my work cut out for me alright......
 
I'd say the hardest part will be getting the wall out of the dungeon and upstairs into the bedroom. :rofl:

How long is this wall? I'm guessing you'll have it framed in less time than it takes to go buy the wood. What wall material will you use? Sheetrock? That might take some time to hang, joint, and finish. I guess this is one of those times when being a day ahead of the rest of us is not such a good thing. :p

Good luck. We know you can pull it off. ;)
 
Yep, should frame up easily, I'll use my nail gun.

The wall is 203 cm long (just a around 6') and 241 cm tall (just under 8')

I'm using 9 mm (3/8") thick plywood, covered with 12.5 mm (1/2") thick sheet rock.

I only have to use 9mm (3/8") thick sheet rock but the 12.5 mm (1/2") stuff was only a buck a sheet more, and I figure the 1/2" thick stuff will be better for noise reduction, and such. The 3/8" plywood sheet behind the sheet rock is so I don't have to worry about hitting the studs etc for hanging a picture or what have you.

I'll then mud it and put up wall paper, my most favorite job :rolleyes: At least the wall paper is the wide stuff, 90 cm (3') so it will only take a couple of few sheet per side, and this time, the store had the J-bead for where the new wall butts up against the old wall and ceiling! :D

AP_TrimTexJBeads.gif




Happy Days! :thumb:
 
When we added onto our house, the girls also wanted their own rooms. The dividing wall is much the same as you describe and what I did and the girls have loved is: divide the wall into two halves, left and right. Deal with the left side first, perfect that you went with 2X6 as that is what we did. Install shelves between studs. Make a couple shelves taller (for dolls) shorter (for knick knacks) and from floor to ceiling make this half all shelves. Now go into the other room and put a back on these shelves. Top half of this back I made into a bulletin board for the other daughter. Then all you have to do is make an exact copy of shelves on the other side so they don't argue who has more shelves. Actually you can make all of the shelves at once then apply the back according to whose room it belongs to. Each gets shelves for their "collections" and each gets a bulletin board. Worked very well for us.

On another note, for my brother, someone built a set of bunk beds in the center of the room but put a side on one side for the one bunk, a side on the other side for the other bunk so even though they were sleeping in bunk beds, they had some privacy as well as got up in different/individual rooms.

I know you didn't ask for suggestions, just thought I would put them out there for you.
 
Stu, you do have a lot to do before they return...good luck!

The staggered stud wall reminds me of a summer during college building duplexes...used a similar wall to seperate them. Long boring summer framing at least 10 of the exact same building in a long line down the street...
 
Stu,
Piece of cake for you! You'll have it done before lunch!;):D
Seriously, I'm impressed with the forethought that went into the space! Dad was looking out for his little girls!
It looks like you are doing all the right things to limit sound transmission. Just make sure you seal the top/bottom/sides where you use the J molding. (i.e. when the wall goes up, before the sheet stock goes on.) Any "leaks" and the extra work on the wall is moot.
Good luck on the schedule. I'm sure all the girls will be thrilled (I'm including Mom here as well.:D)

Wes
 
No sympathy!!! None!!

This is your karma for all those Xmas reminders you get so much joy out of posting. Your chickens have come home to roost, sir! :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:


I wish i'd thought of the double stud wall when I built my compressor/dc closet in the shop. Doh!


Okay - lessee here ...

A half day to frame.
Less than half a day to rock.
A few hours to tape and mud.
A day to dry

Half day to sand (if you mud as bad as i do, double that)
An hour or so for 2nd coat of mud.
A day to dry.

A few hours to sand again (see above about doubling)
An hour or less for 3rd coat of mud.
A day to dry.

An hour or so to sand (i usually give up before this step)
Prime.
Day to dry.

Paint.
Day to dry.

Paint again?
Day to dry.

....

Heck - that's only a week. You have till when? the 20th? You got an extra day! You could spend a whole day putting up base/trim at the end if you wanted! :thumb:
 
It'll probably take longer to haul the materials up to the apartment than it would take to frame the wall, tilt it up, and add the wall board. (I don't think I've ever seen 3/8" thick sheetrock????)



Ted

PS:If you texture those walls you won't have to sand the mud joints before painting.
 
Well, I got a good start today, at the very least, I've made a space I can work in, which was a challenge, I cannot believe that amount of stuff those two girls stuffed into that room :eek:

Most of it is in one room now, and one hallway is also FULL of stuff :rolleyes:

Some "Before" pics..........

before_erika_door.JPG before_erika_door3.JPG
Two views through the doorway

before_view_north.JPG
A view North

before_view_south.JPG
A view South

I've since removed the bunk beds and almost everything else in the "North" room, to have some space to work.

I'll be building the wall in place, there really is not enough room to build the wall on the floor and stand it up:dunno:

When I was out at the DIY place getting stuff, I was picking through the stack of 2x4s, at $4 each for 8 footers, I was sure to avoid some of these lousy ones........

crappy_2x4s.JPG

Oh yeah, it was HOT that day, the "Official" temp was around 36C (69F) but my van has an "Outside Temp" thing that shows how hot it really was out in the parking lot.....

hot_outside.JPG
...... that is HOT and it was/is really humid too. :(

Greg found me this site....... >> Sound Proofing 101 << ......... which has some great info and ideas, the first is to split the sole and top plates so they are really independent, this will really make two walls.........
and if you were wondering how I rip an 8' 2x6 down the middle.........
ripping_an_8_footer.JPG
....... just open the hatch :D

The second great idea is the use of the silicone sealer as a vibration damper, this should work well.

soundproofing_wall_new_construction_graphic.jpg
This is what they are talking about in the above linked site, should work, I'll also only be putting in half a dozen screws, so as to not over squish the silicone, and once the silicone is dry, I'll remove the screws, as the silicone will hold the drywall in place as well as screws, if not better.

I've also decided, I guess, to forget about the layer of plywood, and just go with two 1/2" thick layers of sheet-rock.

I also bought enough bats on insulation to weave between the studs, which is suppose to help.

I guess I'll know in a few days!

Cheers!
 
Stuart...

Wutta job!! I'm sure the girls will love it, and that will make it all worthwhile.

I once had a house built in MA, and told the builder I wanted to put fiberglas insulation in the walls surrounding my son's room to deaden sound. The framing had all been done at the time. He said of course he would do whatever I wanted, but deadening sound effectively would require more than that. I'd need to do this that this that...all the things that you're doing. He knew his stuff, and it seems that you now do as well. I decided not to do it (only had one kid). I'll be interested to hear how that aspect works out for you.

Good luck with your deadline.

Cheers.
 
Finally some progress :thumb:

After futzing around with all kinds of small details, numerous trips to the Dungeon for one more tool I forgot :doh:

I finally got some sticks up :D

kids_wall_build_01.jpg kids_wall_build_02.jpg
First, two shots showing my workspace, North and South, these are NOT large rooms by North American standards, but not a bad size at all by Japanese, well "Tokyo" standards.

kids_wall_build_03.jpg kids_wall_build_04.jpg
These two shots show where the wall will be going, notice the light switch......... :doh:

kids_wall_build_05.jpg
Two problems; one, the light switch is on the wrong side of the door, now for "normal" situations, the light switch is in the right spot, on the latch side of the door, but, I specified in the blue prints that the switch goes on the hinge side of the door, as I knew the wall would be going up at some time, just one more case of the idiot electrician NOT following the blue prints and doing things the way he saw fit.......:bang: Oh well:dunno: I had to move the wall further to the South so to get the space between the switch and the wall for the two layers of dry wall........ and this created a second problem.......

kids_wall_build_06.jpg
Because the wall now has to go further South, the hanging rail, on the edge of the wall has to come down and be cut, and reinstalled....... later.

OK, those two hurdles over, on to some framing :D


kids_wall_build_07.jpg kids_wall_build_08.jpg
Got the North side of the double wall framed, was no big deal, once I'd cleared the small problems up.

kids_wall_build_09.jpg kids_wall_build_10.jpg
There is my split sole plate, a matching top plate will go up top and I'll frame the South wall, then on to the drywall, but I have to knock off for the day, as I've got some things to take care of at the L shop :doh:

More on this tomorrow.

Cheers!
 
Stu,
man that looks like a fun build. Good thing you've got a deadline, or you'd wind up like my shop... lol. I'm filing that split wall idea away for future use. The LOML and I won't keep this house forever, and I'm certain we'll find a building where it will be useful when we move.
 
Yep, nothing wrong with a deadline, but when other "Stuff" keeps on getting in the way, it kind of sucks:doh:

Well, pushing ahead.....

I got the framing done!

kids_wall201.jpg kids_wall202.jpg kids_wall203.jpg
I tried to do a "Panorama" shot, but it did not work, so here are the three pics instead :rolleyes:

kids_wall204.jpg kids_wall205.jpg
and from the other side....

kids_wall206.jpg kids_wall207.jpg
Here are the close up shots of the split sole/top plates, to show how they do not touch, and should not transmit sound as easily.

kids_wall208.jpg kids_wall209.jpg kids_wall210.jpg
I next put the insulations bats in place, I decided to run them horizontally, as they would "Weave" better between the studs, and I got better coverage this way as well, which included less cutting of the insulation, and I hate working with insulation, I seem to get more than my favour of the scratchies afterwards :(

Now I'm ready for some drywall, with the silicone beads etc part of things, I hope to get all of the drywall up tomorrow, that if the world can leave me alone to work for more than one hour at a go :bang:

Cheers!
 
I hope to be done the whole deal by Sunday, including the Wall Paper, as my lovely wife has offered to help :D
Kind of makes my office-to-home theater/guest room conversion (now in its 4th week) look like I'm working at a snails pace! Sure dosen't feel like it! Now I have to rush to get pictures posted by Sunday!!! :eek::rofl::rofl:
 
Kind of makes my office-to-home theater/guest room conversion (now in its 4th week) look like I'm working at a snails pace! Sure dosen't feel like it! Now I have to rush to get pictures posted by Sunday!!! :eek::rofl::rofl:

yep, we'd be calling the pic police otherwise...

I might actually get the doors hung before you finish that room Rennie...


Stu,
looking better and better. how much fun was weaving the bats? that looks pretty close to me.
 
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