Steel studs- Hat track or no?

[Davidlavin]

Hi everyone,

I hope it is ok that I keep posting new topics instead of following up on old questions...

I'm planning on ordering the steel studs for the inner wall of my double walled construction. As I understand it, I'm using the steel studs (light weight, not load bearing) because they are somewhat flexible and so don't transmit the vibration as easily.So my question is: Do I need to use the hat channel over top of the studs that go with them, or just put sheetrock right on the studs, like I would if I were using regular wood studs? The hat track is relatively expensive, so if I don't need it, I'd certainly rather not have to pay for it.

Anyone who's done this either way - feedback would be greatly appreciated.

David

[Aaronw]

I did the inside wall of the control room w/ RC1 on steel studs, but I was using 20 guage studs. On the iso room, I used 25 guage, and went directly to the studs.

Knightfly (Steve) would probably be the best person to answer this one. But if you're using 25 guage, you're probably ok.

Aaron

[knightfly]

David, you should be fine using just the light weight (25 gauge) studs - they do flex enough to make up for no resilient mounting - my calculators show the same STC in walls done with light steel studs as those done with wood or heavy steel and resilient mounting. If you're doing full double framed walls with only one side of each frame paneled, it's a moot point. In that case, no resilient mounts are needed on EITHER side.

On the multi-post thing; it's probably easier to keep track if you stick with one thread for most things - if you like, you can still edit your post and change the name to one that's more generic of what you're doing; then, when you get far enough along, post a drawing(s) and everything will be in the same place. Makes things quite a bit easier for me (therefore that's the way I'd vote :=) Steve