Soon after reading Kevin Ireton’s article Pocket Doors, I needed to fix a pocket door in a 2×4 wall. Its skimpy 3/4-in. split jamb had flexed at the junction between the split jamb and the header. Result: cracks in the drywall at the corners. To solve this, I stiffened the walls near the split jamb without thickening them or tearing them open.
First I removed the door stops and the door, allowing access to the inside of the wall. Next I cut a couple of 1x4s to fit between the header and the plate adjacent to each half of the split jamb, as shown in the drawing. The 1x4s are meant to take a load from the side, reducing the bending that caused the cracks. To make them extra stiff, I screwed 1/8-in. thick by 3/4-in. wide steel straps to their edges with drywall screws on 1-ft. centers.
Before slipping each 1×4 in place, I ran a liberal bead of drywall adhesive down the face that bears against the back of the drywall. Then I used 1-1/8-in. drywall screws to secure the 1x4s to the finished walls. After patching the cracks and holes, the walls were ready to paint.
—Bruce G. Koprucki, Chaska, MN
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #63
