walls....yet again

[bainer132]

alright...well i started building walls and i completed the first hallway....

The walls are a 4x8 frame of 2x4's with a sheet of OSB on top bolted together on the sides with 2 bolts and a 2x4 going across the top of the hallway connecting both sides together

my problem is the walls are leaning and i don't know how to prevent them from doing so???

[Jim Warfield]

Are they leaning just on the straight-aways? Strength comes from angles. Zig-zagging the panels will do this. Is your floor level?
Have you built the walls square?
Maybe a full 2by 4 against the top of a straight section will pull it together?
Is any of this fastened down to a floor?
Things will become stronger, potentially straighter as more walls brace from one to the next. The weight factor also increases helping everything.

[Brckee1]

Not sure from your post which way they are leaning but it sounds like you need to top plate. This means lay long 2X4's on top of the walls and screw them down. Each 2X4 should cover 2 or 3 panels. Do not break them on a seam. This will stiffen up your hallway. Then put your cross bracing over that.

[Jim Warfield]

Or bolt panels together leaving an 8 inch space between them, then pour fresh concrete into the space, wait til the crete hardens, remove wooden panels, throw them away! Yes I have done this!
Of course straight walls become boring fast and we all are in the business of entertaining so start angling those concrete walls, use plenty of steel re-bar to help make them strong, be sure the re-bar remains hidden inside the concrete, don't let it wander out like at the local nuclear plant(the inspectors that pointed this out were quickly fired but a class of 5th graders were pointing and asking why the steel stuck out like that?)

[bainer132]

here are some pics

[Jim Warfield]

Triangulation would help.
Create four triangles, a flat "X" fasten it on all points, especially the cross-over middle part.
Lay a 2 by 4 across the top of the walls at a 45 degree angle then cut 45 degree angles to make the completly assembled item a big "X" laying flat across the top of the walls. Plywood scraps to make gussets , screwed down connected the center where the 2 by 4's meet will make strength too.
Running a 2 by4 across the top, running it passed the edge of the wall then triangulating back against the wall from this overrun with a short piece fastened back and down to the outside of the wall would help too.

[gregsalyers]

I notice that you are from Texas....where are you located...is this for a commercial Haunt?

[bainer132]

no, it's not commercial i'm doing it in my backyard for free
just trying to give the neighborhood a "local" haunted house
hopefully in a couple years i can extend and maybe go commercial
but i'm located in bedford tx. d/fw area

[SomeThingInTheIce]

If they are outer walls, you can sink post in the the ground and then run 2x4s or 2x3s as a support.