On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 23:26:26 -0500, someone wrote:

I wouldn't just go cut a stud in a wall, especially since this is an
exterior load bearing wall. To cut a stud out properly, it should have the
proper header and jack studs to support it which you won't be able to do in
an existing wall unless you remove a considerable amount of sheetrock.

I *SAID* he should frame the opening.

I *DIDN'T* say NOT to cut out a big enough area of sheetrock so as to
be able to work. In fact, that's kind of implicit in the project. Why
the flyin' F do people act like their sheetrock is so precious? (I'd
suggest working from the exterior, BTW. Take off siding & sheathing.
It is often easier to tape in & blend a big sheetrock patch than a
little patch anyway.

And BTW, as long as there is not a max snow load on the roof, and he's
not having a cocktail party upstairs, and there's not a waterbed right
above it - cutting ONE stud is not typically a major operation. The
typical double top plate at each story of a balloon framed wall will
easily carry a normal dead load for the brief time that it would take
to header it in. There are also several elementary ways to
temporarily support the to-be-cut stud until the header is in, if one
is really concerned. (Of course you prep the area and have your jack
studs in place and your header pre-cut first; you don't just cut the
stud and then go for a beer while you think about what to do next.)

In addition to having an architectural degree, I've been a structural
designer of pre-fabricated framing, AND have been a (commercial)
framing contractor, and I'm saying it is no big deal. (All that stuff
was years ago, but gravity hasn't changed much, and wood ony a
little.)


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