Replace or repair rusted/corroded metal studs

[Alan CA]

Hi All,

This is a widely debated topic and I apologies if I'm repeating any similar conversations happened in the past.

How would you deal with rusted and corroded metal studs? By rusted I mean it's not as deep as corroded, and corroded is obvious. Will you clean and coat studs or will you replace once you see signs of rust and corrosion?

Any official or reputable sources on the topic?

 

[jayrod12]

I think you need to be able to make an assessment of how much material is lost, and how much you actually need for the applied loads. And make your determination from there whether anything is required to be replaced. I would always suggest cleaning and coating.

 

[structSU10]

It would be dependent on what a structural analysis tells you about remaining capacity considering the corrosion. If its already a thin gauge stud capacity can drop pretty quick,.

It is also highly dependent on what the stud is trying to do - is it just a facade supporting element? does it support vertical load? Where along the stud is the corrosion?

The bigger question should be what caused the corrosion and does something need to be done to stop it in the future. It could be a leak or it could be condensation due to poor thermal detailing. If there has to be repair might as well fix all the problems at once or plan to do it all again in a number of years.

 

[desertfox]

I would replace them unless you know for sure exactly the reduced strength of the studs. I would think about the cost of replacing the studs against a claim made against your company by the client if the studs fail. You might get better answers if you give more detail about your situation.

“Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater.” Albert Einstein

 

[dold]

I've always replaced. Consider the difficulty of cleaning (grinder with a wire wheel? Manual wire brush?) and painting/coating even just a single stud. They have pretty high surface area and I suspect trying to clean inside the flanges and behind the lip would be very time consuming/not possible. Then painting...that'd be a lot of expensive paint.

Compare that to just buying a new stud and screwing it to the existing tracks - assuming it's just some sort of non load bearing facade type deal and the tracks are in fair shape. I've even had the contractor just leave the existing studs where they are and I ignore them for any calcs. If you have load bearing studs and bridging to contend with then it might be a bit trickier to replace. But I suspect still easier than trying to clean a stud.

Got any more info? Pics? Sketch?

 

[Tomfh]

There are so many considerations that it’s impossible to give a universal answer.

 

[EdStainless]

One of the real issues is that often there is a groove of corrosion right at the interface.
And that is the location hardest to clean and inspect.


= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[Alan CA]

Thank you everyone for your replies and insights. As you see, this is widely debated. It's tempting to clean and coat but thus can be impractical and even costly as much as replacement of the studs. A topic that requires careful consideration.