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| Hello,
We are doing a kitchen remodel and hired a contractor to move a load bearing wall back 5 3/4 inches. Our contractor did not remove the drywall on the ceiling so the drywall is sandwiched between the floor joists and the doubled-up 2 x 4's that are running horizontally framing the new wall. I would think that it is not a good idea to have this drywall sandwiched in there because drywall can compress. Do you think this is a problem? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Doubled-up 2x4s don't suggest much of a bearing wall to me. If that's what it is, the drywall should have been cut out. |
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| If the floor joists are perpendicular to the bearing wall then the bearing area of each joist on the gypsum board is about 1.5" x 3.5". Drywall has a compressive strength of about 350 psi so the drywall shouldn't fail until the load is over 1,800 lbs. which is unlikely to occur unless the joists span an unusually great distance or the bearing wall continues to the next floor and supports another floor and/or roof. The drywall is quite capable of supporting normal floor loads is they are not concentrated at a point. That's all I can say without knowing the actual loads involved. I would be more concerned about what is supporting the bearing wall now that it has been moved. I would also check to see that the joists above are continuous over the wall and that the joists are strong enough for the increased span on one side. |
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