# can i cut them the bottom of free-standing self-supporting steel studs? Will they collapse?



## john lanou (May 17, 2021)

I'm doing an waterproofing job, digging a drain tile and sump pump on the inside of my finished music studio. But the job is complicated because in order the dig the trench i need to cut the drywall and studs about 18 inches up to access the floor. However the stud assembly is free standing, so I'm worried that cutting the studs will collapse the entire assembly, especially since there are 3 layers of 5/8 drywall hanging from those studs. 

A bit more detail: I'm a musician and I built a garage music studio, designed to isolate rock-band noise from the neighbors. The sound designer created a "room within a room" so that none of the studio's interior walls (drywall) or their studs would be touching anything on the other side of those studs (i.e., the exterior walls/studs). The design required an 8" inch airgap between the interior wall steel studs and the exterior wall 2x4 studs. This would ensure that minimal sound waves could travel from interior to the exterior. Becasue there could be no physical contact between the interior wall and the exterior walls or studs or rafters, etc, the interior steel stud assembly had to be free-standing. So the contractor erected steel studs around the inside perimeter, and didn't tie them into anything. The only thing holding them in place were the bottom and top tracks. (The top track is not attached to anything either. It's just being held up by the studs.) He then hung the 3 staggered layers of 5/8" on to that assembly. He also built ceiling assembly this way that is totally separate from the wall assembly. The ceiling dryall is hanging off rubber isomax clips.

My waterproofer needs to cut the drywall about 18" up, remove the bottom track and cut the bottom of the studs about 18" up to dig the trench. Typically when he does these jobs, he cuts the lower part of the studs, but because they are tied into part of the exterior wall they don't fall down. In my case when the studs are cut, I fear the free-standing assembly would collapse under the weight of all that remaining drywall. In fact, would the cut studs even stay up if there were _zero_ drywall hanging from them? I've asked the waterproofer about this and he isn't sure.

Sorry if this is a messy post. I'm not well versed in these things. 

Many thanks,
John


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## Mjaw (Nov 24, 2020)

john lanou said:


> I'm doing an waterproofing job, digging a drain tile and sump pump on the inside of my finished music studio. But the job is complicated because in order the dig the trench i need to cut the drywall and studs about 18 inches up to access the floor. However the stud assembly is free standing, so I'm worried that cutting the studs will collapse the entire assembly, especially since there are 3 layers of 5/8 drywall hanging from those studs.
> 
> A bit more detail: I'm a musician and I built a garage music studio, designed to isolate rock-band noise from the neighbors. The sound designer created a "room within a room" so that none of the studio's interior walls (drywall) or their studs would be touching anything on the other side of those studs (i.e., the exterior walls/studs). The design required an 8" inch airgap between the interior wall steel studs and the exterior wall 2x4 studs. This would ensure that minimal sound waves could travel from interior to the exterior. Becasue there could be no physical contact between the interior wall and the exterior walls or studs or rafters, etc, the interior steel stud assembly had to be free-standing. So the contractor erected steel studs around the inside perimeter, and didn't tie them into anything. The only thing holding them in place were the bottom and top tracks. (The top track is not attached to anything either. It's just being held up by the studs.) He then hung the 3 staggered layers of 5/8" on to that assembly. He also built ceiling assembly this way that is totally separate from the wall assembly. The ceiling dryall is hanging off rubber isomax clips.
> 
> ...


3 layer of 5/8 will likey bring it down , just remove whole wall and rebuild bit after


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## john lanou (May 17, 2021)

Thanks! What would keep them up even if I had no drywall on there?


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## Mjaw (Nov 24, 2020)

john lanou said:


> Thanks! What would keep them up even if I had no drywall on there?


If you strip drywall layers off, and have to remove bottom plate and partial studs, might as well remove all studs and top plate if you have a seam in it, easier that way , rather then piecing it back togather


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