Using metal studs to frame HT room (1 Viewer)

[William_L]

I am just about ready to start fixing my basement and turn a section of it into my Home Theater room, and was planning on using metal studs to frame all of my outside walls. (My house is about 80 years old, and all the block appears to be sandstone, and is real uneven), so I was going to use 1 5/8" metal studs to frame all the walls.
I was wondering is there is a reason I should not use metal studs? It will be a heck of a lot easier to frame using them, as my floor to ceiling height is uneven.
I'm sure I'll be having many more question in the weeks an months to come, so I hope I don't wear out my welcome

 

[Grant B]

I would be afraid about unwanted oscillations at Low frequencies. I would go with wood or do what I did and use 1/2 inch plywood all the way around. I used mine for sheer strength for earthquakes (not much of a problem in pittsburgh!) but found it was great for noise and for insulation; room stays much warmer in winter, cooler in summer (all 5 days of it in San Francisco!)

 

[Mike LS]

I agree. Metal studs will be much more likely to pick up vibrations with mid and low frequencies.
Granted, with an SVS, my 2x4 studded walls rattle from time to time....but not much can be done about that now.
Hey Grant,
What part of S.F. are you in? I was out there a few months ago and absolutely loved it!!
It was about all I could do to keep from house shopping while I was there.

 

[RAF]

William,

Don't worry about it at all. I used metal studs in my HT and there is absolutely no problem with vibration (and I have a couple of serious sub-human frequency producers that are used quite frequently - pun intended.)

Aas long as everything is done properly, there should be no rattling. I'm not exactly sure why the contractor used metal rather than wood, but it might have been because of below ground level considerations or something like that.

Check out the pictures on my web site to see this all taking place.

 

[TonyGricar]

First ever post follows:

I am currently building a HT in the very uneven walled and floored basement of an older house. I couldn't use "off-the-shelf" metal studs for this, but the benefits are easy. Cost. Home Depot sells them for roughly 1.30 per 8ft stud. You can either screw them together, or spring for the 50 dollar crimper and it should be relatively easy to install. When I have my next home built, I will not have the basement finished and go this route. Make sure you throw in the obligatory insulation and you shouldn't have too many problems with vibration.

Tony

 

[Colin Goddard]

William,

Metal studs should work fine for your home theater project! I would personally shy away from the 1 5/8 studs, they have a tendency to be a little "flimsy", even after your frameing has been drywalled. I would go with at least 2 5/8 studs on 16 inch centers on walls that would have no doors in it.

On walls that you would like to have doors on, I would use 3 5/8 studs, because a prehung door jamb should fit with not much problem. If there is a problem because of wall thichness, ask your local lumber yard for a "split door jamb". They adjust in and out for different wall thickness, so you will have no problem when you go to put your "trim" around your door frame. They "might" have something available for 1 5/8 or 2 5/8 walls.

When fastening your metal studs to your metal track, use 7/16 inch pan head screws, either "fine point", or "self drilling" should work fine. The crimping tool that was discussed, works okay, but if you are not careful, they can be "bumped" off of layout. Stay with the screws!!

Hope this all helps,

Colin GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!!