Back to the bridge-wall, with a slight change of plans

After carefully drawing lines all over the floor, investigating the width of stock bi-fold closet doors, making allowances for door swing, door-knob depth and molding, I came to the conclusion last weekend that the 5-foot french-door unit that I purchased a few months ago is slightly too wide.

Perfectly straight lumber makes the job easier!

While I could proceed as planned, there would be too many headaches and custom cuts and compromises to make the little bedroom closets work.  Therefore, I intend to negotiate a swap this week at Lowe's:   trade in my 5-foot unit for 4-foot french doors.

With that decision made on Sunday, it was off to Home Depot for more studs. A huge advantage to buying lumber off the floor – rather than having it delivered – is that you can pick through the piles and get the straightest boards.

I asked a sullen teen-age worker at Home Depot to cut the straps on an unopened bundle of  lumber. The kid, who reminded me of Letterman's "Dwight the Troubled Teen," told me that he was not authorized to do so until the miscellaneous boards on top were sold. (Those boards were all warped and crooked). When he saw what was about to spew out of my mouth, he cut the straps.

I began  by nailing wall plates to the underside of the attic rafters.

The red arrows indicate the direction of the crown of each stud. I

want them all facing in the same direction, however slight they bow.

At checkout, the cashier offered me $50 if I would open a Home Depot credit account. I just couldn't resist getting seventy-something dollars worth of lumber for twenty-something dollars.

I had originally hoped to prebuild portions of this wall on the floor and then raise them into place – as one would do with brand new construction.  But this project requires joining new work with existing walls that aren't quite straight. Therefore, I found it is easier to build this wall stick-by-stick to ensure that everything is plumb and straight.

The center opening is 50" wide – to accommodate a 48" french door unit.

There will be a 4x6 header over this 50" door opening. Above, I have placed a temporary 2x6 onto the jack studs to test the width. This is a non-load-bearing wall – it holds nothing but itself up, therefore I don't have to worry about all the hassles I encountered when installing the new window on the exterior wall (temporary jacks, etc.)   Once I install the 4x6 header beam, I will nail cripple blocks above it – though they will serve no structural purpose other than as backing for drywall attachment.

Above and below: The angled cuts required a bit of trial and error, mostly because of the sloppy workmanship on the existing 20-year-old wall. I used a combination of nails and screws to mount the floor plates onto the plywood.

Before I tie the cubby-closet walls into this wall, I want to drop into Lowe's and take a measurement of the french doors.  The depth of the closets will be determined by the swing-back arc of the french doors. Any excess depth for the closets will rob us of bedroom space.  Anne tells me that every inch counts when fitting bedroom furniture. Although we intend to use this as a tea room, it may also need to function as a bedroom.