staggered stud uses the same top and bottom plate, often 2x6. studs alternate being flush with one side or the other of the 2x6, so the leaves on each side are not connected. the leaves are connected through the top and bottom plates however, so it is not as good as double stud.
to reinforce or "beef up" as we call it the garage wall, you would add gypsum to the inside of the existing garage wall between the studs. yes it is a pain, i am in the middle of doing it, you can see from my thread what may be invovled. also Keith Sharward has done a great job documenting his "beef up."
what if i 'sawed out' the existing drywall between the studs ad then fixed these leafs onto the outter layer of the existing wall (in between the studs)? would there be a problem in that the leaf cutouts would be a little bit smaller than the area due to im guessing i wont be able to be perfect when im cutting? and ive heard a lot of talk about 'mud' in between drywall... ill have to do some reading on that.
thanks again guys for all this information.
oh hey i guess what i said in my last post is what you were suggesting initially... i just didnt put two and two together.
I just cut out a small square from the existing garage wall to see whats behind it and ill try and get a picture of it on here soon (digital camera is kinda not working). Basically, now there is no insulation, studs are 2x4s, 16" gap between studs, and the back of the outter leaf looks to be some sort of particle board. im betting the house siding is attached to this layer.
So I'm definately planning on cutting out the inner leaf drywall in sections and using it as beef up material. We have a skillsaw circular blade and jigsaw machine that we could use for cutting up the drywall--i think the skillsaw would be fastest but also hardest and dustiest.
I'd love to have 12" of space between layers on the walls... but man, that really is making my room look like itll be real small. I dont know what im going to do. i wonder how expensive green glue would turn out to be for my room...
thanks