framing wall around diagonal vent pipe
I’m rebuilding a bathroom wall with plumbing pipes in it. There is a 2 in vent pipe that goes up, then runs at a 45 degree slant for 1-2 feet, then straightens back up again. The old wall was made of 2×3’s and barely contained the vent pipe. It was basically 2 walls with a zig-zag break between them connected by less than a half-inch sliver of wood. The pipe was bulging out the back and they wrapped bead-board wainscoting around it.
I’ll rebuild with 2x4s so at least the pipe will fit inside the wall. Is there a better way than building two funny shaped walls either side of the pipe and connecting them with an inch of plank? I’d like to run a stud past the diagonal part of the pipe but I don’t think a stud shoe would fit because the pipe is at an angle.
Replies
If you can get to both sides of the wall, double up the stud, with the notch in the alternate side. screw and glue them together.
You can install blocking to adjacent studs if you want to improve the stability.
If this is a load bearing wall, you might want to look at re-doing the vent pipe to re-route.
Fortunately, it's not a load-bearing wall. Unfortunately, I can't shift it around much and the double-stud way won't work. The side that the pipe is closer to is next to existing hardwood floor. I can't shift the wall in that direction more than maybe half an inch without cutting away the hardwood and having to deal with another wall on the other side of the doorway that's in parallel to it. There will definitely be blocking. Is there a short metal strap I could throw across the cut away portion of the stud or will that do nothing?
https://www.strongtie.com/miscellaneousconnectors_woodconnectors/hss-ss_productgroup_wcc/p/hss.ss
Strapping works fine in tension. but in this application it might not do much.
Thanks for posting that I learned something new. I've never come across a stud shoe before. (Do I need stud socks too?)
I bet you've already considered rerouting the vent? That would be my first thought.
One thing you can consider is replacing some of the drywall with plywood.
a little more mud work should blend it in. (or you can put a layer of 1/4 inch drywall over the whole wall.)
another is to set your new stud wall on top of an extra, narrower (2x3?) bottom plate so it hangs over the hardwood floor in the other room.
mgmahan: Don't believe that would work for a pipe at a 45 deg angle.
oldhand: That would do it but I was hoping to avoid it. The pipe is copper.
I was going to strap some of the walls for drywall. I'll put a thick plate or a piece of strapping over the pipe cutout vertically between the horizontal straps. Thanks for the suggestions.
Copper dwv. Tear it out and sell it. It's probably worth more as scrap than the plastic to replace. it. At least cut out the 45 deg section and run it horizontally (almost because it must run up hill tothe vent.)