Spent 3 hours trying to fix a bowed wall on a garage build

Turns out the foundation was off by half an inch from the start. Ever had a wall fight you this bad?

3 comments

3 Comments

Honestly I gotta push back on cutting studs to match the slab @barbara_baker57. That works if you know the slab is done settling, but on a new garage build it might keep moving. I'd rather shim the plate and let the wall stay plumb even if it means more work later. Had a buddy do it your way on a shed and the drywall cracked anyway cause the slab settled another quarter inch after a wet season. Shimming gives you room to adjust without ripping out studs. Plus a 12 foot run of shims ain't that bad if you use pressure treated stuff and pack it tight.

lee723d ago

Bowed wall" is a good way to put it. I had a wall fight me so bad once I ended up shimming the entire bottom plate and sistering the studs because the foundation was out a full inch on one end. Next time I'm checking the slab with a 6-foot level before I even start framing.

barbara_baker573d ago

12 feet of shimming means your bottom plate is basically floating, and that's a recipe for drywall cracks down the road if the framing ever settles. I actually had a guy argue with me that a 3/4 inch gap under the plate was fine because the top plate was nailed off tight to the joists. Three years later the homeowner called me because the interior wall was pulling away from the ceiling at the corner joint where the drywall tape popped. Sometimes fighting a wall into place and overcompensating can cause more trouble than just cutting the studs to match the slab's slope and letting the drywall guy handle the unevenness with compound. The slab settling over time will just shift that stress somewhere else anyway.