Pro Tips: Wall Building
Don’t lay track across a door opening
Lay out your walls and openings just like you would with
wood, but when you install the bottom plate, don’t run the track across the door openings.
You can’t use your reciprocating saw to cut the opening out later, as you can with wood.
Concrete screws work well to attach the track to concrete.
Use a stud to locate the top plate
Unlike wood, steel studs are reliably
straight. Cut one stud to size and use that,
along with a level, to mark the location of
the top plate at both ends, and snap a line
to guide placement. Don’t worry about
cutting your studs to fit perfectly. It’s completely
unnecessary. This is a great advantage
if you’re working on an uneven floor.
You can cut steel studs about 1/4 in.
shorter than the actual measurement.
Use the track for blocking
Top plates that run parallel to joists often
need to be fastened to braces. You could
use wood, but Joe prefers to use scrap
pieces of track instead. Just cut the sides of
the track and fold them out. Then fasten
the track to the underside of the joist with
drywall screws.
Wood bucks simplify door hanging
Frame the
openings 3 in. wider and 1-1/2 in.
higher and use drywall screws to
fasten 2x4 bucks on the inside of the
steel opening, then hang your door
from the wood bucks. The bucks are
also there for nailing on the casing.
Slide a plastic shim under each side
2x4 if the wood is going to be in direct
contact with a concrete floor.
