I’m remodeling my bedroom and want to copy what I did in a bathroom remodel a few years back. I made my own beadboard, t&g 5/8″ thick and about 2 1/2″ wide. To fasten it, I took out about 3 ft of sheetrock from the lower part of the walls and replaced it with 1/2″ plywood. This made a nice backing to nail on the individual boards. My bedroom is large, two of the walls are outsude walls and I’m a bit concerned about the fire danger of such a setup. For reasons I’d just as soon not get into, I can’t put plywood over the sheetrock. The extra thickness would screw some things up. Is what I’m planning to do contrary to code? I’ll probably do it anyway so is there a way I can mitigate the danger?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
This deconstruction program leader oversees the collection and reuse of a variety of products and materials.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Not sure about the code correctness of what you propose, but as long as you fire tape the plywood to the drywall it abutts I don't see a problem. As long as a fire within the wall can't suck air from the room I'd feel comfortable with it.
I've done what you propose several times without disturbing existing drywall by using construction adhesive to fasten beaded waincoting. Any reason you don't want to do that? I generalliy machine a cap that runs horizontally across the top and can therefore be nailed to every stud, plus I almost always can either toenail the bottoms of the individual beaded boards into the framing plate, or the top of the baseboard if that has a flat surface on top to rest on and I decide to leave it - works out fine lots of times.
Seems like you're going to extra work by removing drywall and installing plywood, maybe even compromising your vapor barrier, depending on how that's installed.
jb
What danger?
I believe fireblocking is required at ceiling and floor levels...and horizontally at max 10 ft. intervals [IRC 602.8]. What danger are you attempting to mitigate by removing the lower 3 ft. of sheetrock and replacing it with plywood?
Are you having the fire inspector over for coffee? If not don't worry about it, it's your house.
Well, I build the beadboard tongue & groove and toe nail it through the tongue into the plywood. I've thought about adhesive but it seems like it'd be a real hassle - especially if something decides to curl up. The results in my other bathroom were great using plywood backing. I just thought that the sheetrock fireblock would be a requirement. I will seal between the sheetrock and the plywood. I used silicone sealer on a small part I did already. Would that be OK? I don't know what fire tape is.
Thanks for your comments. Sorry about the slow reply. I wasn't notified of postings - not sure why.