Building a Stud Wall with a Door

Dividing a room with a timber stud wall is one of the most approachable structural-looking jobs in the house, because usually it is not structural at all: a non-load-bearing partition is a frame, some boards and a finish. The door opening is what turns it from trivial to worth planning, since the framing, the lining and the door hardware all have to agree with each other before the first timber is cut.

This page is a working template for the whole job: the task order, what you will be ordering, the regulation checks that occasionally apply, and the calculator that serves each step. The one ordering rule that matters more than any other: everything that lives inside the wall (cables, pipes, insulation, noggins for future fixings) goes in before the boards.

Work in this order

1. 1

   Plan and set out

   Locate the pipes, cables and joists in the floor, walls and ceiling before anything is cut, and decide where the door goes. A wall running perpendicular to the ceiling joists is easier to fix at the top; one running parallel needs noggins added between the joists above. The Stud Wall Calculator returns the full cutting list (studs, plates, noggins, boards and screws) with the door opening taken into account.

2. 2

   Frame: plates first, then studs, then the door opening

   The sole plate is fixed to the floor (with a DPC strip underneath on concrete floors, to stop moisture wicking into the timber) and the head plate to the ceiling directly above it: if the two are not plumb with each other the whole wall is out. End studs fix to the adjacent walls, intermediate studs fill in at regular centres, and the door opening is framed with doubled-up door studs and a header. See our step-by-step stud wall guide for the full method, and the UK Timber Sizes reference for what the merchants stock.

3. 3

   Noggins, and extra fixings for the future

   A row of noggins at mid-height stiffens the studs and gives the plasterboard edges support. Add extra noggins now wherever anything heavy will hang later (radiators, shelves, a TV bracket): fixing points are cheap before boarding and disruptive after.

4. 4

   First fix services through the frame

   Cables and any pipes go through the frame before boarding, drilled through the centre of the studs rather than notched into the edges, with back boxes fitted for sockets and switches. Once the boards are up, routing services is much harder. Size any new circuits with the Cable Sizing Calculator, and check whether the work is notifiable with the Part P Notification Calculator.

5. 5

   Insulate the cavity if sound matters

   Mineral wool friction-fitted between the studs adds significant sound reduction and is only possible now, before the second side is boarded. Quantify it with the Sound Insulation Calculator. If the wall separates rooms where sound really matters, compare proper acoustic constructions with the Sound Rated Wall Calculator.

6. 6

   Board, then tape and joint or skim

   Plasterboard goes on with every board edge supported by a stud or noggin, joints staggered between the two sides. Quantify boards and screws with the Plasterboard Calculator. The finish is either taped and jointed (the Jointing Compound Calculator covers tape and filler) or skimmed with finish plaster (the Skim Coat Calculator), and either way the boards must be up first.

7. 7

   Door lining, door, architrave, skirting, paint

   The lining set goes into the framed opening and the door is hung to it: the Door Lining & Architrave Calculator covers linings, stops, architrave and fixings, and the Door Hanging Calculator covers hinge positions and hardware. Architrave covers the junction between lining and wall finish, skirting runs across the new wall (the Skirting Board Calculator has the lengths), and decoration finishes the job with the Paint Coverage Calculator.

What you will be ordering

The frame is CLS timber for plates, studs and noggins, plus fixings: frame fixings for masonry, screws for timber floors, and a DPC strip if the sole plate sits on concrete. The skin is tapered-edge plasterboard with drywall screws, then jointing tape and compound, or scrim and finish plaster if skimming. Mineral wool goes in the cavity if the wall needs to block sound.

The door parts arrive as a kit of separates: a lining set, the door itself, hinges, a latch and handles, door stops and architrave, plus skirting to run along the new wall and paint to finish. The calculators above return the quantities for each; the UK Screw Sizes reference is useful when matching screws to board thickness.

Where the regulations touch a stud wall

Every calculator, by job stage