Can I pack loose fitting framing?

[ns156]

As per title. Renovating an old wall which was originally built with lath and plaster, so doesn't have noggins. Have been adding them to screw plasterboard sideways (since spacing between studs is eyeballed and all over the place).

Problem is, some of the noggins I cut end up a couple of mm too short. Can I just whack in a broadfix packer like this video to get it tight and carry on? Tried googling but I can't actually find much info. Obviously, the shouldn't be loose fit and only held in place by screws, but nobody says if shoving in a packer to make it tight is seen as acceptable?



Note that I don't hand shove it in like the video. I put the packer in first then jam the wood in so it needs hammered in to make it fit snug.

[Grendel]

It's certainly been done , I've seen it on occasions. As to whether it's acceptable is up to you , it's your all after all. To a degree it feels a bit like shoddy work to cut something short but from a pragmatic point of view I don't think it really makes that much difference. It's all covered up anyway. One thing I have done ( let's admit it we've all cut a noggin too short at some point) is to cut the adjacent noggin a little over size. That then pushes the stud over slightly to close the gap.
Looking at the video I would say that the way he did that was a bit more unacceptable as the packer was only half in. On studs that are too short I have in the past used an additional noggin sat directly on top of the soleplate and the recut the stud.
By the way the studs are the vertical timbers and noggins refer to the shorter horizontal ones.

[big-all]

my thought
to hold plasterboard ok
to be structural components then a minimum 2 edges supported by shallow [angle wedges ] knocked in firmly and pined in position
if you are using an impact and they are not nailed in the stud will more than likely move so if open a 6" solo clamp 'if not check position before the screw reaches the top plate
oooorrr avoid the faff and cut accurately

as an aside that very saw a 7023 leg stand arms out stop up 100% accurate studs time after time
although in you situation i would measure at the points the studs are going note the lengths and cut the longest first then you can step down iff short---always longest first

[ns156]

It's certainly been done , I've seen it on occasions. As to whether it's acceptable is up to you , it's your all after all. To a degree it feels a bit like shoddy work to cut something short but from a pragmatic point of view I don't think it really makes that much difference. It's all covered up anyway. One thing I have done ( let's admit it we've all cut a noggin too short at some point) is to cut the adjacent noggin a little over size. That then pushes the stud over slightly to close the gap.
Looking at the video I would say that the way he did that was a bit more unacceptable as the packer was only half in. On studs that are too short I have in the past used an additional noggin sat directly on top of the soleplate and the recut the stud.
By the way the studs are the vertical timbers and noggins refer to the shorter horizontal ones.

Well, I wouldn't want to waste good wood just because I cut a nog a little short if there's zero actual functional problems with it. As for the method of oversizing them, I don't think that'd work. Only one side of the wall has come down - the other side is still finished with original lath and plaster. So it wouldn't budge and at worse would just twist and break the other side.

And yeah, wouldn't do it the way he's done in the video. I slide the entire packer in, or as much as possible, then hold it into place while I jam the noggin in by hand. Once it is sitting there on its own, I bash the nog in with a hammer. Seems to create a tight fit and the age-old give it a tug and loudly declare 'yeah, that's going nowhere' after screwing it down applies.

And yeah, I knew the nog meant the horizontal pieces. The only stud I've added to the wall is a single one (a 2x3) meant to deal with a TV mount, since original stud placing doesn't allow for a proper TV mount position. I guess my only worry then is the wall handling a TV on an articulating mount — that'd be the worst of the forces acted on the wall, a lot of torque pulling it out.

[ns156]

my thought
to hold plasterboard ok
to be structural components then a minimum 2 edges supported by shallow [angle wedges ] knocked in firmly and pined in position
if you are using an impact and they are not nailed in the stud will more than likely move so if open a 6" solo clamp 'if not check position before the screw reaches the top plate
oooorrr avoid the faff and cut accurately

as an aside that very saw a 7023 leg stand arms out stop up 100% accurate studs time after time
although in you situation i would measure at the points the studs are going note the lengths and cut the longest first then you can step down iff short---always longest first

Yeah, not entirely structural. The most I'd want this wall to withstand is an articulating TV mount trying to pull it out. Otherwise, not load bearing and mostly just holding up plasterboard.

As for the wedges, don't think I'd be able to do that as only one side of the wall is still down - the other is still the original lath and plater so I couldn't get both sides wedged. That's why my current method was to slide one of those packers in fully, then tap the wood in to squeeze it all tight.

Not using an impact driver, I've been predrilling 5.5mm clearance holes in the nogs and then driving 5mm torx wood screws, so I'm able to take my time and ensure the nog sits perfect as I drive the screws in tight. All good?

[big-all]

the wedges can be back to front or side to side
pilots a good idea especially if it goes into the other timber around 5-10mm as it helps to locate the timber and stop it trying to jack up

as an aside because you mention tv a blob off no nails each side as belt and braces against vibration from slack joints even though screwed---- the chances are i am overthinking with the no nails but its such a simple action ??

[Grendel]

I can understand not wanting to "waste good wood" . If I have cut one too short I tend to see if it will fit in somewhere else first. Cutting one too short tends to focus one into cutting the rest correctly. Noggins effectively make a studded wall more ridged although as you say the other side is lathed those laths will be doing a fair share of that. The packers would give piece of mind but even if there's a gap I don't feel there is really an issue especially if the fixings are skewed in.