# Forum Home Renovation Stairs, Steps and Ramps  Best way to extend height of low wall (slightly)

## Arron

Hi. This is just a very basic carpentry question. 
We have a staircase - finished but not yet gyprocked. It is of the return flight style, with half landing. There is a low timber frame wall between the two flights. I need to raise the height of the low wall by 170mm to make it fully compliant. 
What is the best way to do this? 
I was thinking of just cutting some packers from 90x45. Nailing three rows on top of each other would give me 135mm. Then I would nail a single piece of 90x45 along the top, giving me 180mm which is close enough. 
My concern is whether this could get a bit soft and wobbly in years to come - being just nails in softwood with nothing to prevent side to side racking. 
How would a professional carpenter do this??? 
Cheers
Arron

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## Marc

Certainly not that way.
Can you do a sketch and post it?

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## Arron

I think this photo will be better then one of my sketches. 
This is not our staircase but is the same style exactly. 
Imagine the low dividing wall on the left hand side was too low to be compliant to code and needed to be raised another 170mm. 
Imagine the wall is typical timber framed construction, with studs, noggins and a top plate. Not gyprocked yet. 
Incidentally, this has come about because I moved the upper flight backwards horizontally to make a small landing at the top, because I considered it dangerous as it was.

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## Marc

You can do that in a few different ways.
By the way a picture of the frame with no gyprock would be much better than a finished railing in a different house. 
To suggest how to, I would like to see how the existing studs are fixed to the stringer, or if they are a continuous wall all the way down.  
Adding some form of packing on top of the top plate can only be done if you can build continuity between the existing stud and the new material. 
You could build a mini frame with short studs and top plate and strap each additional stud from both sides to existing studs, with metal straps to avoid the hinge effect.  
You could extend every third stud by cutting the existing top plate and sister the stud to the desired height. 
Or you could secure the new mini frame by replacing the gyprock with ply on both sides.  
Post a picture of the job as it is with no gyprock, top and bottom possibly.

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## Arron

Thanks Marc. That’s the information I wanted and your explanation of my concerns as ‘avoiding the hinge effect’ expresses it perfectly. 
I’ll choose one of those methods that suits best. 
Sorry I couldn’t provide a photo - I won’t be at the site for a couple of days and I wanted the answer before I get back there so I can get materials and get it done. 
Ps. Existing studs are continuous all the way down to the floor.

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## Marc

You could also sister all the studs, overlapping at least 600mm and fix with screws to each other. Probably the best insurance.

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## Arron

> You could also sister all the studs, overlapping at least 600mm and fix with screws to each other. Probably the best insurance.

  Yep, that’s how I’ll do it.
I think I can just knock the top plate off and then refit it later.
Thanks again

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## r3nov8or

I've seen various fixes to modern height compliance issues by simply adding a rail on supports to the top of the existing

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