I need to move a non-loadbearing laundry room wall out 27 inches to accommodate side by side clothes washer and dryer and relocate a water heater from the crawl space to the main floor of the laundry room, the water heater floods out during long heavy rain spells. Do I need to cut out all the existing dry wall from the finished wall and ceiling and use a double top plate to tie into wood-on-wood or can I use a single top plate and snug the new wall up with dry wall between the ceiling joist and the wall stud fastened with nails. Any source of reference material or other visual aids would be welcomed as well as any input from taunton press/fine homebuilding publications on reference material.
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I would use steel stud track and just glue and screw it to the drywall. Use track top and bottom and then just screw new metal or wood studs into the track.
or
You could reuse your exisiting wall frameing. Demo all studs and plates and pull nails. Attach one top plate to the drywall ceiling with glue and 3" screws or nails. If there is no ceiling joists for backing, do not worry. Just use glue (liquid nails) and screw through drywall on an angle. Then frame your new wall on the ground with one bottom and one top plate. Make it at least about 1/2" shorter than your lowest point between the top plate on the ceiling and floor. Then stand the new wall up and shim between the two top plates with shingles to snug the wall up. The shingles are just backing so be carefull not to do them too tight or they might lift the ceiling a bit. Then just fasten the top plate together with 3" screws or nails.
Go and start this project right now and the hardest part of it will be done.
Ace