Drywall Question

mtnman1

Hello all
I recently installed a Chair rail in on my Dinning room wall only to find that the Contractor who built my house crowned 2 or 3 of the studs in it the wrong way. Rather than fix it he just floated the wallboard over them and nailed the end of the board. Because I nailed the chair rail to the studs without realizing this at first, the wall is now permanently bowed against these mis-crowned studs even though I have removed the Chair rail. Is there a tip to fixing this without pulling the board off and re-studding the wall? There is an intricate molding pattern against the ceiling and I'd hate to have to remove it all to re-stud floor to ceiling, but it is looking like that is the only way. No matter what I think of to "Quick fix it" I can see a problem that would arise because of the fix I might implement.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Claude

send_it_all

You could possibly cut out a fairly large section of drywall. Leave enough at the top to patch without disrupting crown. Then, using a string line and a spacer block the same thickness as your drywall, sister new studs to the old ones and place them where they need to go to create a flat wall. Then attach new drywall to the new studs. I used this method recently to create a flat wall where there had been pretty severe termite damage to the edges of studs. It worked well, but I didnt have to worry about saving crown molding.

mtnman1

Hi Send it all
This sounds pretty good. I may try this and leave more than enough wallboard to land on the center of the sistered stud when I cut it. The bow is in the center 4 feet of the wall so I do have 2 feet of fairly straight stud under the Crown and plate molding at the top.
Thanks
Claude

send_it_all

Glad to help.