# Insight on framing inset and rerouting vent pipe



## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

I'd just drill the stud.
Ron


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## AndyGump (Sep 26, 2010)

Something like this is were you might want to do.

This is done all the time and this is what I did for situations like yours when I was a General Contractor.

Andy.


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## drcheap (Jan 9, 2011)

So a 2" hole, er make that two of them, in a standard 2x4 stud is okay? I did a little more searching on that idea and I do see that some sources state that if the stud is doubled up the max bore is increased from 40% to 60% which just barely clears that 2" need.

That is a nice drawing AndyGump, and I see how you doubled up the stud at the bottom for the larger hole, but what about for the top one?

And here's the next complication for this...the design calls for a fairly large inset box (about 26" inside width after finishing with tile. So after going in and making some more measurements on the actual wall, I've realized that I am not even going to able to simply double up the stud next to the pipe -- the framing for the box will extend a bit beyond the existing stud and into the space that the added stud would need to occupy.

I've revised my drawing of this to show it a bit more clearly:













So what I'm thiking now that I could double the stud, put the holes in it, but then go ahead and cut it where it meets up with the box. This keeps the vertical support for the box, eliminating those silly angled pieces. Something like this:











Or, while I'm having fun with my new 2" hole saw, I could make two more holes (in horizontal boards) if I extend the box top/bottom pieces all the way to the next stud at the right. I think this would give the whole thing more stability over the prior one:


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## AndyGump (Sep 26, 2010)

> I could make two more holes (in horizontal boards)


Don't do that, just the holes in the studs would be fine.

It is because of things like this that I always spec. out a 2 x 6 plumbing wall when possible.

Andy.


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## drcheap (Jan 9, 2011)

AndyGump said:


> It is because of things like this that I always spec. out a 2 x 6 plumbing wall when possible.


Yeah, unfortunately I bought a 10 year old house full of baseline home builder grade stuff (read: financial shortcuts), so the constraints are plentiful when it comes to my projects here :mellow:. Nothing near as bad as the 40+ year old condo though, yikes!

The good thing is I'm making notes of all this sort of stuff as I go along, so in the future when I help design and build my own house, I'll be able to avoid a lot of extra headaches (there will be enough as it is I'm sure).


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## drcheap (Jan 9, 2011)

*5th time's a charm!*

Okay, so revision 5 of my plan is almost complete. I went with the plan of doubling up the stud and boring a 2" hole for the pipe at the upper and lower locations. The hole itself will support the weight of the pipe -- which needs it because it isn't connected to anything above the top plate apparently as it moves freely up and down a few inches after cutting it :001_unsure:.

Now due to how close it is to the original stud (about 1-2"), my elbows actually end "inside" that stud, so to get that extra bit of space I need I've decided to cut the old stud a little above and below where the horizontal pipes will be. Then I've put in two additional layers of veritcal attached to those original pieces. As usual, pictures are better at explaining:











Since the drilled holes, and thus the pipe, only pass through 2 actual studs, I am pretty sure that still meets the requirement of "when studs are doubled, drilled holes should not exceed 60 percent of the stud depth" without violating the "holes of maximum diameter should not occur in more than two consecutive studs" part :thumbsup:.

All that is left now is to cut and meld the new plumbing bits into place and I can move on to the next phase of the project.


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## drcheap (Jan 9, 2011)

*Photo*

So enough with all these silly diagrams, here's a photo of the outcome:












And it definitely didn't need those extra horizontal supports on the far right...it is quite solid now, enough that I can yank on it all over and even *stand* on the box "bottom" without any significant flex .


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