which wall design is better?


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Old 11-18-06, 01:20 PM
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which wall design is better?

I have an older house (about 85-90 years old). Half the house is now stripped down to the studs and rafters. This is where I am looking for your advice. This part is studded with 2x4 so the walls will be R12. I am moving towards nailing an extra piece of 2x2 to the inside of the existing 2x4s to make the walls 2x6 before putting the insulation in and gyproc on top.
It has been suggested that I put another wall (framed same as the outer wall) inside, staggering the studs between the existing studs in the original wall. The reason I have been told is that the coldest part of the wall will be the studs, and that cold and noise stay out better by putting a second set of studs inside the first and staggering the studs so that if they are 16 inch on center, the inside wall studs are at the 8 inch mark, 16 inch on center as well. Like this...
(ouside)
x_____x_____x_____x_____x
___x_____x_____x_____x___
(inside)

Does anyone have any advice on this or seen this done before? Would that be better than my original idea of nailing a 2x2 to the inside of each 2x4 to make the walls 2x6 to accept R20? I am in eastern Canada on the water and it does get quite windy and cold.
 
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Old 11-18-06, 01:49 PM
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R-13 is commonly the ins. used in 2x4 walls, R-19 for 2x6.
Staggered stud framing is a simple method of limiting sound
transfer and the labor probably would not be justified by the gain.

I would be inclined to use unfaced batts, a vapor barrier and 5/8" drywall.
 
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Old 11-18-06, 03:32 PM
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which wall design is better?

Staggered studs are well accepted way to eliminate sound and the thermal "short circuiting" of the wood studs. Few people appreciate the amount of heat loss that the pink panther tries to hide by inferring the R-value for the wall is the same as the R-value of the pink fluff, which has been documented as "false" insulation.

As for insulation, there are well documented reductions of the sound reduction benefits of staggered studs.

If the minor space loss is not important and you consider your labor as "free" it is a good way to improve a wall with only a minor cost increase represented by the studs and extra insulation.

If you were dealing with steel studs (much worse than wood) it definitely would be even more obvious.

Your finishing details at openings will be different and some people prefer the appreance of a thicker wall.

The only question would be whether you are over-insulating for your climate.

Dick
 
 

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