Using Steel Studs

Tools and techniques for building basement and partition walls with metal studs.

About Steel Studs

As the supply of quality lumber diminishes, steel studs will replace their wood cousins more and more in home construction. You’ll like steel framing for the many advantages it has over wood: Steel studs are perfectly straight. They don’t shrink or split. They’re light and easy to store, plus they resist fire, insects and rot. And you’ll really like the fact that steel studs are about 30 percent cheaper than wood.

At first, you’ll find framing with steel to be slower than with wood, because you’ll be working with unfamiliar materials, techniques and tools. But once you get the hang of working with steel, it’s very user friendly. If you make a mistake, you can simply unscrew the steel parts and quickly get back on track. To get you started, we’ll show you how to build a small, non-weight-bearing wall.

Tooling Up
You probably already own most of the tools needed for framing with steel. These include a tape measure, a straight-cut aviation metal snips, a plumb bob or 4-ft. level and a drill (preferably cordless with variable speeds and multiple clutch settings) with a 2-in. extension bit holder. Spend $30 more for these additional “must-have” tools: a C-clamp locking pliers (Photo 3) for temporarily clamping studs to tracks, and a sheet-metal locking pliers (also called a “duckbill pliers,” inset, Photo 4) for forming tight bends in steel track.

Basic Cutting Tips

To cut individual studs and tracks, use straight-cut aviation snips (Photo 1). If you need to cut dozens of studs and tracks quickly, use a circular saw fitted with a toothless (Carborundum) metal-cutting blade ($7). When cutting individual studs or tracks with a circular saw, cut on the closed (or “web”) side and support the piece tightly on sawhorses. Protect yourself from the showering sparks, acrid smoke and deafening noise by wearing safety glasses, a dust mask, long sleeves and hearing protection.

Wall-Building Techniques
The best technique for framing steel walls is to first fasten the floor and ceiling tracks and then install the studs one at a time.

On the floor, lay out and mark the location of the wall, fasten the steel track (Photo 2), and then locate the position of the ceiling track using a plumb bob or a level held against a steel stud. On a finished ceiling where the track runs perpendicular to the joists, fasten the track to the underlying joists with 1-1/2 in. self-tapping drywall screws. If the track runs parallel to the joists, fasten the track to the ceiling with drywall anchors.

Buying Steel Studs
Steel studs are sold in a variety of widths (comparable to dimensional lumber sizes), lengths and gauges (the lower the gauge number, the thicker the steel). You anchor them top and bottom to steel track (of matching width), which only comes in 10-ft. lengths. Use 1/2-in. No. 8 pan-head screws.

Most home centers and lumberyards carry only the most popular 3-5/8 in. wide (comparable to 2x4 lumber) 25-gauge steel studs in 8-, 9-, 10- and 12-ft. lengths, along with all the fasteners. These light-weight studs are designed for framing interior, non-weight-bearing walls (walls that don’t support floors or the roof). If you can’t find steel studs at your home center or lumberyard, check with suppliers that cater to builders (look in the Yellow Pages under “Dry Wall Equipment and Supplies”). These suppliers will have a wide range of widths and gauges for framing everything from non-weight-bearing perimeter walls in existing basements (1-5/8 in. wide) to load-bearing exterior walls (up to 5-1/2 in. wide).

Other Wall-Framing Tips

• After marking the positions of all studs on the ceiling and floor tracks, carefully measure the exact height for each stud. This ensures a proper fit by compensating for a sloping ceiling or floor.

• Cut the studs to a height that provides a tight contact to both the top and the bottom of the tracks. Gaps larger than 1/16 in. at either end are too great because they transfer the bearing weight of a wall onto the screws.

• When you’re marking the height and width of door openings, allow an extra 1-1/2 in. for the height and 3 in. for the width to accommodate the 2x4 wood bucks you’ll add for nailing the door frame and wood trim (Photo 4). Connect the wood buck to the metal framing by turning the solid webs of the king studs toward the rough opening and fastening the wood to the metal with 1-1/4 in. drywall screws.

Running Electrical Lines
Home centers and electrical suppliers carry the special electrical boxes and parts used with steel framing. Because electrical boxes attached to steel studs can flex when electrical cords are plugged and unplugged, electricians attach the boxes to wood blocking with 1-1/2 in. self-tapping drywall screws.

Installing Drywall and Wood Trim
If your steel stud wall seems flimsy, keep in mind that it gains full rigidity once drywall or sheathing is applied. Hang drywall or sheathing using 1-1/4 in. self-tapping drywall screws spaced every 8 in. along edges (where two sheets meet on a stud) and 12 in. on center elsewhere.

The flange on a steel stud is flexible and may deflect when you’re trying to pierce it with a drywall screw, especially when two panel edges meet on a single stud. To prevent this, secure the first panel to the open side of the stud (the one that’s opposite the web)—to give it rigidity—and then hang the second panel. Grip the back of the stud flange near the screw connection point with your fingers (to give it support) and then drive the screw.

Don’t try nailing trim into steel studs. It will not hold. Instead, use specially designed trim screws for the job (Photo 6). When countersunk, their small heads are easy to conceal with putty.

Step by Step Photos and Instructions 1 - 3

Click image to enlarge.
1. Cut both side flanges of a steel stud, using straight-cut aviation snips. Then bend one flange up—clear of the snips’ jaws—and cut across the stud’s web. For easier electrical and plumbing installations later on, keep all the keyhole knockouts aligned by cutting all studs to length from the same end. Protect your hands with heavy-duty gloves.

Click image to enlarge.
2. Fasten steel tracks to concrete using 1-1/4 in. hex-head concrete screws. Lay out the position of the track, strike chalk lines, and drill a hole through the metal and into the concrete the full length of the screw. Use a hammer drill fitted with a carbide-tipped masonry bit. Set screws first at each end of the track and then every 3 ft. along the track. Overlap track corners by notching the first track’s flange so the overlapping track can slide into place. On long, straight runs, overlap adjoining tracks 6 in. and secure the overlap to the floor with a concrete screw.

Click image to enlarge.
3. Join studs to tracks by clamping the two members tightly with a C-clamp locking pliers and driving a 1/2-in. No. 8 pan-head screw in the middle where they meet. Drive the screws at medium speed. Choose a clutch setting strong enough to drive the screw home but not so strong that it strips the screw hole and weakens the joint.

Steps 4 - 6

Click image to enlarge.
4. Construct a doorway in a non-weight-bearing wall using steel and wood. Fabricate the metal header by cutting the track 2 in. longer than the rough opening width. Cut each flange of the track (on both ends) 1 in. lengthwise and bend the web down 90 degrees using sheet metal locking pliers (as shown in inset photo). At the rough opening height specified, fasten the header by driving two pan-head screws through each web flap (drawing the header tight to the king stud) and then driving a screw through each flange of the track.

Click image to enlarge.
5. Secure electrical cable along the center line of each stud with plastic ties screwed to the studs. Pop a plastic “bushing” (25¢ each) into each knockout to keep the cable from rubbing against the sharp edges.

Click image to enlarge.
6. Install wood trim to underlying steel wall framing with self-tapping trim screws. Use a stud finder to locate the wall studs, and mark their position on the trim piece. To avoid splitting the trim, countersink the screwhead with a 1/4-in. bit. Then predrill the hole with a 1/8-in. bit. Set the drill clutch “light” so that the screw doesn’t strip out. Drive the screw home and fill the screw hole with putty.