AzureTyger
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So I tore out an old built in in the living room of the new house. I don't know what it was prior to being turned into shelves, but it is 33 inches wide and goes floor to ceiling. After removing it, my idea was to frame in some 2x4s and just drywall over the area since it isn't any kind of load bearing area and will be behind our entertainment center when finished. I measured as best I could and built a frame that is level and square, but when I lifted it into the opening, I found a decent amount of variance on each side, up to maybe 3/4" in different places. This is a very old house and most of the walls are a bit out of kilter.
What should I do? I could fit an even piece of drywall into the opening, but it would have anywhere from a tight fit to 3/4" gap as it goes up the wall. Will joint taping and filling tolerate that kind of gap, or will it just lead to cracks a few months down the road? Should I try to remove more wall and shim my frame into the existing joists?
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Thugoneous
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Hire a contractor.
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Abaddon_Ambrosius
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AzureTyger posted:
So I tore out an old built in in the living room of the new house. I don't know what it was prior to being turned into shelves...
Answer: Asbestos.
See a doctor.
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IMHO
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Dry wall finishing is an art. Find some guy who has some experience in finishing do it. It shouldn't cost much at all and save you tons of frustration.
If you do it you'll never be happy with it and ALWAYS notice it.
frame and hang all the dry wall you want... let a drywall finisher do the mud.
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Koneg
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AzureTyger posted:
What should I do? I could fit an even piece of drywall into the opening, but it would have anywhere from a tight fit to 3/4" gap as it goes up the wall. Will joint taping and filling tolerate that kind of gap, or will it just lead to cracks a few months down the road? Should I try to remove more wall and shim my frame into the existing joists?
It'll work - but as you suspected it'll definitely crack itself up eventually. Your house flexes - it's the nature of any wood based construction.
Your best bet is to shim it. Then before you drywall over it use some expanding foam insulation in the cracks around the frame.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4514831_expanding-foam-fill-household-cracks.html
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Grymlo
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Wide drywall tape and joint compound. Do it slow and let each layer of compound dry then sand it before applying a new layer. 3 or 4 times should be enough, sand it, texture it to match existing texture as close as possible and paint.
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Moe_Nox
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Ideally it would be best to not pre build the frame, but rather to tap in the 2x4s into place and secure each to the existing supports. 3/4" isn't terrible, just divide the space on both sides if this is in the middle of the wall, and if it butts a corner of the room leave the gap larger on that side.
Use extra brackets to secure the new supports in place and there shouldn't be enough play left to cause any noticeable cracks anytime soon.
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MayorShade
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IMHO
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Grymlo posted:
Wide drywall tape and joint compound. Do it slow and let each layer of compound dry then sand it before applying a new layer. 3 or 4 times should be enough, sand it, texture it to match existing texture as close as possible and paint.
 piece-0-cake
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Koneg
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Grymlo posted:
Wide drywall tape and joint compound. Do it slow and let each layer of compound dry then sand it before applying a new layer. 3 or 4 times should be enough, sand it, texture it to match existing texture as close as possible and paint.
Emphasis added. People who don't sand down their topping/taping mix make Elmo cry. 
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Tipztoe
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you want support behind every edge or it will crack.
Since it's not a load bearing wall, you could have put the header and footer in first then the vertical studs after and accounted for any variances accordingly.
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Snarf_Igraine
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AzureTyger posted:
So I tore out an old built in in the living room of the new house. I don't know what it was prior to being turned into shelves, but it is 33 inches wide and goes floor to ceiling. After removing it, my idea was to frame in some 2x4s and just drywall over the area since it isn't any kind of load bearing area and will be behind our entertainment center when finished. I measured as best I could and built a frame that is level and square, but when I lifted it into the opening, I found a decent amount of variance on each side, up to maybe 3/4" in different places. This is a very old house and most of the walls are a bit out of kilter.
What should I do? I could fit an even piece of drywall into the opening, but it would have anywhere from a tight fit to 3/4" gap as it goes up the wall. Will joint taping and filling tolerate that kind of gap, or will it just lead to cracks a few months down the road? Should I try to remove more wall and shim my frame into the existing joists?
You can re-cut a piece of drywall after you measure from top to bottom on left side and top to bottom on right side, there will be about a 3/4" difference as you have described. Draw a straight line from your two different measurements and cut it along that line so your drywall piece will have a slight slope rather than a 90 degree straight edge on your drywall piece. This should fit much better.
OR you could just put your current drywall piece and let your gap be biggest towards the floor and more tight at the ceiling. and using fiberglass mesh tape for the joints, push in as much joint compound as you can and put your first coat. Let dry, sand, and repeat for 3 coats. Your baseboard trim will hide any cracking imperfections that occur from any expansion, same for your crown molding on the ceiling.
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Z-Elder
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You pre built a frame?? noob
as was said hire a finisher, or tape and texture it yourself. You are not talking about a very big variance.
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[quote=AzureTyger]So............. I measured as best I could and built a frame that is level and square, but when I lifted it into the opening, I found a decent amount of variance on each side, up to maybe 3/4" in different places.........../[quote]
You didn't measure well then.
In any case, screw 2x4 to either side, then top and bottom, then add at least 2 cross-pieces.
THEN measutre edge to edge bottom, middle and top, cut the drywall to size and screw it in place.
THEN hire a mudder.
edit: I believe they prefer 'Taper'.
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AzureTyger
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I don't ming reworking the framing to get it right. I have someone else lined up to do the mudding, I am not even going to futz with that stuff.
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Halloweve
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I learned how to mud n tape n sand sand sand sand sand a few years ago.
It made me feel like a real woman.  I like it..but you gotta have patience or you will fug it up.
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AzureTyger
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Moe_Nox posted:
Ideally it would be best to not pre build the frame, but rather to tap in the 2x4s into place and secure each to the existing supports. 3/4" isn't terrible, just divide the space on both sides if this is in the middle of the wall, and if it butts a corner of the room leave the gap larger on that side.
Use extra brackets to secure the new supports in place and there shouldn't be enough play left to cause any noticeable cracks anytime soon.
One reason I wanted to prebuild the frame is that it is an 11' ceiling and I wanted to put it together in two pieces top and bottom. If I take it out and plate the top and bottom then attach directly to the existing supports, can I use two pieces with corner braces, or should I go ahead and get long enough supports to go from plate to plate and then just screw in horizontal supports every few feet?
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Darkblade_The_Great
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It's an old house so things are not going to be level. Put the top and bottom plates in place. If the ceiling is 11', get 12 foot boards and cut each one to fit. You will notice that each one is going to have to be cut a different length do to the floor and ceiling both probably being out of level. Then you are going to want to put at least one row of horizontal braces(or fire blocks, what ever you want to call them) to keep it all rigid.
Keep your gaps as small as possible when sheet rocking as the bigger they are the higher the likely hood that they are going to crack over time. As far as taping and mudding I would personally hire somebody to do it. I can do it, but I hate it and I spend about 50 times longer than somebody that does it for a living.
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Z-Elder
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If you are talking about a frame that the Sheetrock will be nailed to then I wouldn't bother reframing. It doesn't matter what it looks like as long as there are enough studs to hold your rock in place.
When you open up a wall in an old house one never knows what you will find for framing. The older the house the more creative they were. And every noob that has owned it ever since.
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DemonicXH
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Is there a particular reason that you are just going to close in the space?
I had something similar in my house, except it didn't go to the ceiling and I ripped it out and put my entertainment center in there.
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"Hot Mud" Quick-Setting Drywall Compound, It can be purchased in formulas with various setting times... 20-30min, 30-60min and 60-120min + fiberglass drywall tape great for 3/4 gaps
dont try and Wet Sponge "Hot Mud"
http://www.homeimprovementplace.com/how-to-tape-and-float-sheetrock/
do it yourself
http://homerenovations.about.com/od/wallsandtrim/a/artwetsponge.htm
How to Wet Sponge Joint Compound
Following is a brief description of the process. For a detailed, step-by-step description, see Drywall Wet Sanding in 6 Steps.
1.Start with joint compound that is not completely dry. However the compound should be dry enough that it won't immediately smear off when you touch it. Drywall joint compound a few hours old should be right.
2.Soak sponge in bucket, then squeeze out.
3.Start with light, circular motions. Remember, let the water do the work more than pressure from your hand. Right now, you're just concentrating on the high ridges and the spiky portions.
4.When it gets too difficult or the smears are too thick, rinse out and squeeze sponge in bucket. Sponge should be wetter than on the first pass.
5.On this second pass, since you've already taken down the high ridges, you can concentrate on lowering the joint compound "bump."
6.After two passes, you're done. Any more wet sponging will get the drywall paper too wet. If two passes aren't sufficient, you may need to dry sand the joint compound.
Hopper and Texture Spray Guns
http://fantastictools.com/old_site/pages/texture_guns.htm
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AzureTyger
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DemonicXH posted:
Is there a particular reason that you are just going to close in the space?
I had something similar in my house, except it didn't go to the ceiling and I ripped it out and put my entertainment center in there.
I have a large entertainment center that would cover half of it up while the rest was just a big blank 21/2 foot wide opening to the ceiling. Also they had covered up the crappy edges with a two or three inch protruding decorative frame, so it would have pushed the entertainment center out from the wall. I don't really know what else to do with it, it's in the middle of the only wall where the TV can go.
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Bonzoboy1
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Pull out the damn frame and build one in place so it fits right, it ain't rocket science, I know.
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Grymlo
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You are over thinking a simple project. This isnt rocket surgery. The framing doesnt need to be perfect. You can have no backing at the edge for drywall up to 6 or 8 inches and you will be fine. Throw up the drywall the best you can and as long as you are with 1 inch of your goal use mud to fill the gaps, tape it and start the finishing process as explained above.
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