I am starting to think about my next project at home and had some questions. I am going to be redoing the kitchen and upstairs bathrooms in our house. One of the problems I will be encountering is that when we do the kitchen I will be eliminating the room adjacent to the kitchen to make the kitchen bigger. The current interior shared wall between these rooms has the plumbing in it to go to the upstairs bathrooms.
With that wall removed I have to move all of the plumbing to the outside wall, which is currently a 2×4 wall. My neighbor with the same house just did this and kept the 2×4 outside wall. I am just a DIY’r, but shouldn’t the outside wall be made 2×6 to accomodate the plumbing pipes and extra insulation to keep the pipes from freezing? (I am in Long Island, NY.)
Thanks.
Brad
Replies
Good idea to. Make it as thick as possible.
Is it OK to rip a 2x4 down to 2" and screw it to the existing stud to make it a 2x6 wall?
That's one way to do it. Depending on how much room you have to give up you could also build an entirely new wall inside of the existing. If you can't 6" is better than 4". You are probably thinking of 6" R-19 batts for your new 6" wall?
If you decide to thicken your existing wall, your idea of adding 2x2's is acceptable and routinely done without incident. If you don't mind losing a couple more inches, it probably would be better to just run another interior wall inside the old outside wall leaving the insulation and drywall intact. The chase idea often works. Decorative soffits can add interest to a ceiling while hiding dropped plumbing runs. FKA Blue (eyeddevil)
Is the existing wall structual? Meaning, does it hold a weight from above and transfer that load to a supportive structure below?
Yes, the exterior wall that I will be making a 2x6 wall is a structural outside wall on the back of the house.
The one you wanna take out. Is that a structural wall?
The wall that's being removed is not structural.
before U tear anything apart would be a good time to call in the plumber and see what he'd need and where.
2 story house on LI ... I'm guessing there's a drain stack in that existing wet wall, running from the basement and sevring the upper floor as well?
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff is right. Contact a (the) plumber and find out what he(you) need to get down between the floors. Insulate any of the plumbing FROM the outside. Leave out any insulation to the inside (heated) of the house. Still a #### shoot if you cannot block any and all air leaks into that stud cavity. And that includes coming in from below-you leave a gap there and one at the top of the wall and you can generate a pretty hellacious wind tunnel.
edit: Don't forget, you can box in that plumbing chase-don't necessarily have to fur the whole wall out.
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Edited 11/30/2007 9:19 pm ET by calvin
I'm with Calvin, in terms of design, a soffit (is that what you call them if they're running up a wall?) or even a pillar (if you keep plumbing in the middle of the wall where it is) can be an opportunity for some architectural detail. give some thought to exactly how your new kitchen will be most functionally laid out, decide things like if you want a walk in pantry. If you think through the whole design, maybe you will decided you do not have to move your plumbing all that far.(What I mean about the pantry is that perhaps your existing plumbing will happen to conveniently run up to the side of a door that will lead to your new pantry?)
Edited 12/2/2007 10:50 pm ET by Dr. Becks