Commercial Metal Stud Framing
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Framing commercial jobs can be extremely lucrative work. But most commercial work uses some form of metal stud framing. If you've made your way up the trades framing with wood, switching to steel framing can be a daunting experience.

With this new book you'll quickly learn, step-by-step, the basic methods (and some valuable tricks of the trade) to master high-speed metal stud framing in commercial construction. If you're an experienced wood framer, you already have many of the skills you'll need. This manual, written by a framer who runs work for one of the largest metal stud contractors in the country tells you just about everything you need to know to transfer those skills to metal stud framing in commercial buildings.

Here you'll find detailed instructions for:

• structural walls

• curtain walls

• putting up headers

• suspended ceilings

• building soffits

• hollow metal jambs

• furring walls

• fire-rated walls & ceilings

• columns

• hanging drywall on metal studs

You'll also learn about the new tools, materials and equipment you'll need for framing with steel, and how to use them safely and efficiently But what makes this book especially valuable is the focus on how a crew can work together, setting up and maintaining a rhythm that speeds you through the job quickly and accurately For example, it tells you exactly what the framer on the ground should be doing while you're up on the scaffold stuffing the top plate.

This book is easy to read, conversational, and includes literally hundreds of job site photos that show exactly how to assemble each part of the structure. Once you see how the steel framing is done, you'll find it's considerably easier than wood. But to earn top pay on a commercial site, you need more than just the basics. You'll need the shortcuts, the proven techniques for dealing with specific problems that stump the novice (and sometimes the super). Here you'll find secrets the author has learned over the years, both from the old-timers who showed him the ropes, and from his own experience as he worked around the problems that come up on every job.

About the Author

Ray Clark has for the past 15 years worked in several states in the residential and commercial drywall and metal stud framing trades, sharing experience with other metal stud framers across the country and mastering his craft under the guidance of some of the nation's top framers.

He has also taught framing in junior college, and it was while searching for a clear, accurate text that he realized it was up to him to write one. This is the first full-scale metal stud framing text, and he's filled it with the tips and tricks that normally only years on the job can teach.

Introduction | Table of Contents | Preview A Chapter