Hello.
Just as new to this forum as I am to home ownership. I'll be moving into a semi-detached house that is cosmetically a bit shabby in about 6 weeks, so there will surely be questions...
The current dilemma is as follows:
Some smart aleck of a previous owner apparently really liked arches, because they made a wide arch in the wall between the bedroom and living room. Even if the opening wasn't arch-shaped, I wouldn't want it open between the bedroom and living room.
No, so it's going to be a full wall there, pretty pronto!
If you look at the picture... Do you have to tear down the entire wall and start over, or could it work to attach new studs on top of the existing wall sections and work from there? What's easiest, best, and smoothest perhaps? How to do it? No door or anything needed in the wall. Just a nice straight flat wall. Insulated, of course.
(Picture from the showing)
Grateful for ALL kinds of input and thoughts. Thanks
Level and insulate the vault and then put new drywall on everything. Alternatively, you can remove the existing "snuttar" on the sides to be able to insulate all the way out.
Why insulate an interior wall??
I think it's enough to remove the old wall covering along the entire wall, install new studs in the archway, and drywall everything that needs to be covered.
Of course, isolating is the way to go; anything else would be madness.
I think it's probably just as easy to tear everything down since it's easier to match the cc-measurements on the studs if you start from scratch.
Just consider "sharing" the floor between the bedroom and living room too.
It could be boring to have to tear down the wall to lay new flooring in one of the rooms.
Or am I thinking wrong?
You'll have trouble getting the stud spacings right if you don't remove the old plaster. A compromise is to tear down one side, adjust the studs to match the old ones, recess a layer of plaster into the ceiling, and then put a complete new layer of plaster on top. This way, you'll also have double plaster on one side, which provides better soundproofing. The question is, which side? The side that is just a plaster wall is definitely where you'll want to hang a heavy TV. So the simplest and neatest solution is probably to tear everything down and rebuild with OSB + plaster on both sides.
What kind of flooring is it actually? plank flooring, single-strip parquet/laminate, or vinyl?
If it's a screwed-down plank floor, it's possible to place the wall on it, although it might be a bit tricky in the future. But if it's floating parquet/laminate, I think you should saw out the floor and put the bottom stud against the floor underneath.
Does the pinewood shock continue in the rest of the house?
really strange layout . I would guess that the sleeping area is an emergency solution for a mobility-impaired "smartskaft" who couldn't go up the stairs. It was maybe a living room and dining room in a row with an archway in between from the start?
There is often a better explanation for things than just bad taste
gaia
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What kind of floor is it really? plank floor, one-strip parquet/laminate, or vinyl flooring?
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Does the pine shock continue in the rest of the house?
I actually don't know what kind of floor it is. It's vinyl flooring, but I hope there's a wooden floor hidden under the plastic. The house was built in 1942.
The pine shock is complete. Every single room, including the toilet and the insulated attic, boasts astonishing amounts of wonderfully yellowed lacquered pine on the ceilings. :|
Ceiling painting will become my new full-time hobby this fall...
truly an unusual layout . I would guess the sleeping area is a makeshift solution for a disabled "smarthead" who couldn't go up the stairs. It might have been a living room and dining room with an arch in between originally?
There's often a better explanation for things than just bad taste
gaia
Indeed, that's usually the case. However, here it leans more towards an arch-lover having a field day. (This isn't the only arch, let's just say. Hihi.) Single-story house, and it could very well be that the person used the bedroom as a dining room or something and slept in the other bedroom.
As mentioned, it's a semi-detached house; the other end is a mirrored copy of my end, and there is a bedroom (wardrobes and all) with a full wall against the living room.
At the other end, my ex-husband will be living, and the kids and cats will have a great time with their every-other-week living arrangement
