Hi all,

I need some critiquing:

I need to make what appear to be partitions. The walls of these partitions need to be elevated off the floor by 9". The walls need to be 5' high themselves (floor to top of wall = 5'9"). The walls longest span will be 11' with two 4x4 fir floor to ceiling post midway through (16" on center). These walls will be supported primarily by 2"x2"x1/4" square steel tubing. This square steel tubing will be lag bolted to the floor and ceiling. The walls will be traditional 2x4 construction that will be bolted to the square tubing at the ends.

I've done some sketching of it in Sketchup:



Here is what one of the support posts base will look like (each post will be a two piece unit). You can see that there will be added support for the wall.



Then just to clarify; the upper part of the post will be bolted to the lower section (i don't show the bolt pattern to clearly but I'm aiming for at least 5/16 bolts x 4 for each).



This is an idea dreamed up that would incorporate both metal and wood into building elevated wall partitions


My issues that I'm having are:

1) Is this going to be strong enough to support the wall and at the same time be safe?

2) My main concerns are in the floor to ceiling attachments of the 2x2 sq tubing with the 1/4" plate welded at the bottom and top. \

The ceiling 2x6 joint construction. I am considering using a double 2x12 bridge block securely boxed in place, then using 5/16" x 3" lag bolts to attach with.

The floor is supported with an engineered I-joist assembly. I could lag bolt into the floor but what is the best way to do this? I need some advise.

Thanks for any help:

Brad

 

Welcome to the forums. Are these prairie dog partitions? Why must you incorporate metal posts? Have you checked the alignment of your posts to the Ijoists at every intersection? What will be the wall covering material?

 

Hi Chandler,

By prairie dog partitions do you mean bathroom stalls, hehe?

They do remind me of bathroom stalls, but no just being used as dividers.

Why Metal posts?
1) for looks mainly.
2) The floor is ceramic tile (large pieces 18"x18"). I didn't want to have to remove much of it.
3) didn't want to build on top of the ceramic tile in case someone wanted to replace it down the road with laminate or something.


I have not yet checked the alignment of the posts to the Ijoists at every intersection. Still in the design phase.

Are you suggesting to keep the intersections away from the top of the Ijoists so the lag screws don't injure the flange of the Ijoists?

The walls will be finished similar to cabinetry with laminated sections of melamine that will be easily removed using 1/4-20 Quick-Connect Hardware.

1/4-20 Quick-Connect Hardware - Lee Valley Tools - Woodworking Tools, Gardening Tools, Hardware Supplies

Thanks for the quick reply.

Brad

 

Brad, prairie dog partitions, as in an office situation. You know, whenever someone opens a soft drink, everyone in the office pops their head up to see where the noise came from.....like prairie dogs. Lining up the verticals to the joists will be necessary, or you will need to add support between the joists, substantial enough to hold the posts. Now as far as usi g wood, if you were to use a good adhesive on the bottom plate, you would not degrade the flooring for future construction needs. Plam panels are heavy, so you may need to have beefy support.

 

Hi Chandler,

You've pretty much got it with the prairie dog scenario.

As for the panels: I was going to laminate them myself (melamine laminated with Formica). There are only four 8'x11' cubicles.

Three walls will have double side panels:
~5'x11' = 55 sqft x 2 = 110 sqft x 3 = 330 sqft

Three smaller walls:
~5'x8' = 40sqft x2 = 80 sqft x 3 = 240 sqft.

So ~ 570 sqft of 5/8" malamine

According to Hood Distribution - Hardwood Lumber and Plywood Distributor - Product Weights

5/8 malamine 2.92 lbs/sqft:
570 sqft x 2.92 lbs/sqft = ~1664 lbs of wall not including 2x4's, 4x4 posts, metal posts involved.

I'll do some more math when I get home.

If I need to abandon the metal post supporting the walls, I will.....

You mentioned:
"if you were to use a good adhesive on the bottom plate, you would not degrade the flooring for future construction needs."

Are you saying I could use adhesive on top of the existing ceramic Flooring and attach the bottom plate with that (I'm assuming I would drilling holes through ceramic and lag screw into the floor below)?

Can I lag screw into the existing floor and what size of lag would you recommend?

Will a lag screw damage the top flange on the engineered I-joist in the flooring?

Building is 22 years old.

Brad

 

Okay,

I'm thinking that this is a bad idea.

I've done the math a little more.

The entire structure weighs approximately 2850 lbs. The entire surface area that the structure sits on is 276 sqin. That's 1440 lbs /sqft!

Any thoughts?

Brad

 

Aluminum columns? 1/2" plywood, painted? Don't know the math, but lighter than steel and mdf/melamine panels.