Replies

1. 
   sapwood | Mar 31, 2015 12:23pm | #1

   Rebuild the existing wall.

2. 
   cussnu2 | Mar 31, 2015 12:30pm | #2

   You could reframe the current wall you could frame the new with 2x6s and then sister to the existing wal a plumb wall that matches up with the new depth

3. 
   DanH | Mar 31, 2015 04:48pm | #3

   One option is to make the bit of new wall out to the end of the stairway match the old, use some sort of trim feature, or a small offset, to conceal the irregular joint.  This is sort of like using a "reveal" on window trim to hide the fact that trim may not fit perfectly.

4. 
   oldhand | Mar 31, 2015 06:51pm | #4

   probably you've already considered...

   You can't move the existing wall  into plumb?

5. 
   user-2865526 | Apr 01, 2015 11:35am | #5

   Thanks everyone for the replies.

   I'm just an average do-it-yourselfer...so, I'm thinking moving or rebuilding load bearing walls is a little bit outside my ability zone at the moment.  The other end of the existing wall supports a large LVL beam which supports 8 or 9 joists.   There would also be drywall to be redone inside the stairwell.

   DanH, I like the idea of an offset or trim feature to hide this joint.  I don't have any experience (yet) with trimwork, so  I'm trying to workout what this would look like.  Any thoughts on whether an offset or trim would work better here? 

6. 
   user-2865526 | Apr 01, 2015 12:16pm | #6

   Here's what I came up with..any thoughts?

   Here's how trim might look.  I wasn't sure what profile to put on the trim so I just made something up:

   View Image   View Image

   Here's a 3 1/2" offset:

   View Image

   Thoughts?  Is this what you had in mind DanH?

1. 
   DanH | Apr 01, 2015 12:40pm | #7

   I had in mind matching the existing wall out to the end of the stairs, then making the jump.  You could even disguise it with wide door trim, depending on how close that door really is.

7. 
   user-2865526 | Apr 02, 2015 12:09pm | #8

   Hi finefinish, thank you for your response and thanks for your comments on my drawing...sketchup is an awesome tool, well worth the time I've spent learning it over the years.

   I've attached two photos of the situation.  If I were to attempt to make the existing stairwell wall plumb, I'd have to do one of two things:  1)  move the top plate into the stairwell or 2) move the bottom plate away from the stairwell.

   Option 1: This would cause the upstairs stairwell wall to be out of line with the basement stairwell wall, so all the dry wall on that side would have to come down, the upper floor wall shimmed out to match the new wall below, then redrywalled, etc.

   Option 2: I put a floor insulation and subfloor in my basement, which is blocking this bottom plate from moving, so I'm thinking I would have to rip a bit of that up, then maybe add a new bottom plate (the original was glued and nailed to the concrete) and then move each stud, one by one, so that part of it spans the old plate and new plate at the same time? This would move the drywall inside the stairwell further away from the stairs creating a larger gap.  That section of drywall might survive the stud movement, or maybe not.

   At least that's what I think my options are in relation to plumbing up this wall.  By the way, I think the builder was just sloppy.  The builder went out of business back in 2009.  The house is only about 10 years old. 

   I'm not sure I understand your idea of adding 2" tapered rips.  That seems to imply taking all the drywall down inside the stairwell on that side?  Am I right?

   This is very frustrating!

   
1. 
   mark122 | Apr 02, 2015 04:49pm | #9

   you will probably spend more time and money trying to work around the issue and come up with a solution then you would just fixing the problem.

   but if you dont want to plumb it you can completly bypass the wall thats causing the issue. build a secondary wall in front of the out of plum wall, 90 back to your door wall.