Square and plumb a wall
#1
01-14-17, 05:22 PM
Square and plumb a wall
I have a wall that is out of square and out of plumb. Exterior 8" thick concrete block wall.
House is single story CBS construction in 1955. In 1972 the then owner converted what was a porch or patio into living space, and what you see is where they started the extension, where the new concrete wall and the old concrete wall met. Here is a picture of the wall configuration.
From the right side of the picture the wall runs to an outside corner, does a "dog leg" and turns for a distance of 2.5', then an inside corner, then the new wall continues. The 2.5' wide wall between the outside and inside corner is the out of square, out of plumb wall I want to correct.
I took off the sheet rock since I am doing a few other repairs and changes.
Both the old and new walls were built with 8" wide hollow concrete blocks to about 6' tall, then a solid tie beam of 2' deep goes on top. It seems to me when they poured the new tie beams they had sloppy form work and some of the mortar ran down over the blocks and created the uneven-ness, then they put 2X4s over it out of plumb and square, then mounted sheetrock over the 2X4.
I have put a strip of 1.5" wide blue masking tape on the wall and floor, showing where the plumb line should be, and where a square outside corner should be. Here are some additional pics with close ups.
Any thoughts and suggestions on how to build out a squared and plumbed corners ready for new sheetrock?
Normally I would just rip off the old lumber, run 1X furring strips vertically and shim to get to where I need to be. But they are off by more than 1.5" up top and more then 2" at the outside corner. I would have to use shims made of 2X4s!
Here is what I am considering.
(1) OPTION 1: Use 2X4 or even thicker lumber as shims attached to the concrete with Tapcon screws then run plumbed and squared 1X furring over those.
(2) OPTION 2: Try and correct the inside corner so the concrete there is plumb and square with the outside corner. This can be done with an angle grinder fitted with a diamond blade, basically shaving a vertical 3.5" wide vertical strip, so as to be able to mount a vertical PT 2X4 over it plumb but recessed a bit into the concrete, then I will make up the outside square corner however I need to. This will be the most laborious option and lots of dust, plus it may weaken the wall if I over cut.
(3) OPTION 3: Forget about the concrete wall totally, just build a new 2.5' wide wood studded wall sitting over the tiles, the new top plates can be secured to the concrete wall with L brackets or similar.
Thoughts, ideas?
House is single story CBS construction in 1955. In 1972 the then owner converted what was a porch or patio into living space, and what you see is where they started the extension, where the new concrete wall and the old concrete wall met. Here is a picture of the wall configuration.
From the right side of the picture the wall runs to an outside corner, does a "dog leg" and turns for a distance of 2.5', then an inside corner, then the new wall continues. The 2.5' wide wall between the outside and inside corner is the out of square, out of plumb wall I want to correct.
I took off the sheet rock since I am doing a few other repairs and changes.
Both the old and new walls were built with 8" wide hollow concrete blocks to about 6' tall, then a solid tie beam of 2' deep goes on top. It seems to me when they poured the new tie beams they had sloppy form work and some of the mortar ran down over the blocks and created the uneven-ness, then they put 2X4s over it out of plumb and square, then mounted sheetrock over the 2X4.
I have put a strip of 1.5" wide blue masking tape on the wall and floor, showing where the plumb line should be, and where a square outside corner should be. Here are some additional pics with close ups.
Any thoughts and suggestions on how to build out a squared and plumbed corners ready for new sheetrock?
Normally I would just rip off the old lumber, run 1X furring strips vertically and shim to get to where I need to be. But they are off by more than 1.5" up top and more then 2" at the outside corner. I would have to use shims made of 2X4s!
Here is what I am considering.
(1) OPTION 1: Use 2X4 or even thicker lumber as shims attached to the concrete with Tapcon screws then run plumbed and squared 1X furring over those.
(2) OPTION 2: Try and correct the inside corner so the concrete there is plumb and square with the outside corner. This can be done with an angle grinder fitted with a diamond blade, basically shaving a vertical 3.5" wide vertical strip, so as to be able to mount a vertical PT 2X4 over it plumb but recessed a bit into the concrete, then I will make up the outside square corner however I need to. This will be the most laborious option and lots of dust, plus it may weaken the wall if I over cut.
(3) OPTION 3: Forget about the concrete wall totally, just build a new 2.5' wide wood studded wall sitting over the tiles, the new top plates can be secured to the concrete wall with L brackets or similar.
Thoughts, ideas?
#2
01-14-17, 05:36 PM
Group Moderator
You build walls far enough from the concrete that the concrete does not impede the plumb of the wall framing. So if the bottom plate follows your blue tape line and you install a top plate to the framing above in line with the bottom plate, along your blue tape line, everything can be plumb. Nothing needs to touch or be connected to the concrete. (Top plate gets connected to the floor joists or backing you will install between the floor joists) Framing is about building things where they are supposed to be.
#3
01-14-17, 06:13 PM
The reason I am leaning to connecting the top plate to the concrete is because the trusses run parallel to the narrow wall so there is no framing to attach to up top. I could put in some framing between the bottom chords but that would mean opening more of the ceiling "sheetrock" which I hate because it's those hand applied concrete cement layer over gypsum boards that's over 1" thick with wire meshes in the corner really dusty. Since it's not load bearing that's why I was thinking to just secure to the concrete wall.
#4
01-14-17, 06:27 PM
Group Moderator
You can also glue and toggle bolt the top plate. Works fine until the day you have to take the ceiling down. In cases where you have to attach to the wall, you can shoot a pressure treated cleat (or two) to the concrete wall between studs, then nail your wall studs to the cleat.
#5
04-15-17, 05:13 AM
Did you check that wall for bowing too? It could just be the 'optics' of the image throwing my eyes, but I swear I can see a little bow in that wall? Any chance there is another issue there that you might have to deal with soon or later, and well, sooner would be better since you got things already opened up?
