That's certainly gonna be pretty strong, Mike. If you're doing a complete gut, which I suspect you often are, then a possibility is to bury the last stud of the knee wall in the floor where you can put more framing to lock it in. I've done that before, and it is bomb-proof.

 

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Yeah, that's a good one, I've done that before when I had to do tall 'knee' walls.

Would doubling the top and/or bottom plates do much do you think?

What would be studier? a 2x6 wall like this one or a 2x4 version faced with 3/4 plywood on both sides, like a shear wall?

I should clarify what I'm talking about when I use the work 'sturdier'.

There is no issue of the thing falling over, I mean it's obvious these things are built like a tank. The issue is any wiggle movement, they act like levers with only 2 points of connection, the bottom and the wall connection. When framed it is possible to grab the outside corner and still wiggle them a little bit, that wiggle is what is important to minimize.

Running some framing through the sub-floor and connecting to a joist gives you much more stability, but it isn't exactly practical and efficient. The work around that connection alone would take more time then building and installing the actual knee wall itself. Not saying it wouldn't be done in certain circumstances, but if possible I'm wondering if there are other methods that can be substituted to get similar results?

 

whatever one you put the plywood on will be the sturdier. But both pics work great:thumbsup:

 

Letting another top plate into the main wall will change that pivot point.

Plywood dropped to the floor will put the bottom of the plywood under compression and help.

Check out a newel post attachment/hardware kit an try to simulate that kit. A newel post kit is basiclly a bunch of L bracket so you can let in or rabbit in L's at end wall to floor and top wall to wall. Probably have to work out some simple blocking on these connections. Gives you both tension and compression.

 

I'd glue and screw ply to the sides.

Also, any new wall I'm putting in that is in a critical area will be framed with timberstrand studs. They move a lot less than dimensional lumber. They're kinda spendy so I pick and choose where they go. Any wall with tile is getting them. Overall they're pretty cheap insurance I think.