Twisted Wall Studs In Tub Surround

Question

I have a new tub that is being installed and then I'm going to tile the tub surround. The problem is that several of the wall studs are either broken, bowed, or twisted pretty bad. What's the best way to go about this to get a nice flat wall to tile onto. The other side of that far wall is also my kitchen (with cabinets, and appliances and stuff) so I'm really hoping that the answer is not to take off all the drywall and put in new studs.

The two studs in the middle here are the ones that are twisted pretty bad

Answer 1

Looking at the picture it appears that the twisted studs are all shy of the front edge of the bottom plate. If none of the studs are proud / protruding into the space, you could just add new studs/nailing edges as attachment points.

I don't see the value of shiming the plates out 1" and adjusting things. If the studs are protruding into the space, I'd just rip them back with a circ saw and again add some extra studs for nailing edges that are nice and flat.

You have some electrical so I'd probably go 2x4 on flat to avoid having to adjust the ele where the 14/2 is interfering.

Answer 2

One way to deal with this is to shim out the bottom and top plate with 1x material (3/4") and then install some new studs that are set out so that their facing edge is even with the facing surface of the 1x material on the plates. There is no need to try to attach the new studs to the old twisted ones. In fact if you center between the old ones it will be easier to toe nail in the new studs.

To do this right would entail removing the upper drywall on that wall with the twisted studs so that you have access to the upper plate and for being able to nail in the new studs. When all us said and done you lose a very small amount of space in the bathroom but get a nice flat wall surface (assuming your plates are in good alignment and you do a good job of installing the offset studs.

Do note that you should do all this work before you ever install the new tub. There may also be a need to do a minor recentering of the tub drain plumbing as the tube will be shifted over by the amount you are offsetting the wall surface.