Making a stud wall feel more "solid"

[Deleted member 307320]

Unfortunately, like most builds of the past 20 years, my house is full of horrible flimsy stud walls which flex and echo when they get knocked.

I'd like to make them at least feel a bit more substantial, so I was wondering about injecting blobs of expanding foam in various places...

Obviously the foam would probably fall to the floor, but what if I drilled a hole, inserted a plastic chemfix sleeve, and injected the foam into that?

I know it might sound a bit odd, but I'm rather fussy about this sort of thing and smashing down the wall and rebuilding seems a bit crazy!

 

[cdbe]

In theory there should be acoustic insulation in the walls - if not then fully filling with foam might achieve something (if it doesn't burst the wall).

Best is probably additional sheet(s) of plasterboard (or OSB then plasterboard) if you can lose the width.

 

[opps]

How are the walls constructed?

My stepson's first property was in a 80's build. He asked me to fit a heated towel rail in his bathroom.

I started by drilling a series of holes to find the studs. I couldn't find any.

On closer inspection, I discovered that the walls were 9.5mm plasterboard glued to 25mm plasterboard, glued to another layer of 9.mm (with 1" by 1" to hold the wall in place).

My concern with the chemix sleeves is that if the wall still has any bounce, in the event of an impact, it may push the collar out enough to raise the filler on the wall.

 

[phatboy]

Strip 1 side, ensure the wall has 50mm of sound insulation, then fix a layer of 9mm ply or OSB, then re-plasterboard.

We had to build a wall this way as it was structural (Stop a long block wall moving in the wind), and it feels pretty robust. It is built of 4x2 though, yours could be metal stud.

 

[^woody^]

You are better off with a self help book to overcome your studwallaphobia, and if need be deal with any perceived echos with suitable wall decoration material.

You will not make a stud wall any different or "better" unless you rebuild it to a different design with different materials.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Expanding foam in a confined space is probably capable of bursting thin plasterboard, or at least pushing it outwards if it's nailed rather than screwed.

The only fix is to flog your newbuild and buy a proper house (1960s or earlier). Just have lots of tools and money ready, you'll probably need them.

 

[big-all]

a certain IT expert turned handyman foam fill a stud shower wall with foam the next day it bowed so he hacked off the bulge and covered with plasterboard next day the same happened ---aaaaand a third time all with the initial foam application
the way it works is it expands with the outer layer setting but the liquid in the middle want to expand so pressures the plasterboard till it bows
next day you remove the bump but the set foam still has liquid foam pushing
and it will keep happening until the liquid has less push than the plasterboard can handle then the foam will eventuall set in the middle
this was an attempt to span a large width without a stud and foam for strength but allowed bowing quite easilly

 

[Deleted member 307320]

Expanding foam in a confined space is probably capable of bursting thin plasterboard, or at least pushing it outwards if it's nailed rather than screwed.

The only fix is to flog your newbuild and buy a proper house (1960s or earlier). Just have lots of tools and money ready, you'll probably need them.

I can't imagine that's my "only" solution...

I mean, I could simply remove one side of the crappy stud wall, reinforce it, fill the cavity with rockwool and reboard for a couple of hundred quid...

Not ideal, but surely better than selling the house?

 

[^woody^]

Expanding foam in a confined space is probably capable of bursting thin plasterboard, or at least pushing it outwards

LOL.

 

[Deleted member 307320]

LOL.

It's not a problem I've ever had personally, I used spray sticky foam to sort out a couple of dot n dab walls in my old flat which had come loose...

I can imagine it being a problem if I sprayed a whole can in, but the intention was just to do a few small blobs!

 

[^woody^]

No, expanding foam is not some sort of super-strong material that will push any and everything in its way.

It's actually quite hollow, and if constrained just becomes slightly more dense. We often see something similar on this forum, and I think I'll coin the phrase "the foam effect" from now on.

 

[cdbe]

Two completely opposing accounts of the power, or not, of expanding foam. I've certainly seen it distort plastic window frames when not adequately fixed - even when there's room for it to expand out the side.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

It's OK if it's got somewhere to go. If you squirt it into a part of a cavity it will be fine, as it will expand into the rest of the cavity. If you completely fill a cavity or any other confined space then you may have issues with it pushing things outwards, e.g. bulging or lifting boards.

Also it's a permanent fire risk if using the standard stuff, and an explosive fire risk while setting. It can also cause overheating in electrical cables, which will have been specified for use in air, not submerged in foam.

I doubt that standard rockwool would have any effect. I think there may be specific sound deadening versions though, presumably much denser.

You could look at over-boarding the walls, i.e. putting new plasterboard over the existing. This will shrink your rooms slightly but will definitely make it less like a movie set.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

For the know-it-alls who doubt the power of expanding foam...

Lifting a concrete driveway...

LIfting an entire house...

Obviously specialist formulations, but shows it's capable. There are DIY videos showing people lifting many tons of concrete slab using standard squirty foam from a can.

So yes, obviously capable of moving a mere bit of plasterboard (if trapped in a confined space of course).

 

[mikeey84]

I've seen it blow an old lathe and plaster wall over a bay window where someone, against my advice, tried to insulate the gap with spray foam.