RSIC-1 for Steel Stud walls
RAL testing 1/18/05
The RSIC-1 wall again compares to double stud construction. The steel stud double wall is a little different then the wood stud wall. The acoustical design has the back side of the studs free. The fire rated design calls for the backside of the stud to be restrained, or connected to the other steel stud wall at every stud. This eliminates the acoustical design of the wall, and reduces the STC by up to 15 pts. If the builder is looking for the original STC that was specified by the architect, he will be greatly disappointed. A double stud wall that was originally designed for an STC 60 could easily perform as low as an STC 45 in the field once the appropriate measures are taken to gain the fire rating. The RSIC-1 clips have the advantage here. The RSIC-1 wall systems are simple, smaller and cheaper to build with equal or better performance to a double wall system.
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