How to Build a Half Interior Wall

Look at creative ways to construct short walls in various rooms. You can separate the toilet from the rest of the bathroom with a half wall or separate twin beds in a bedroom area with a half wall. Use a specific height and depth for each wall, making it fit with surrounding space harmoniously. Build a short dividing wall behind a sofa that will serve as a bookcase. Plan to construct such a wall 12 inches deep or more.

Design details of the half wall to blend with a room instead of having it stand out. Use graph paper to draw the room, and include all your main furnishings and fixtures. Plan to cover the wall in drywall and paint it to look like the other walls in the room.

Use basic framing boards to form the skeleton of the wall. Use 2-by-6 inch boards in most situations, but if you want to build a wall that is 12 inches deep, you can use 2-by-4 inch boards for the framework. Design it as a cabinet structure that will be covered in drywall or beadboard.

Trace the outline of the wall on the floor with carpenter's chalk. Cut the bottom plate of the wall framing from one or more boards, ensuring the outermost board is mitered at a 45-degree angle. Screw the bottom plate to floor joists using 4-inch screws and an electric screwdriver. Built the top plate with studs on 16-inch centers on a flat work bench or floor area, ensuring the outermost edge is mitered. Lift this framing into place on the half wall, using a couple of friends to help. Screw this framing to the bottom plate, driving screws at an angle to get studs into place. Measure the board needed to enclose the outer edge of the framing box. Miter this board at the top and bottom so you can screw it into place to fit the mitered edges of the top and bottom plates.

Install drywall to cover the walls. Make the drywall over the half wall blend seamlessly with the drywall in the rest of the room. Line the interior shelving and surfaces with bead board or wood veneer, for example, for maximum durability in holding stored items. Paint the short wall surfaces to match paint on room walls. Nail baseboard material and wood trim on the half wall to blend with other wood trim in the room as well.

Substitute materials for a different wall texture. Use stacked stone veneer to cover a half wall, for example. Nail tongue-and-groove boards over the short wall in a rustic home. Cover the half wall with wallpaper over drywall or trowel on textured stucco material as other options.

Buy cabinets to form the basis of a half wall to form storage space. Purchase four or five identical wood cabinets to construct a room divider wall. Secure the cabinets to floor framing and add a wooden or tile counter top space. Build this half wall divider to hold books, office materials or children’s toys. Recycle old kitchen cabinets in an informal room, if you wish, to build this type of room divider space.