wood or metal?

Is there any reason why plasterboards or other drywall materials cant be mounted on metal contruction instead of wood construction? Since I live in Croatia, Europe, wood is twice more expensive then standard steel frames. I hope I havent violated your terms of using this forum with this general question, and Im aware that there are no straight forward general answers when dealing with acoustics, but any info will help. Im buliding a small recording studio mainly for radio production purposes (meaning: closed mic recording of vocals and seldom some acoustic instruments... no drums or other "loud & bassy intruments"). The only reference on your site that backs up my intention to use steel frame constructions is "Vapor studio" in Spain. Can you please shed some light on my dilemma? thx

Metal studs are actually better. In the states the price is the other way around, wood is half as much as metal studs. The reason the metal studs are better is because they don't transfer vibration as easily from one side to the other. By all means, if you can get them cheaper, do it! :) i wanted to, but the price of my project would have been a lot higher.

Here in the Netherlands MetalStuds are cheaper than Wood too. Also easier to handle. And in the low end you'll get a little better result. The studs are also a bit more flexible than solid wood. AND adding isolation is waaaay easier... lotsa pros. I use 100mm studs with 100mm ISOVER Sonepannel inserted. Be carefull hanging doors onnit tho.

this is interesting Ro, I didn't know this. perhaps I should go metal too. where do you buy these ? Regards, Yvo

Are there any Home Depot's in The Netherlands? :D

Thx, Im planning to use 10 cm studs too. Hope it turns out ok. Ill send some photos and sketches later of progress. My life suddenly became a lot easyer :lol:

~ufo~ wrote:

this is interesting Ro, I didn't know this. perhaps I should go metal too. where do you buy these ? Regards, Yvo

Not very constructionmarkets (homepepot or gamma/praxis etc for the netherlands) do sell them. You should visit your local construction compagny for example. There are also U-studs (for bottom and top) with rubber attached to the bottom already, nice detail. You might wanna check these sites: http://www.bouwleverancier.nl/ http://www.bouwmarktconcurrent.nl/ But constr.comps are way cheaper.

Actually, there's a footnote on the "metal is better" situation. Metal is better (isolationwise) than wood in single frame assemblies without resilient channel. But metal and wood are in a horserace (i.e., very close competitively speaking) when frames are separate. The reason for this is that light guage steel studs flex and have less of a transfer path from leaf to leaf when both leaves are on the same studs. When the leaves are on different studs, it doesn't matter. Steve has posted numerous times that wood has an advantage terms of water tolerance. (Removed erroneous statement about corrosion) Steel has the advantage in terms of straightness, (perhaps) ease of installation, and wood destroying pest infestations. It's not a cut-and-dried "steel framing is always better than wood framing" situation. I chose to use wood framing in my project because my house is already framed with wood. I didn't want to mix and match my framing methodologies... :roll: The answer is, as always, "it depends." --Keith :mrgreen:

sharward wrote:

metal will corrode when exposed to too much moisture, it changes things.

Not true. We've been using metal studs where I work to build walls in pharmaceutical WASHDOWN rooms for years and we haven't had any problems with the studs corroding. And these rooms get washed down regularily and the humidity is VERY high on a routine basis. In a home you won't get nearly as much moisture in the air as we have, and again, we've had no problems. I also believe metal studs are treated to be rust resistent. They must be, because we've taken walls apart that were built over 10 years ago and there was no rust in sight.

In orangenumerik's "Wood or steel stud for studio walls?" thread...

knightfly wrote:

Yet another deciding factor - water retention. On the Building Sciences site (see the REFERENCE section) there is one paper that tells of a test house (around 2000 sq. ft. IIRC) built from steel framing and gypsum, the entire house could support a moisture content of around 5 gallons without causing damage; second house, wood frame, wood panels - 50 gallons. Third house, all masonry - 500 gallons!!! For this reason, I'm a bit nervous recommending steel framing unless the individual plans on a dehumidifier running in the space 24/7 except when actually USING the space. (with the humidistat set for 40% humidity, that is) . . . Here's the Building Sciences paper http://www.buildingscience.com/resource ... ldings.pdf I find these are much faster if you right-click on the link and "save target as". It's not too huge, 6 pages in all... Steve

No way, I'd need to see the exact study he's referring to and the numbers. That's a bunch of crap. It seriously sounds like some kind of smear campaign against metal studs. I'm telling you from experience, we use metal studs in WASHDOWN room and we've never had any kind of corrosion issues. By washdown I mean every couple weeks, our operators spray the entire room down with a pressure washer, soaking everything in their path. Not only does everything get soaking wet, but it feels like a steam room when you walk in the room when they're spraying everything down. That's what I'd call humidity, way more humid than a house will EVER get. I'm standing by what I say. EDIT: I just saw the pdf. I'm going to read through that study, but not right now. I still stand 100% by what I'm saying.

I'm with Soniq. I've yet to see a corroded metalframe! (build several walls over the years together with a friend who does that for a living) The document Sharward is talking about is about Absorption of moistre. Steel don't absorpt moist as much as wood, which is good. Ofcourse ya need to ventilate the building, esp. your wall construction (to prevent ANY rust, molt or whatever). Just leave a space gap of atleast 1" (about 2.54 cm) between walls. And ofcourse, every project has it's own specs. So yeah, the answer always depends. I like working with wood but prefer metal for building walls. cheers! ro

At least you have been getting replies. I've spent time taking and editing pictures and providing lots of details (is not enough details yet?) and have gotten zero responses. I have even read (I think) all of the stickies in an attempt to not be ignored. Please see if you can see anything missing within my post, "Basement studio-room project in Boston area", that doesn't follow the guidelines (except for a diagram of the floor plan, which will be coming soon). I am certainly making an effort attempting to conform. Anyway, I am working on the issue of steel versus wood for use in ceiling joists, and if I find anything I will post about it.... thanx, K

Don't feel bad, everyone goes through feeling like they're a thread killer. It happens.

sharward wrote: metal will corrode when exposed to too much moisture, it changes things. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Perhaps a big factor is whether the studs are galvanized (or otherwise plated)? Metal studs ARE available galvanized, and I would suppose they would be used in high moisture conditions.

I removed my previous erronious statement about corrison... It's pretty much a non-issue with galvanized steel studs, and I would think (and hope) that they're all made that way nowadays. In fact, the point that I think Steve has made numerous times on the forum has been that wood framing can absorb a good amount of occasional moisture. Under certain circumstances that can be a good thing. I apologize for rushing into the thread without having my facts straight. I stand by my position of "it depends," but my reasons weren't defensible. Now that I've taken the time to link to the appropriate resources, folks should be able to determine for themselves the better path to take in their own situations. :) --Keith :mrgreen:

I'll ask my suplier if metalstuds are indeed galvanized these days, would not surprise me. Same goes for Screws btw. Always good to discuus such matters Sharward.

Ro wrote:

I'll ask my suplier if metalstuds are indeed galvanized these days, would not surprise me. Same goes for Screws btw. Always good to discuus such matters Sharward.

Do a search for Steel Stud Manufacturers Association and DL the 50+ page technical product guide.... they talk about treating GALVANIZED and other steel studs after they are welded (if that method of assembly is chosen). try this link: http://www.rinker.com/steelcon/download ... mation.pdf

Well yeah, high temperatures ruins the galvanized treatment, which is why they probably galvanized them after they were welded. If you screw the studs together, which is what most people do, you don't have to worry about that.

perfect!