...John Sayers or Michael Jones...

[fonts]

...I looked at your project and picked up an idea or 2 already...guess I will need to buy the books...but until then can you explain the benifits of the "staggered-stud" construction please?...

[ausrock]

John may have some more to add, but there are two basic wall framing methods usually raised here.............the first is to build two seperate walls, an inner and an outer using for example 4" x 2" timber for both top and bottom plates and the studs. When positioned there needs to be an air gap between these frames of maybe 1". (NOTE.......all these measurements are arbitary and for example only). So, your overall wall thickness so far is 8" of frame plus 1" air gap...........then add the necessary sheetrock and you are approaching a total thickness of 10 --> 11 inches.

Staggered stud frames only use a single top and single bottom plate.........lets say 6" x 2". You set your studs for one side as per normal at the recommended centres (spacing). The studs for the other side are positioned half way between the studs of the opposite side. Acoustic insulation can be "woven" through the studs before sheetrock is fitted. The overall thickness in this case would be 6" frame plus the sheetrock. Also resilient channel can add to the total thickness in either construction method.

So the first benefit in staggered stud construction is...........presuming the wall is well designed and made, you have potentially gained more floor space in the studio.

[Michael Jones]

You lumped me in the company of John Sayers?
I'm honored!

Ausrock was right about staggered stud. More simply put, the idea behind it is that the exterior wall doesn't touch the interior wall (except at the base and top plates), thus minimizing sound transference from the outside to the inside.

You use a 2x6 base plate, and set 2x4 studs on one side of the 2x6 at 16" O.C. Then you set 2x4 studs on the other side of the base plate but these are offset or staggered 8" from the first set.

It makes for a REALLY HEAVY wall section because you have wider base plates, and twice as many studs.
It took 3 of us to tilt up a 10'x10' wall section, position it over the foundation anchor bolts, and plumb & brace it into position. And that was with no sheathing on it.

The theoretical STC for a wall section like this is 61 with a tripple layer of sheathing/sheetrock on each side and insulation in the cavity.