Replacing Interior Bathroom Wall

[Anonymous]

Hello I am replacing a load bearing wall between my two bathrooms.
I have purchased 2x6 spruce lumber for the replacement however it splits so easily and I need such long nails to go through the double top plate I am looking at using exterior deck screws. Anyone have any problems with using screws instead of nails?

Also I have purchased some sill plate foam pad to go under the bottom plate. Anyone had any experience with that?

The wall is only 9' long. Just trying to be sure I'll make the building inspector happy. Thanks for your help.

James

[Rich]

If you use 16d nails you can toenail it in lieu of trying to nail through the top plate. Start them about 1-1/2" from the top of the stud and angle up into the top plate. Or you can use screws - there is no problem with using screws.
Sill Sealer will do no good on an interior wall - whether it's load bearing or not. Mostly it's used for exterior walls between the pressure treated lumber and the concrete stemwall to restrict air flow and heat loss at that connection.
Let us know how it comes out.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the information. Thought maybe the sill plate might prevent some absorption from the wood by the concrete. Plus when I took down the wall there was a gap between the top plate and the studs about an 8th inch where I could see the nails. Thought the plate might help remove the gap probably caused by the house settling.

Probably will use the screws but might have to drill some smaller pilot holes. The drill tore the heads up rather badly without pilots.

Thanks again,
James

[Rich]

Oh.. if you're on slab I would suggest using pressure treated lumber for the bottom plate. Is it slab on grade or elevated slab? Slab on grade will wick some moisture from the ground into the house so pressure treated would be in order. Elevated slab should be alright depending on how old the home is. If it's new I would suggest using pressure treated as the concrete is still probably going through major curing - if it's a couple years old I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Anonymous]

It's 32 years old. The bin I got the lumber from said pressure treated however none of the stamps on the boards indicate any special markings other than the KD HT to tell me for sure. Doesn't have any of the green tint on it like the decking pressure treated wood. If not using pressure treated is fine then I would prefer not having those chemicals anyway.
Hear they are changing away from those end of the year. It's on a raised foundation.

Thanks,
James

[Rich]

I would think you'll be ok on a raised foundation with that age of home. I heard that they were doing away with that type of treatment too.