Posted this a minute ago but didn’t go, so…
We are ready to frame interior walls on our log house, and I was going to use steel framing, as studs here look like snakes (Colorado).
My neighbor, a carpenter, said no, no ,no. but couldn’t give me any really good reasons, other than that they are noisy.
My office was framed with steel and in 15 years never noticed any noise.
Any good reason I shouldn’t use steel?
thanks
Stef
Replies
I have steel joist in my house . They are noisier than wood ,but I have not finnished the floors yet. But they are straight_____________as an arrow . If you have the right tools go for it . If not go out and buy them ,then go for it . A straight wall is nice to work with. I also don't think that stud walls transfer noise like a steel joist running the width of a house.
There is no good reason. Just be aware that being steel might have it's drawbacks. However, blocking where needed and the right anchors solve most of those. Around here romex can be run through "Grommeted" knock outs. Using light, non structural ga. and you should consider cold rolled reinforcing channel running through a row of knockouts to stiffen the wall.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
I was going to build my last house using steel joists but opted for TJI's instead. As for steel studs - you may be surprised that the steel actually transmits less sound vibrations through them than wood?! I have used steel studs in partition walls and also in exterior and interior load walls with wonderful results. As for the steel joists though, the problem reverses itself. I have walked through houses built with steel joists and they are loud. They are so strong and rigid they make the plywood subfloor into the tightened skin of a drum. But, TJI's can create the same effect. It's just easier to dampen wooden TJI's than a steel joist. Regardless, my next house I am designing will be all steel. To alleviate the sound transference I intend to utilize Icynene foam sprayed under the subfloor. This also doubles as insulation for zone heating and cooling. My architect friend swears this solves the problem. I have yet to investigate his latest steel project (high priced condo development) to verify this. He tells me he is specifying steel exclusively in all his projects from California to Florida to New York.
If anyone has some input on this I like to hear their personal experiences with steel joists and how they solved the Bongo problem.
The two main knocks I have seen on light gauge steel framing is that they have higher thermal conductivity than wood, so it is more difficult to achieve high R values for wall assemblies, but this shouldn't be a problem for interior walls. The other is that light gauge framing, if not behind a fire resistant paneling or coated with fire resistant materials, tends to collapse more rapidly than normal wood framing in a fire.