Metal stud lengths

[davidfi]

I am working on the design of a theater building. The building will be steel construction with concrete over metal floors and roof. The exterior walls will be non-bearing metal studs with cement plaster finish. The lateral system will be braced frames set inside the exterior walls.

At one area, the walls are 40' tall with a 4' parapet. I will be using wf columns and horiz wind girts to reduce the span of the studs. My questions are:

1) Can you get studs 44' in length?
2) Is this a good or bad idea to use a single stud?
3) Alternatively, I can break the studs at the wind girts with a track top and bottom. Is this better than full height studs?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[XR250]

You can get 44 ft studs and I have done a similar thing in the past. You might want to design it as broken but give the option of using full height ones - (if the studs are bypassing the girt)

 

[MotorCity]

Not sure what size stud would be required, but 44' long studs don't seem very friendly in terms of handling and constructability.

 

[XR250]

Not sure what size stud would be required, but 44' long studs don't seem very friendly in terms of handling and constructability.

I imagine with two girts, some 18ga, 6" studs would work depending on the speed and exposure. I thought the same thing about constructibility, but I have had installers want to use a continuous stud in lieu of the splice (I have no idea why other than it was cheaper for them.)

 

[DETstru]

I would just draw them continuous and provide an "alternate splice at girt" detail.
Just make sure that if you do so you're not relying on the continuity and you design them as simple spam from girt to girt.

 

[dik]

What is the maximum span of the studs... 6" doesn't seem to be deep enough... what climate... enough insulation?

Dik

 

[davidfi]

Thanks for the replies. I am going to specify continuous 8" studs with wind girts at 15' and 32' to match the floor and low roof for the rest of the building. And I will provide an option to splice the studs just above the wind girts.

Thanks for the help!