Wall framing bowed.

11 years ago

It's time for painting the master b/r. I noticed that a bedroom wall is bulging.

The framing seems to have one stud that's not in line with th others. If I lay a yardstick on the sheetrock on one side of the stud, there's a gap of one inch on the other side. To further confuse things, on the other side of the wall (in a bathroom) there is no depression in that wall, AND the sheetrock seems to be tight against the same stud

The floor molding is also bowed, which to me sounds like the framing was not straight, and it's not just a matter of the one stud being out of kilter. Any suggestions?

Featured Answer

tom418
Original Author

11 years ago

kudzu9: I also had a sheetrocked-over outlet, but that resulted in a "localized" bulge (the rockers forgot to rotozip the box).

The bulge I'm talking about runs top to bottom, including the soleplate! I'm puzzled becuase if its a bowed stud, or 2 x 6 that's actually thicker than 5.5 inches, then I wouldn't expect the floor molding to be affected.

Like Brickeyee said, I won't know until I open it up. I dread this.....

Comments (8)

sombreuil_mongrel
11 years ago
Could also be a 4" drain pipe inside a 3 1/2" wall cavity causing the bulge. Plumbers do strange things to framing.
What can you do? Not much without opening the wall.
Casey
tom418
Original Author
11 years ago
Casey: The bulge is right where the stud is. Also, I should have pointed out thet the studs along this wall are 2 x 6. I somehow think there's something besides a stud causing the bulge also...
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brickeyee
11 years ago
"I somehow think there's something besides a stud causing the bulge also..."

Time to open the wall and look.
live_wire_oak
11 years ago
There's no fixing this without ripping out the drywall and assessing the actual problem behind the wall. It could be as simple as planing down a stud slightly or as complex as re-routing a pipe that a plumber didn't center in the cavity.
tom418
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes. I was hoping that someone would have said to take a hammer to the top and bottom plates :(

I have a similar situation in my basement, looking up at the joists that make up first floor framing. I'll rip out the drywall to the next studs, replace and tape.
kudzu9
11 years ago
I ran into this in my remodel. It turned out to be an electrical box that had been sheetrocked over with no hole cut for it.
brickeyee
11 years ago
Open carefully and it will not be all that hard to repair.

A lot depends on what you find in there anyway.