Asked on May 23, 2017

I need to build a portable wall. Should I use wood or PVC?

Structurally it needs to be capable of holding the weight of frames and a door. There will be cutouts in some places and people will be behind and in front for pictures. Can I use wood as a base and PVC to form the walls to keep the weight down? Or is it sounder being made of one material?
  7 answers
  • Shoshana Shoshana on May 23, 2017

    This is such a cute idea!! Those two materials definitely sound strong enough to accomplish what you're looking for.

  • C. D. Scallan C. D. Scallan on May 23, 2017

    I would use 2×4's. Especially if people will be putting any sort of weight on them, like in the picture above . I don't think PVC would hold up.

  • Jacks Beta Jacks Beta on May 23, 2017

    I would do wood so it's more supportive through and through. It can be as easy as buying the ready made fence panel from Home Depot which is 6 x 8 slab and you can just add a base or starting from scratch like the pics below.

  • Tova Pearl Tova Pearl on May 23, 2017

    Would it work with drywall? You might be able to get a premade stand made of wood and then attach a standard height piece of drywall to it, and then do your cutouts. It would (surprise!) look like a real wall. You could even wallpaper it. Good luck! Show it off here when you are done so we can see how you accomplished it!

    • Jamie L. Pharoah Jamie L. Pharoah on May 23, 2017

      Great idea! I kept thinking drywall would be lightest and semi forgiving if I'm covering the cutouts with frames. It has to travel well and set up relatively easy. I will be using wallpaper and a bit of chair rail so it looks like a something from an old Victorian.

  • John Everett John Everett on May 23, 2017

    Great idea! I would use lumber and drywall. You can use standard building techniques, and even make it portable by doing a split where the chair rail is. We do this a lot for stage plays.

  • Jamie L. Pharoah Jamie L. Pharoah on May 23, 2017

    Great thoughts ladies and gents! You've given me plenty to think about and a stronger bit of confidence to tackle this project!

  • Lavonne Lavonne on May 23, 2017

    Try using a pallet! You can add 2x4 feet at the bottom to make it stand up.