Removal of Pony (Half) Wall

Alicia W
by Alicia W
5 Materials
$50
2 Days
Medium

I'm at my sister's house again to remove her pony wall that separates her kitchen and dining room. When she moved in, it had spindles that ran from the ceiling to the wall but we removed those soon after she moved in. Now she would like the entire wall removed.


I was a little hesitant because the wall has electric in it and there are two different types of flooring in each room but I didn't let those things stop me.

I began by removing the top wooden piece which was just popped off.

Because the pony wall was attached to another wall, which I wasn't taking down, I scored the wall using a utility knife so I would have a straight line once the pony wall was removed.

Then the fun began. I've always wanted to hammer through drywall and now I had my chance.

I began by hammering into the wall away from the electric. Once I had hammered a line from the top of the wall to the bottom, I could pull pieces of the drywall off of the studs.

To remove the drywall where I had scored was a little tricky. I took my time and cutthrough the drywall a little at a time and then removed small pieces of drywall.

Once all of the dry wall was removed, it was time to take down the studs. Using a crowbar, I removed the top piece of wood. This took a little muscle because the nails that were used were about 8" long!

Before I removed the studs, I had to remove the electric. I turned the electric off at the breaker box before I began.

I removed the wires from the stud using a flat head screwdriver.

Using a wire snips, I cut the wires from the box, then capped off the ends.

I shoved one set into the hole in the floor and one set into the hole in the wall.

To drywall the wall, I purchased a piece of drywall that was bigger than the end of the wall.

I laid the new drywall against the wall and drew a line then cut the piece with a drywall saw.

I attached the drywall to the wall using drywall screws.

I measured, cut and attached the second piece above the first.

There were a few larger holes in the wall so I spackled them first and allowed them to dry then sanded them smooth.

I then applied drywall tape to both corners and the seam between the two new pieces of drywall.

A applied "Ready Patch" to the drywall tape and allowed it to dry then sanded it smooth.

Once that was complete, I painted the wall. My sister didn't have the paint she had used previously so I purchased paint samples to paint the new drywall.

There is linoleum in the kitchen and pergo in the dining room and my sister did not have any leftover pieces. Unfortunately, the pergo had been discontinued so I would have to patch the floor the best that I could.

I purchased two T-Molds or transition strips. They snap into metal tracks which are screwed to the floor. I laid one strip on either side of the flooring.

Since she didn't have extra pergo, I used thin pieces of 3/8" wood between the transition strips.

I stained the wood to match the pergo then sealed it.

There was another piece of transition molding that had been used between the kitchen and the dining room; however, my molding didn't line up. This made a gap between the new molding and the existing molding.

I cut a small piece of track and the cut a small piece of transition molding and filled the gap.

While it wasn't exactly how I wanted it to look, it did work.

Here are the before and after pictures.

And my sister...she loves the open space.

Suggested materials:
  • MH Ready Patch   (Lowe's)
  • Drywall tape   (Lowe's)
  • T-Molding   (Lowe's)
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Kate Kate on Jul 17, 2019

    How would one remove a wall vent in the half wall?

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  • Nutmeger Nutmeger on Feb 01, 2019

    I think I would have run the transition the full length of the opening. Nice job.

  • Betty Bromley Betty Bromley on Jul 01, 2020

    It would have been perfect IF you had ran the new floor strip all the way across the floor not just where the half wall was

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