On Aug 6, 9:36*pm, (Doug Miller) wrote:
I'm just finishing the demolition phase of a minor remodeling project in my
basement, removing about 8 feet of wall installed by a previous homeowner..
This project teaches a lesson:

How NOT to Build a Wall, in Ten Easy Steps

1. Install the studs at random intervals.
2. Don't bother securing the bottom plate to the floor. If you cut a few of
the studs just a bit long, and force-fit them, friction will keep the bottom
plate in place.
3. Don't bother nailing those studs in place. Friction, remember?
4. Attach remaining studs to plates with six-penny box nails.
5. Use eight at each end because they're so small.
6. It's OK to use untreated lumber for the bottom plate. Water seepage won't
harm fir, will it?
7. Use regular sheetrock for the entire wall. Water seepage won't harm that
either, will it?
8. The doorpost doesn't need to be attached to the bottom plate. The sheetrock
will keep it from moving.
9. Nail the sheetrock every 3 inches along each vertical edge.
10. That gives you enough nails that you don't need to nail it anywhere else.

And don't _even_ get me started on the electrical code violations I found
inside that wall...

Why, oh why, do people with no knowledge or experience of the building trades
imagine that they are competent to do their own construction?

Apparently the "force fit and let friction take over" practice is not
unique.

I just removed a bi-fold door in an old house apartment that my moved
into.

The bi-fold doors were shorter than the original door opening - by a
foot - so they install a new "header".

They screwed the header (an unpainted pine board) into the jamb on the
dumb end of the bi-fold and forced the pivoting end into the opening.

I guess if you're going to do a job half-way, you might as well do
that half wrong.