Wondering about the walls

[klm123]

So this is my official first post, and I have been searching and searching for info, pics, anything that suggests how you would sheath the wall to a metal garage that has 2 1/4" square tubing (12 Gauge) for studs, and can't find anything. I will call the manufacturer tomorrow, but today, I want to see what anyone else thinks.

I definitely will be going with 1/2"-3/4" plywood. The studs are spaced 5' apart, and I'm thinking 1x girts, but not sure what screws, etc. would be the best choice, or if this is the way to go at all. All suggestions welcome.

 

[Orange_stang]

Can you post a pic of what your describing? Cause from what you described I'm thinking your going to need to build 2x4 walls between the studs (that are 5' apart) and bolt them in to the metal studs. After that you could then sheet over the walls and just nail into the studs.

 

[PAToyota]

As you say, you’d put girts between the studs. Infilling with 2x4 walls would negate the benefits of using the metal studs - just build the whole thing out of 2x4s at that point.

I’d use “hat” or “z” channel for the girts and fasten it to the studs with Tek (self tapping) screws. If this is a building system (you mention manufacturer), they should have a complete system already designed. The gage and size of the hat channel would be designed for the span already.

Here’s a diagram of hat channel spanning studs for wall framing to give you an idea.

 

[klm123]

Ok. The hat channel makes sense, because I believe they use something similar for the vertical seam applications of the sheet metal. Pretty much these are built like the carport covers you see, with a little more beef, and enclosed. I thought about framing it also, but wasn't really wanting to have to do that if there was an easier way. Here is an attempt of a pic...

http://www.gaport.com/images/garage/pages/350xIMG_2220.jpg

 

[klm123]

And I know it wasn't the best pic, but if you look closely, it shows the wall with the square tubing, but it also shows the roof, with the vertical seams I was referring to, and you can see they used something like the hat channel for the purlins. This is exactly like mine will be. I will try to find more pics.

 

[PAToyota]

Ah, ok. They span the exterior sheathing horizontal, so aren’t necessarily thinking of girts.

The other thing you could do is put the plywood up horizontally and use the Tek screws to fasten it to the girts. Then use a strip of plywood or 1x behind the joints that aren’t on studs to “connect” the two pieces of plywood. Fasten the strip to the one piece of plywood, mount the plywood to the studs, then you can screw the next piece of plywood into the strip too since it is held in place by the first piece of plywood.

This is drywall and OSB, but you should get the idea:

But I’d run the plywood horizontal so that each 8’ piece spans across at least two studs. If you run it vertical, you’ll have pieces that aren’t backed up by any studs.

 

[klm123]

Yes, something like what you are saying. If I used 1x girts/furring strips, I could run the plywood continuously at 8' lengths, and without girts/furring strips, I would use 5' pieces of ply since the studs are 5' oc.

If I don't use the hat channel trick, I will probably use 1x girts/furring strips and screw ply to that. At least that is what I am thinking so far. Hanging stuff up will be a def., and I want the peace of mind for strength/load on these walls. I'm not hanging a car up there, but just saying.