Wall flex when door closes

[jjcold]

2 months ago we moved into our new house. It is 2x4 exterior wall construction. the door from the house to the garage is a heavy, solid core fire rated door. Sometimes the door gets closed too hard and it causes the wall to rattle, (kitchen wall) It isn't too bad, but it bugs me and as a project I'm wondering if things can be improved.

I'm considering replacing the door with a lighter, fiberglass door with a similar fire rating. Or, I could open the stud bay on the outer wall (garage interior wall) and add a couple more king studs, lag screw them all the way to the trimmer stud and use Simpson stuff to bolt the stud to the sole plate and top plate. would any of these have any effect? Of course the lighter door would. Can one buy a fiberglass door with a good fire rating? I just like things solid, and this house isn't quite as solid as I would like. Yet.

[Rich]

Does the wall sit on concrete or framed floor. If it's concrete it's very likely that the spacing on the anchor bolts aren't close enough to the framed opening. You could take out a few sf of drywall and drill in an expansion anchor 6-8" away from the king studs.
The plan you stated will work if it's a framed floor - along with making sure there is enough nailing at the opening itself into the floor.

[jjcold]

It is a framed floor. That is one thing I have considered, how securely is the wall nailed to the floor and rim joist. If I do this, I'll try to sink a lag screw through the metal bracket that will secure the outer most king stud (added) through the sole plate into the rim joist. Is that feasible?? What got me thinking about this is that I've noticed on some framing jobs, guys put in double king studs at door openings. I'm sure 2x6 walls would have helped, too.

[Rich]

How tall is the wall? Is it truly flexing?
If so, I think your idea of extra king studs would be the way to go. Make sure to get a lag bolt into the header, the very top, the very bottom, and one to the middle of the door. That should stiffen it quite a bit.

[NAIL BENDER]

If you have Bomber hinges on the door, pull out the pins. Or, maybe the springs are wound too tight. I pulled the Bomber pins out of my house/garage door because it would slam too hard.

[jjcold]

Well, the door opening is on a rather long wall and doesn't have any interior or exterior walls perpendicular to it. It isn't a tall wall, standard 8' tall. the wall doesnt' flex a lot, just enough to make it feel and sound a lot less solid than I think it should. Actually, it has self closing hinges (is that what you mean by "bomber" hinges?), but the original builder never came back (now there's a familiar phrase!) to adjust them, so the door doesn't close on its own. I close it softly, but my son...)

Yea, this summer I'm going to get in there and add a couple of king studs, lag screw them into the existing framing and add metal brackets top and bottom. I want to add an outlet to the garage side of that wall too, so I can do that at the same time. It'll be more of a project just to see if it makes a difference or not. I'm a teacher so I have spare time on my hands in the summer :-)

I also wonder what effect it would have to add some blocking, or a sheet of plywood, to the underside of the floor joists that are perpendicular to the door opening. that would transfer and distribute some of the energy when that door slams?

[NAIL BENDER]

Self closing hinges are the same as the bomber hinges. With only a 2x4 wall, I don't know if adding more king studs will strengthen the wall to your satisfaction. Is there any way to add a wing wall to the strike side of the door in your garage? This would stop the flexing of the 2x4's when the door slammed. This would also be the least invasive fix and you can put your outlet in this wall also.

[Rich]

Excellent idea Nail Bender.. if it fits in your design jjcold it would probably be the easiest fix. Of course.. it would probably cut a hallway in half :)

[jjcold]

Well, the only way I could do that is to add a closet on the garage side. That would produce a short "stub" wall about 30 inches or so, perpendicular to the wall in question.

Yea, I'm beginning to catch your drift here and realize one reason to specify 2x6 construction is to eliminate this sort of problem. What got me started on this idea of adding king studs is that I've noticed some framers around here use double king studs on door openings. combined with a 2x6 wall, that would be pretty solid. I guess getting a lighter door and teaching my son not to close it so hard would also help... He tends to be an all or nothing kind of guy!

[jjcold]

In thinking about that idea to add a wing wall, I agree it might be the best solution, but I don't agree it would be less invasive since I'd have to drill into my concrete floor to add the sole plate for the new wall. To get into the stud bay to add a king stud, I would be removing the sheetrock on the garage side, which has been taped only once, not taped or texured or painted.

[NAIL BENDER]

You don't need to drill into your concrete, just get a tube of construction adhesive and glue it down. Also, sheat the wing wall with plywood before sheetrocking for more strength. If you have access to a Roto hammer, it would just take a couple 1/4" holes and a couple 3 1/2" split drives. This is the easiest and quickest fix.

As per your last solution, you could add a 3 1/8 x 12 glue-lam to your king studs and it would still shake the wall when the door shut hard. You need to add rigidity the other direction.

[Rich]

I'm in agreement there nailbender. I think your biggest problem is the length of your wall that the door is placed in. It's acting like a diaphragm.. one small impact and you get a big reaction.

[linear]

It's acting like a diaphragm.. one small impact and you get a big reaction.

Now there's a quote that shouldn't be taken out of context... :lol:

[Rich]

LOL.. that would be - "It's acting like not having a diaphragm" :)

[jjcold]

somehow... I don't think we're talking about my door anymore??

Think I'll sign off and go truck shopping.