# Replacing a corner post, Reinforcing the wall?



## jlawrence42 (Aug 5, 2006)

Hello,

My name is Jacob and I am new to this forum. I have attached a couple of pictures of a room that I am renovating. I had a suspicion there could be water damage at the corner of the house because the gutter downspout on that corner had gotten clogged and burst its seam, leading to some water damage on the exterior trim. When I pulled out the room's carpet and the baseboard trim and cut out some drywall, I found that the sole plates at the corner are rotting away (and still moist.) 

My house was built in 1975 and seems to be a normal platform framing. I assume that I need to replace parts of the sole plates (probably about a foot in either direction) and also the corner post, which I haven't actually seen yet but I assume the base of it must be rotting just as much as the sole plates.

My main question is this - how do I go about properly reinforcing the walls before I replace the corner post? Does the corner post bear more weight because it is on the corner or do I just consider it to be similar to another stud? My carpentry books give examples for putting windows or doors in an exterior wall and show how to put up a temporary stud wall for reinforcement. But they don't mention my scenario - having to replace the corner post and sole plates.

Any suggestions would be more than welcome since I am still very new at this. I hope my pictures make what I said more clear.


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## Bonus (Aug 25, 2005)

Is the roof just a standard gable? Is there a second floor? 
You can build your temp. wall under the joists to take the weight off the corner. (I've had success in the past putting some carpet scrap on the top plate of your temp wall, this protects the ceiling from crushing and marks) Then cut out the rotted part of any studs, replace the sill plate, replace the piece cut out of the stud and sister up next to it. Then you're good to go. 


Oh, fix the gutter!!!:laughing:


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## jlawrence42 (Aug 5, 2006)

Thanks for the ideas. I think the roof is standard. There is a second floor above the one you see in the picture. Also, I did already fix the gutter!:yes: What a nightmare that I wish I had discovered earlier. From the looks of the wood, I think the gutter seam had already burst before I bought the house. 

Any recommendations on building the temporary support wall?? A friend recommended an "A-frame" temporary wall, but my book shows a normal top plate and sole plate with a couple of studs wedged between. Thanks also for the carpet idea - I would like to preserve the ceiling drywall if possible.


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## jlawrence42 (Aug 5, 2006)

Yikes! I just pulled away some of the siding from the outside corner there and discovered that the corner post is a 2x4. I was expecting at least a 4x4! Its condition was as expected - very moist and rotting away. What should I replace it with? Another 2x4? I was thinking I'd put a pressure treated 4x4 in there....


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## Bonus (Aug 25, 2005)

Only 2x4's are used in framing the wall, strength is acheived by their placement and connection. This is how to build the corner (see drawing). This gives you nailing surfaces for int. and ext. and strength to support the next floor etc.

You don't need pressure treated, you just need to keep it dry.


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## jlawrence42 (Aug 5, 2006)

*Thank you!*

I was able to complete the project before going on vacation last week! It took me a full two days of work to do it all. I built a temporary wall, cut through a portion of the siding, pulled out the old studs and cut the sole plates. Then I replaced the sole plates with pressure treated 2x4's and put in a new corner post with a PT 4x4, even though I had been advised that it wasn't necessary and I could just use 2x4's. Next I drilled holes for the electrical cable I had pulled out and put up new 2x4's and ran the electrical cable back through. For now I have temporary plywood covered by plastic where I cut through the siding.

Thanks very much for the advice and you may be hearing from me sometime in the fall as I continue work on my bathroom remodeling project.

Jake


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