Moveable Wall

[RSKY]

I am going to build a moveable wall for our church's activity building. The large room is 48'5" wide and 60' long. The moveable wall will be used to divide the main section into two parts or, when not used for that purpose, it will hide the chair and table storage racks at one end of the building. To buy a wall will cost more than $2000 and it would be a flimsy cheaply made one at that. If anybody has any plans, pictures, or advice I would appreciate it being posted here.

Thanks for your help.

RSKY

 

[MossRoad]

If you build it and it falls over on someone, you will be held liable for their injuries.... even in a church.

Nice way of thinking, yes? Sorry about that. :laughing:

Is it going to be suspended from the ceiling or just mobile panels that roll on the floor?

 

[RSKY]

It's going to be in four nine foot sections on casters. The struts that the casters are mounted on will extend 12" in front and 24" in back. That is unless somebody gives me a better idea.

 

[forgeblast]

Can you suspend it like a sliding barn door? or like an accordion or panel fold door?
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[dmccarty]

My first thought was about it falling on someone. 48 feet is a large distance to span.

The expandable walls I have seen have been attached/anchored to a wall and I think every one had tracks in the ceiling. These walls could only move in one dimension, close or open the room. If the walls needs to be able adjust the size of the room, tracks mounted on the walls and ceiling might work, to hold a cable to support the walls. My first thought was the tracks for holding sliding barn doors.

How tall are the ceilings? If the panels were made from foam board and covered in fabric, they could be relatively light. I made some dividers years ago to go in front of a sliding class door. I did not want curtains since I wanted light to come in over the top of the partitions. I made the partitions out of pine boards, foam and covered in fabric. Worked pretty well and look decent.

Later,
Dan

 

[MossRoad]

It's going to be in four nine foot sections on casters. The struts that the casters are mounted on will extend 12" in front and 24" in back. That is unless somebody gives me a better idea.

Well, first off, lumber doesn't come in 9' lengths, so you're creating more cutting and fastening than necessary.

 

[RSKY]

Lumber doesn't come in 9' lenghts but the metal siding I intend to use comes in 3' widths. So the walls have to be in multiples of three feet. The ceiling is about twenty feel tall so there will be nothing hanging from it.

I was hoping somebody had done this before and either had plans or ideas I haven't had.

Thanks for your help and comments.

RSKY

 

[forgeblast]

The closest thing I think I have seen is something like this they are portable room partitions.
https://www.schooloutfitters.com/catalog/default/cPath/CAT189
I think that with the height you may want to increase the cost and make it like a triangle to give it more stability you could put casters under it that lock and make it easier to move around.
cut a triangle out of ply, build your frame and then attach the weels and metal siding. One idea would be to cover it in fabric so that you could attach things like announcements on it.

 

[sdkubota]

Save your money and time and buy the manufactured wall partitions. If you build something they will be heavy and take up a lot of room when storing. Is a permanent wall out of the question?

 

[MossRoad]

RSKY,
We're not getting all the information we need to help. Its coming in bits and pieces. So far, we have 4 partitions 9' long each with wheels sticking out 12" on one side and 24" on the other. We know your ceiling is 20' high, but how high do you want to make the partitions? A good rule of thumb for me would be I would not want to make something more than twice as tall as its base.

I wouldn't want a 1' outrigger on a 6' high partition. Someone will tip it over unless you put some counterweight on the base.

 

[KennyG]

These type of partitions usually are hinged with a pivoting mount in the center of each section that runs in a ceiling track. I don't see another practical way to do it because, as noted by others, the base would be very wide and in the way if it's not top supported. This may be a situation where the commercial solution is the best way to go. If I was building it, I would plan a ceiling track, lightweight panels (wood frame, foam filled, thin board surface) with casters and running in the top track.

 

[RSKY]

I should have been more informative when I posted originally. Here is a picture of the inside of the inside of the building. I want to hide the chairs, table, etc. stored at the far end. The end opposite of the one shown has the kitchen, a classroom, and the bathrooms seperated by a long hallway. The hallway leads to another exit door. The end is 48'5" wide. The height of the building is around 20', and the height of the lower wall is 7'6". The purpose of the walls is to hide the junk stored in the open at the end of the building and to allow the large room to be divided into two parts.



The walls I am wanting to build, if nobody can give me a better idea, will be made of lumber with the same type metal siding attached to them. They must be easily moved by a small woman. They must be stable. They must not cost a great deal as the church has just finished paying off some construction.

I want them built and in place before my daughter's baby shower in Feb..

RSKY

 

[forgeblast]

What about just running some wire cable from one post to the other, and run fabric if its just to hide the junk. put some grommits in the fabric and you can easily move it around. you could always put some small weights in the bottom of the fabric to hold it in place and keep kids from running under it.

 

[sdkubota]

Looks like a Behlen or Butler building although they all look alike. Acoustics have to be terrible in there and a partial wall isn't going to help. You need to partition that place up or you won't be able to hear the person across the table talking to you. Good Luck!

 

[MossRoad]

OK. That helps a lot. You want the mobile wall to match the existing lower wall in height and make it from the same material so everything looks nice. Lumber is going to need diagonal bracing, but the metal siding material may provide that. You'll probably want to include some J channel (I think that's what its called) around the edges to slip the siding into on the top and sides for a more professional looking finish and to protect fingers from metal edges. I'm not a siding guy. Do you have a siding guy in your church? Anyhow, it would seem a wood frame of 2x2s would work. But the hard part will be fastening the frame to the wheeled section and have it sturdy enough so it won't break out the wood if side loads are put on it. How much does the siding weigh, plus the wood frame, plus the fasteners, etc... hmmm.... It will definitely be an interesting project. With good wheels, even heavy items roll easily, so that's probably the least of your worries. Don't go cheap on the wheels. You might want at least one locking wheel on each end as well. Wish I could help you more. Maybe there's some siding guys here on TBN.

 

[MossRoad]

Looks like a Behlen or Butler building although they all look alike. Acoustics have to be terrible in there and a partial wall isn't going to help. You need to partition that place up or you won't be able to hear the person across the table talking to you. Good Luck!

To me, the building looks a lot like our airplane hangars with insulation between the steel beams. I don't recall much echo in there.

 

[KennyG]

Seeing the picture helps a lot. I have trouble seeing the rolling partitions as being workable. Between the trip hazard of the supports and the weight if they do fall over, I think it's not advisable. We have a similar (but somewhat larger) hall at church. At one end, we added a wall with large openings. In the openings, we put commercial accordian fabric room dividers. This allows the space to be an alcove off the main space with the dividers open but closed off when needed. We actually have two separate rooms and since we don't need the large space to often be larger, we used the rooms as storage and classroom/meeting room, but it could be all one if needed.

I think adding a permanent wall with an 8 or 10 foot high opening would be more functional and safe.

 

[xtn]

RSKY,

I don't think your idea is a bad one at all. 2x2 wood wall frame, with studs on 18" centers to facilitate fastening the 3' wide panels. See if you can buy the panels in the lightest guage possible. Only need sheeting on the facing side, right? Use J trim to hide the edge and provide a finished look.

For a height in the neighborhood of 8' or so, I would want the base 4' wide. Mount the wall panel on the base such that you've got 1' of base out front and 3' of base behind. Brace the panel diagonally down to the base front and rear at both ends, and put an additional brace diagonally in the rear at the center of the wall span. Maybe carpet the front side of the base so it looks nice. Weight down the rear side of the base a bit.

Constructed thusly, your new 9' long portable partitions ALSO function as carts to stack all the folding chairs on... on that 3' of rear base. Roll a partition down to the other end of the room and unload/load chairs and tables, then roll it back into place. Handy!

 

[MossRoad]

Constructed thusly, your new 9' long portable partitions ALSO function as carts to stack all the folding chairs on... on that 3' of rear base. Roll a partition down to the other end of the room and unload/load chairs and tables, then roll it back into place. Handy!

I like that idea! :thumbsup:

 

[dmccarty]

Or build storage at the base of the partitions. That would hide the "stabilizers" while providing weight and something useful. With the right kind of locking wheels the partition storage would be easy to move even when loaded and safe.

I am thinking of building an integrated raised bed/garden fence combination which is a similar idea.

Not sure you have the time do build something more complicated but you could plan it out and maybe build part now and the rest later.

Later,
Dan