Steel Studs

Steel Studs aka Light Guage Metal Framing.

I love steel studs. You can build walls for miles that are straight, flat and plumb, Mostly used in commercial construction, as despite the fact that they are cheaper, and easier to work with, they never really caught on in residential construction. A pair of tinsnips, and a screwgun is just about all you need to play with steel studs.

For this project we are using 1 1/2'' steel studs. This is the same dimensions as a wood 2x2'' that you would buy in the lumberyard. But there are no knots, warps, twists, splits or any of the other things that plague wood frame construction.

I will be using steel studs for creating the soffits to carry the extentions of the HVAC for the new world headquarters as well as a 'Racetrack' ceiling treatment in the office.

Here are some photos of the old world headquarters.

This is the ceiling using 3 1/2'' steel studs. With three steps creating 4 levels.

Here we have the drywall installed and the first coat of mud before the cornerbead.

Here is the ceiling with the last coat of mud and the lights installed.

Here is the finished and painted ceiling. Note that the lowest level that meets the wall is a 7 feet, the center ceiling level is at 8 feet.

This treatment provides a lot of drama in a room and airy feeling. The down side is that it is real labor intensive and a ceiling like this will use as much cornerbead as the rest of a typical house combined.

I told myself that I wouldn't do this again. It really takes a lot of work for something that is basically a design element. I guess I am just weak.

Comments

[Misanthropyst]

I would use these photos to point out how film is still superior to digital photography, especially when long, straight edges are neither horizontal nor vertical in the picture. See the jaggies?

[Lewis Moten]

Any how, the room looks great. And yea, I do get a sense of an airy feeling when I look at the room.

Regarding the comemnts about jagged edges in digital photography compared to trational film, I think it has more to do with both resolution of the photo and the software on the camera. Digital cameras these days have a lot more resolution then most of the standard traditional film can offer.

[Taran]

That's a lot of work... but the good news is that you probably won't have to do it again.

[John R]

Lot of work, but it looks cool!

[Brent C Westbrook]

This looks good. I am getting ready to build another home, and I want to use steel studs. You mean can use these horizontally? Never would have thought that.

[Bob A]

The jagged edges have nothing to do with digital photography. It's how the author reduced the image size. Poorly done.

But the project is damn cool!

[mike morgan]

For metal stud use in finishing a basement, do you need a vapor barrier between the conc floor and the floor track or can you just anchor the track to the floor? Thanks

[harris]

the best thing to do is place a pressure treated 2x4 on the concrete floor then put the bottom steel channel on top of the pressure treated lumber to prevent moisture movement.

[Brendan]

Great blog, vast information.

-Brendan

[Brendan]

This is a great blog, tons of information.

-Brendan

[Sal]

Im going to be building a soffit in a couple of days and decided to do a search out of curiousity. My hats off to you. This blog is saved in my browser's bookmarks.

[sal castro]

What kind of screws do you use when screwing metal to metal framing? What about metal studs to wood studs?

[Craig]

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For example, Contractor Marketing Pros.com has a team of experts who are dedicated specifically to helping contractors and small businesses advertise yourselves online. The team has a lot of really great network of websites and a suite of programs that get pinpoint targeted visitors to your website. Plus, with their pay per lead deal, they're not too expensive, because they only charge when they actually get customers for you.

[Home Remodeling Ideas]

wow,, your work is great,,, i like the materials that you used...

[Joy]

I recently moved into a 7 year old townhome and am almost certain that the studs in the ceiling of my garage are metal. I am trying to install a hanging storage system that can hold up to 250lbs. I have not found any pointers on how to use the metal studs to my advantage to get the storage system mounted to my ceiling. I really don't want to tear down the drywall and replace/mount wood. Any suggestions?

[Josh]

You guys did a good job with relieving the typically overbearing low ceiling...most would have just taken the whole ceiling up to solve the problem yet missing an opportunity. My only comment is lighting: this is where most construction projects lack, even the multi-million dollar ones. If you put "can-lights" ( or even surface mounted down lights on arms)in the relieved soffits and aim them at the walls (perhaps at framed pics or art), your ambient light would most likely take care of the light levels. You may notice that the fluorescents are casting light shadows on the floors and lower parts of the walls. 'Drama' could have possibly gone alot farther with the wall lighting, pics/ art and even color in the soffits.
I contend your creativity went much farther than the typical contractor approach of problem solving -- good job!

[Donald Brown]

I want to install a new window in an existing, outside bearing wall where I need to remove a 2x4 framing stud. The window will be only about 2'x 2'so I will not be able to use a regular 8' wood stud and header system to carry the load of the missing stud. Is there any kind of a telescoping metal framing mechanism that is small enough to slide this small opening and extend it up and down to do this job?

[alan herrell - the head lemur]

Donald,
Thanks for stopping by.
Your description of your project is a bit unclear.
If you are putting a smaller window in an existing opening, your header should be intact.

If you are providing a 'new' opening, you will need to open the interior, walls up around 32'', or three stud widths, in order put in a header and two cripple studs, running from the floor plate to the base of the header.

If you can start the corner near one of the current studs, you can sister it to the original stud and then build out your header from there.

If you do this work from the inside first, you will be able to drill pilot holes through to the outside for cutting the exterior material out of your way.

Hopefully this clears up what you are trying to do.

[JC]

The pictures posted are great. I want to do a garage re-model project but I am having an incredibly difficult time finding steel studs. I have tried all the local big supply stores to the specialty contractor places in my area (Cent. California). Does anyone have a preferred place or way that a non-contractor can order about one hundred studs? Any help/leads would be most appreciated.
Best Regards to all.

[alan herrell - the head lemur]

JC,
Look for a specialty drywall house. Although most big box stores like Home Depot and Lowes carry 2/5 and 3/5 inch studs and track.

[Austin Remodeling - Live Oak Remodeling]

I love this look, great job

[Lynn]

Good Job !I'm a supplier from china .I want to know is it the same installation for magnesium oxide board ?