I have a loft area to which I want to add a pony wall for safety. My plan is to drywall its inside and outside faces, all the way down across the beam. Can I built it on the surface of the platform safely? I would prefer to avoid attaching the posts to the front of the beam because it would make drywalling more difficult, and I want to use the posts located at the corner as an anchor for some storage that should all appear flush. The beam is 5 1/8" wide so putting it inside the beam, against a joist, leaves too large a distance on the outside edge.
Here are some researched suggestions:
- Built pony wall and lag-bolt the corner post through an angle bracket, down through the pony wall's bottom plate and into the beam.
- Can I lag-bolt 4x4 posts to a 2x4 bottom plate from the bottom, which is then lag bolted through the subfloor and into the beam?
- Extend plywood down the pony-wall onto the beam to provide strength across the entire face without adding too much thickness.
- Use a thicker wall - perhaps cabinets - so there is more depth to anchor down.
Any other ideas?