With a rather large living room in my 1bd appartment, I'm building a semi-permanent partition to split off a second smaller bedroom. The partition will be a standard framed wall and put in place without modifying existing structures (just nailed to the floor, sides, and ceiling) in order to avoid losing my deposit. Basically a more solid version of a privacy curtain.
I understand that the small studs at the top of the door opening are to take over some of the loadbearing that is lost when you cut out a stud to make the opening. Is it acceptable to do away with this for the "decorative" structure I'm building? E.g. just a Master/jack stud with a head plate?
Best Answer
The cripples are typically a continuation of the 16" stud intervals. They make hanging drywall easier since an 8' or 4' length will fall in the middle of a stud on each end (with the exception of the cut end when your room isn't a perfect 4' increment). Like Shirlock says, they aren't required for non-load bearing walls (hardly anything is since the wall isn't load bearing), but as you remove parts like this, other details like the drywall and installing trim will become more difficult.