Interior framing remodel question

[Kodi Crescent]

Hi,

I've got myself into a bit of a pickle.  I did some floor joist enhancement on my own home where I had to remove and replace some interior non-load bearing walls.  I'm in the process of replacing the walls.  One wall will be a partition between a closet and a bath.  The bath side of the wall will be a tiled shower.  The closet side drywall.  Another wall will be the partition wall between the bathroom and the living space.  The last wall will be the partition wall between the closet and the living space.  Both of these partition walls will have doors.  The closet will get a 24" hinged door, and the bath to living space partition will receive a pocket door.

I didn't have my wall design and door placement planned out well enough to build the wall on the floor and raise it, so I fastened the top and bottom plate, and then added the studs in between.  I used 3" deck screws.  I'm working alone, don't have a framing nailer, and I'm not a skilled nailer.

I've been reading various things regarding nails vs. screws.  It seems many people prefer nails for a variety of reasons.  I asked the PE I had used for my floor stuff about this, and he didn't have any reservations with using the screws.  The building code specifies nails though.  The walls are up and in place with the screws.

I was considering several options:

1. Do nothing, and leave the screws in place.
2. Toenail in place and keep the screws.
3. Toenail in place and remove the screws.
4. Tear the whole thing down and face nail and toe nail.

Space and help are limited.

Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[FinishingCanuck]

The method you described is known here as stick framing. It's common in basements and remodels. I wouldn't worry about screws or nails in what you are doing. Nails are better for things like laminating beams together or sistering new joists to old ones. I would have used nails (I have a framing nailer) for speed.

I'd say leave it. You're good

 

[bigjonh]

Non load bearing wall, I wouldn't worry about it. Screws don't have the shear strength of nails, so in a bracing or bearing wall it's more of an issue.  You could always practice your toe nailing now though. In the future if your still uncomfortable with nails, you could use GRK R4 framing screws, most Home Depots stock them now.

 

[BMH]

I use GRK screws all the time when I stick frame non load bearing wall use the Kreg jig to do it. It is very handy when you expect to need to modify the wall during the framing process of working is small spaces

 

[tjbnwi]

If you really want the mental comfort change the screws to the GRK RSS screws (as mentioned by BHM). They are structure rated.

Tom

 

[duburban]

I'm not impressed with the grk R4's vs the Griprite Primegaurd (green) deck screws. Those deck screws are incredibly strong. I've snapped R4s in situations that a Primegaurd would never have an issue with.

With that being said, many stick frame situations get improperly installed with drywall screws and hold up just fine.

 

[rizzoa13]

A non load bearing wall could honestly hold up on its on just by cutting the posts a 16th long and hammering them in tight. That should give you some peace of mind.

 

[itchy]

I would agree with most people here screws will be fine for a non load bearing wall.

 

[Northern Early]

Another to agree, I see no need to swap out the screws, add nails if you feel you need but i wouldn't.

Nailing is quicker, allot quicker. There are certain places a nail does better. When i am doing a minor stud installation i will often use deck screws instead of pulling out the pneumatics, especially if it is in a location where swinging a hammer would be cumbersome.

 

[wow]

Another vote for screws. Use 'em all the time.

I disagree with the idea to add nails now, though. Unless you pre-drill for them, you're likely to end up splitting the end of your board with that many fasteners in that small of an area.

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Thank you all.  That puts my mind at ease.

One other question though - How would I secure my headers to the stick framing when I go to frame the door?  Would I still use screws, or would I use nails in this case?  One rough opening is 26", the other rough opening is 62".  While the 62" opening is for a 24" bathroom pocket door, I want to add some clearance to get to the plumbing through the drywall in case I ever needed to.  The extra width allows me to space my studs more conveniently.

While were at it, what size headers?  I'm assuming a double 2x6 for the 24" door.  The originally had a double cripple and at least one 2x10's or 2x12's for that one.  I'm thinking about using the double 2x10's or 2x12's for the 62" opening with a double cripple.  The wider lumber would eliminate the need to add the short cripples between the header and top plate.

Is this strategy okay, or would you recommend something else?

Thanks!

 

[wow]

Thank you all.  That puts my mind at ease.

One other question though - How would I secure my headers to the stick framing when I go to frame the door?  Would I still use screws, or would I use nails in this case?  One rough opening is 26", the other rough opening is 62".  While the 62" opening is for a 24" bathroom pocket door, I want to add some clearance to get to the plumbing through the drywall in case I ever needed to.  The extra width allows me to space my studs more conveniently.

While were at it, what size headers?  I'm assuming a double 2x6 for the 24" door.  The originally had a double cripple and at least one 2x10's or 2x12's for that one.  I'm thinking about using the double 2x10's or 2x12's for the 62" opening with a double cripple.  The wider lumber would eliminate the need to add the short cripples between the header and top plate.

Is this strategy okay, or would you recommend something else?

Thanks!

I'd probably use nails for their shear strength. Your jack studs hold up the header and all the weight, so all the fasteners are doing is holding the header in place on top of the jack studs. That's a shear load.

BTW, we might be using slightly different terms to describe the same things? Here's a description of framing terms as I learned them:

[attachthumb=1]

 

[tjbnwi]

2x4 And 2x6 are all you need. This being a non load bearing wall, unless the open distance is more than 14.5" between threader and top plates I would not worry to much about the in fill. Drywall spans 14.5" with no problems at all.

Tom

 

[Kodi Crescent]

I meant double jack studs in that previous post.

Thanks for the info.  I'm an amateur at framing (obviously).  This is a finished attic.  When I tore these walls out, they were framed using double top plates, and double headers on all the doorways.  I read somewhere that some framers just build all the walls like they are load bearing instead of trying to remember which are bearing and which aren't.  My assumption is the 2x10 headers they used were from the scrap pile and were easier to install and nail in than cutting the lumber for hte appropriate sized headers and installing the cripples above the doorway.  Please correct me if I'm wrong on that assumption.  I was planning on building it like it was before.  I believe they used double jacks as well.

All the walls in this house seem to have double headers.  I have a hard time believing that these walls are load bearing, since the longest one ran parallel to the ceiling joists (the horizontal framing members above that are holding up the drywall and insulation that I can crawl on inbetween my roof deck and finished attic below - I'm assuming this is what you call these) and were connected to blocking between joist spans.  The shorter wall was (now is) perpendicular to the joists, but it only ran 6' into a 30' space.  I'm assuming these are not load bearing, but I welcome any correction on that assumption.

As a related question, in a finished attic the 60" knee walls aren't load bearing are they?  My assumption is they build those walls to finish the space, not for any structural integrity.  Is that correct?

 

[Brent Taylor]

At one time in my career I was a Building Inspector for 4 different towns & townships, I had to used 1 of 3 national codes ( worst 15 years of my life) and all of the code are open to different ideas and methods, most depends on the Inspector. As a builder of nearly 40 years, I can say that I used screws to install framing together for at least 20 years & none of the buildings have fallen over yet and all had past Code. As for non-load bearing headers they are not needed for the spans you are talking about, but with a pocket door I always used them for ease  of installation & mind. You can frame the walls on the floor, if you make them a 1/2" shorter that the shortest ceiling height. And last but not least, you could use steel studs & really make the job easier.

 

[rvieceli]

As a related question, in a finished attic the 60" knee walls aren't load bearing are they?  My assumption is they build those walls to finish the space, not for any structural integrity.  Is that correct?

That is usually correct. But I have seen instances where the knee walls were structural and allowed the use of smaller sized rafters with the support of the wall in there.

 

[wow]

As a related question, in a finished attic the 60" knee walls aren't load bearing are they?  My assumption is they build those walls to finish the space, not for any structural integrity.  Is that correct?

That is usually correct. But I have seen instances where the knee walls were structural and allowed the use of smaller sized rafters with the support of the wall in there.

This^^^

We don't have enough information to answer that. We'd need to know the lumber size, span, arrangement, etc. to even take an educated guess.