Contact a lumber yard or hardware store to find sheathing in your area.
Sheathing is a form of structural reinforcement that appears in homes in many areas. Wall sheathing consists of large pieces of material - sheaths - that connect to the frame of a building to form a wall within the walls. Sheathing helps remove the weight of stress from frames, floors and ceilings, while adding extra resistance against lateral forces, such as wind. You can use a number of materials to create sheathing, some of them suited to metal stud framing.
Plywood Sheathing
Most sources, such as a publication by the Engineered Wood Association, recommend the use of plywood sheathing with metal stud frames. Plywood entails a single board of wood consisting of two different types of wood glues and pressed together. You can purchase plywood anywhere that sells wood, though not all retailers sell boards large enough for wood sheathing. The authors of "Green Living By Design" caution that oriented strand board (OSB), often sold as a substitute for plywood sheathing, may contain toxins, such as formaldehyde.
Plywood With Metal Studs
You need a pin or screw capable of moving through steel and wood in order to securely and successfully fasten a plywood sheath to a metal stud. The Engineered Wood Association recommends the use of corrosion resistant, self-tapping screws, screw-shank nails or steel pins for this job. Purchase these special nails, screws or pins at a hardware store. Use a power tool to complete the job quickly and properly. Power tools for this job include drills if using a screw and a nail gun if using a nail.
Gypsum Board Sheathing
You can also use gypsum sheathing panels for metal stud frames. Gypsum constitutes a type of mineral found in a number of construction materials, including mortar, boards and sheathing panels. Gypsum panels contain hard, waterproof surfaces and can work with both steel framed and wood framed buildings with metal studs. A number of manufacturers make gypsum sheathing panels, many of them offering special features, such as waterproof coatings. Gypsum panels, with their core of rock-like mineral material, weigh significantly more than wood sheathing. They also cost more and often require special ordering.
More Information
Always do as much research and preparation as possible before installing sheathing. For instance, if you need to install insulation between your sheathing and your wall surface, make sure you use sheathing compatible with the insulation you need. If you want to apply a surface material over sheathing, such as stucco, find the ideal sheathing for this. Wood sheathing, for instance, requires the application of metal lath, a mesh-like material, before you can apply stucco to it. Needs for applying mortar to gypsum panels depend upon things like thickness and strength of your panel. Coatings, such as a waterproof outer layer, also affect whether and how you can apply mortar or like materials to gypsum board.
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