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I am planning to add a new 1/2 bath to main floor of my house. I am leaning towards metal studs. But I have the following two questions before I start:

  1. 2 of the 3 bath walls I will be framing will run parallel to ceiling joists. The third wall is perpendicular, and 4th already exists. Can I just attach the two parallel walls to subfloor and drywall? These are both non-load bearing

  2. I could frame the 2nd parallel wall 10 inches further out to align it with a floor/ceiling joist, but this is also the wall where the toilet plumbing will be. Would it cause any issues for the plumber later to have this wall directly on top of floor joist?

Thanks!

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Drywall is surprisingly strong in shear, so you could feasibly just use construction glue on the top plate (with a few screws to hold position) and fit your studs snugly underneath. That, along with the two tape joints I assume you'll create and any end fastening, would hold the wall very securely.

However, it sounds like you'll have things opened up for the plumber anyway, so adding some blocking between joists at a few key locations would be better.

Yes, your plumber will appreciate not encountering a joist over the wall. Joists cannot be simply notched for large pipes, so it's great that you can avoid that situation. Keep that in mind if you add blocking.

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  • Thank you, this helps a lot. The original arch plan actually has that wall off the joist. But I thought moving it right on top of joist would make it stronger. Now I know why the original plan was designed the way it was..
    – Zeb
    Feb 10 at 21:17
  • Plans are rarely designed with such things in mind. Walls are placed for space concerns. It was just a matter of luck.
    – isherwood
    Feb 10 at 22:20

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