Straightening/Making Plumb Wall Studs

[Electrician Wannabe]

Having taken down the old plaster and lathe, I have found (not to my surprise) that many of hte old studs have either bowed or racked. Further, the studs are all out of plumb by about 1/2" over the approx. 9 foot wall span(that is to say the bottom of the studs are farther back then the tops by about a 1/2 inch)

This wall will hold kitchen cabinets, so the finished wall has to be pretty darm plumb so I don't have unsighly gaps between the cabs and the finished wall (not the mention the added pain the butt of hanging the cabs on an out-of-wack wall)

Any suggestion? I am currently envisioning: (1)finding the stud that sticks out into the kitchen the most (the one that is bowed the most) ; (2) determine how much the bow in the stud sticks out from the edge of the top plate (I am goin to use the edge of the top plate as my arbitrary straight guideline for the wall); (3) sister a light-weight steel stud to each wood stud, starting at the top and attaching the steel stud so it is proud of the edge of teh top plate whateever the delta is that I determine in step 2 above, and then plumbing and attaching the rest of the length of the steel stud to the wood stud; (4) repeat for each stud al the way down the wall.

This is much more work than I was hoping to do at this stage, but I see no other choice. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Electrician Wannabe]

Does this issue really never come up for people? I have to assume that anyone who has remodeled or who does remodeling for a living has had to come upon this same issue, especially when dealing with more older homes Sigh. :stupido2:

[scuba_dave]

My last house was built in 1905
I gutted the kitchen, insulated & put up new sheetrock & sub floor
It was a "quick fix" (winter) so I shimmed sheetock - this is the method that was used previously.
I only "worried" about getting it close
Between the bottom & top cabinets I installed tiles
I did have to slightly shim some cabinets, but it came out pretty good

Removing the 12 layers of flooring also eliminated the ~6" step from the kitchen to the main room :argh:

[househelper]

I think your plan is a good one, but I would use wood studs instead of steel.

[Electrician Wannabe]

Thanks for the comments. I am leaning to steel, because I am so fed up with the crappy quality of lumber these days. Even abandoning the Big Box Store for the lumber yard doesn't seem to help anymore. Can't get a straight 2x4 for the life of me. Since I will only be using the steel studs as a surface to secure the drywall, I don't think it will be a problem. Since the wood studs will be no more than 1/2" reset from teh edge of the sistered, steel studs, I think I will still be able to attach the cabinets directly to the wood studs and blocking.

The whole thing seems like a big pain in the butt though. Maybe I'll just hire a plasterer and replaster wall - that way they can level it out for me and save me the effort.

[pushkins]

I agree that your on the right track, I'd use wood for the wall though but I see where your coming from in regards to straight wood.
I never buy any 2x4 stock that isn't premium and seldom ever buy it at Lowe's or H.Depot, if I do I pick each piece out.

You could always snap a chaulk line down each stud and plane down the bows.

Does the wall toe in or out, or are the studs just bowed in the middle ?

[Fischer]

If one or more of the studs stands very proud, you can take a skill saw at the middle and cut a horizontal kerf 3/4 of the way through it. You can then sister another stud along side of it, and the cut stud will bend into a straight plane. If this is a bearing wall you can usually safely cut one stud at a time and correct the bow.