Are these integrated diagonal wall braces structurally important?

Question

I was helping a friend expand the width of a closet door, and when we pulled the drywall off the interior wall frame, we noticed some 45-degree wall braces in the interior wall.

I am pretty sure they are just for convenience during construction (e.g. a bother to remove once the frames are fully built or just there for drywall to be nailed into).

However, I am not an expert, so I wasn't sure if these were structural (maybe some type of shear wall support?) or not. In case it matters, the house was built in 1951 and is in western Georgia. All the wooden beams, including the angled ones, are held in place with 4inch nails.

Are these angle braces safe to remove and leave out? The entire cutaway area (sans drywall) would be a closet door with a frame of two 2x4s above and a vertical 2x4 on either side.

Answer 1

Temporary braces are nailed to the face of the wall, not fit into it. That was intended as a structural member by the carpenter.

That said, it's almost certainly not critical. The entirety of the other nearby walls and the roof structure likely provide many times what that one brace does in diagonal support. Also, you don't see that technique used anymore.

I wouldn't hesitate to remove the portion that impedes your progress.

I do suggest a doubled stud, however, and you might want to orient at least one of your header members vertically, for stiffness:

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Answer 2

Sometimes framing of a short internal wall that tees into an exterior wall is braced that way if the exterior wall is:

1. The exterior wall extends a long distance on either side of the tee
2. And the exterior wall is parallel to ceiling joists and floor joists
3. And has a high gable end wall above this area.

Intention was to eliminate a lot of flex in the exterior wall both during construction and when there is possibility of large gusty wind loads on the wall. You will see less of this with much construction moving toward 2x6 studding for exterior walls. Metal X banding nailed to the face of the studs is also a better way to achieve this result.

Repeating from Isherwood. Make sure to put double stud at the left and right side of your opening. A single 2x4 is just not stiff enough and you will really appreciate it being there when you come to install door casing or trim.

Answer 3

We have a few of those in our walls. Local code does not require them but our builder was from a place with an appreciable earthquake threat and it was cheaper to build with the existing plans than draw up new ones lacking the earthquake bracing.

Unless the builder was lying that's earthquake bracing.

Answer 4

This would be bracing as someone mentioned earlier, however the end of the two piece on the middle is not supported against vertical movement, all the forces going to create share load on the nails which is not much help. To make it work, the end of the diagonal pieces in the middle, has to be trimmed back by 50 mm (2 inches) with a horizontal cut, than install a horizontal piece of 2x4 to either side of the vertical beam. That would be a sufficiently supported bracing.

Answer 5

You can remove the bracing. New drywall wall give as much diagonal bracing as those 2x4s. When you frame use screws at 15 degrees as this will introduce another diagonal into the wood.