Pressurized Walls Can Embiggen Your Crowded Apartment

Housing has become pretty expensive—rent is super high all over the country, and mortgage rates have shot up 4.6% since just last year. So it’s not really all that surprising that more adults are entering into roommate situations in order to afford their housing. A roommate can magically turn an apartment that makes you choose between rent and groceries into an affordable home.

Roommates, of course, come with downsides—especially if you’ve lived on your own for a while and thought your days of sharing space and splitting bills were long over. And it’s one thing to take on a roommate when you have the actual bedroom to offer; it’s something else entirely when you’re living in a studio or one-bedroom apartment and need someone to split the rent. There are a lot of relatively easy and affordable ways to create a second private space in your apartment, but most of them either don’t offer true privacy or require you to be able to actually renovate your place, which a landlord probably isn’t excited about.

So what can you do if you want to add a wall to your place without endangering your lease or your security deposit? You can install a pressurized wall.

Under pressure

So what’s a pressurized wall? It’s a freestanding wall that uses tension to hold itself in place. They are non-load-bearing and not permanently attached in any way, but resemble real walls in every superficial way. These walls can even have doors or windows built into them, and can have soundproofing added to enhance their privacy features. These walls typically have to be ordered custom from a company that makes them, but the upside to that is that they can be customized to match the apartment’s decor and style so they blend in pretty seamlessly. And best of all, they can be completely removed when the time comes to move out, leaving no trace behind.

The cost of having a pressurized wall installed in your apartment depends on the size of the wall needed and the features you want included. A typical price range is between $800 to $2,000, though you can spend much more on very large or super-fancy walls. Still, if the cost is split with your roommates, it can be an affordable solution because it can turn a large bedroom into two bedrooms in a way that looks professional and natural.

Legalities and downsides

Unfortunately, you can’t just order a pressurized wall off the Internet and install it whenever you want. Because a pressurized wall changes the layout of the apartment you, have to follow certain basic guidelines when installing them:

• Get permission. Your first stop is your landlord, who may or may not allow pressurized walls in the building. Some buildings have specific posted policies concerning pressurized walls, so if you’re apartment hunting and looking for a bargain you can target studios or one-bedrooms in buildings that explicitly allow them. Otherwise, you’ll need to get permission.

• Permits. You also might need to get a permit from the Department of Buildings or another entity that issues certificates of occupancy. Many jurisdictions consider pressurized walls to be the same as any other wall, which means installing one is treated similarly to any major renovation.

• Follow the law. Wherever you live, there are laws pertaining to bedroom size and shape, ventilation, window access, and fire escape routes. When adding a pressurized wall to your apartment to create a new bedroom you’ll need to follow all of those rules whether you had to pull a permit or not. The company you order your wall from should be able to assist in the planning, but you might need to hire an architect or other contractor if not.

• Strength. Since these walls aren’t true walls, you may not be able to attach anything heavy to them, like bookshelves. You should check with the manufacturer about the load they can handle before you plan to attach anything to them.

Most companies that manufacture these walls will lease them to you for a period of years, so you don’t have to purchase them outright if you’re renting. This is good because you can simply end the lease and give the wall back if and when you move, but if you stay in the apartment for a long time you might end up paying more in leasing fees than you would have if you bought the wall.

A pressurized wall isn’t right for everyone, but if you can swing one it can add rooms to your apartment with a finished feel and a real sense of privacy without damaging anything. It’s certainly better than trying to convince potential roommates that your spacious walk-in closet is actually a second bedroom.