- Joined
- 3 Mar 2005
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 0
- Country
Not sure whether this belongs in this section, or the building one.....
I'm considering utilising the dead space at the top of the stairwell & installing some shelving. This would be accessible from the two rooms either side of the staircase, not from the stairs.
Both the walls are stud walls, & as far as I can tell, there is no wiring in the relevant areas. There is already a floor to ceiling cupboard in one of the rooms, which is above the bottom of the stairs.
Basically, it would involve cutting two identical holes in both walls, & building a framework across the stairwell to support the shelving. There would be a divider as necessary, so the two rooms would have a proportion of the shelving depth.
There are several things that concern me, other than my actual diy capabilities!
Is it a good idea in the first place? I know you would need to ensure there's sufficient headheight clearance, but there may be some fundamental things that haven't occurred to me. Anybody who has done something similar can hopefully highlight the potential pitfalls, or maybe just say leave it to the professionals!
As these are stud/plasterboard walls, they are not supporting walls. However, I recall seeing something on one of those tv programmes suggesting they could actually be providing some limited support. I'm not sure whether to put any store by this.
Once the holes are cut in the wall, I'm assuming a framework needs building into the wall cavities flush with edges, so there would be no gaps visible. This would presumably need the same size timber as the existing studwork. I'm also concerned how the position of the existing studwork could complicate matters.
The supports that would span across obviously need to be strong enough not to sag, but other than choosing some ridiculously oversize timber, I don't really know which size to choose. 50mm square 'seems' about right, but that's not very scientific! How to attach the supports to each wall is also a concern. I'm thinking that there needs to be another support along the walls, alongside the framework between the plasterboards.
Please feel free to tell me I don't appear to have a clue how to go about this. I'd rather know that I need to pay for it doing properly than make a pig's ear of it!
I'm considering utilising the dead space at the top of the stairwell & installing some shelving. This would be accessible from the two rooms either side of the staircase, not from the stairs.
Both the walls are stud walls, & as far as I can tell, there is no wiring in the relevant areas. There is already a floor to ceiling cupboard in one of the rooms, which is above the bottom of the stairs.
Basically, it would involve cutting two identical holes in both walls, & building a framework across the stairwell to support the shelving. There would be a divider as necessary, so the two rooms would have a proportion of the shelving depth.
There are several things that concern me, other than my actual diy capabilities!
Is it a good idea in the first place? I know you would need to ensure there's sufficient headheight clearance, but there may be some fundamental things that haven't occurred to me. Anybody who has done something similar can hopefully highlight the potential pitfalls, or maybe just say leave it to the professionals!
As these are stud/plasterboard walls, they are not supporting walls. However, I recall seeing something on one of those tv programmes suggesting they could actually be providing some limited support. I'm not sure whether to put any store by this.
Once the holes are cut in the wall, I'm assuming a framework needs building into the wall cavities flush with edges, so there would be no gaps visible. This would presumably need the same size timber as the existing studwork. I'm also concerned how the position of the existing studwork could complicate matters.
The supports that would span across obviously need to be strong enough not to sag, but other than choosing some ridiculously oversize timber, I don't really know which size to choose. 50mm square 'seems' about right, but that's not very scientific! How to attach the supports to each wall is also a concern. I'm thinking that there needs to be another support along the walls, alongside the framework between the plasterboards.
Please feel free to tell me I don't appear to have a clue how to go about this. I'd rather know that I need to pay for it doing properly than make a pig's ear of it!
