Homes of Steel Vulnerable To Established Wood Frame Market by Broderick Perkins With the declining quality of wood framing for building homes, uniformly designed steel framing offers truer plumb, greater strength and easy erector-set like construction. Fire and termite resistant galvanized steel doesn't warp, rot, buckle, creep, split or splinter and it is largely comprised of politically and environmentally correct recycled steel. Once home buyers learn about steel's advantages over wood framing they are sold. After a decade of using the alternative material to build new homes, why then hasn't the luster of steel framing put a sparkle in the eyes of home builders? In the early 1990s the steel framing industry projected 25 percent of new housing starts in the year 2000 would include at least some steel construction. Today, only 3 to 6 percent of new homes actually do, according to the North American Steel Framing Alliance, created in 1998 to change the fact that wood is hard to shake. "Right now for widespread use, the market is not ready for the product," said Lisa Stevens, spokeswoman for the alliance. While custom builders use steel 15 to 20 percent of the time, wood remains the material of choice among production builders, creatures of habit who construct most of the nation's new homes. Putting building codes in place on the local level and finding trained workers equipped with adequate tools remain the steel framing industry's greatest obstacles. Rather than face potential plan-check problems, most production builders prefer the time-honored tradition of wood-frame homes, knowledgeable building officials and the steady supply of skilled labor. "On one job you have maybe 40 or 50 subcontractors. If you frame with steel everyone has to have the right tools. It's not just having them know how to use steel but having it tooled the right way. We have to come up with a fastening mechanism that will connect steel members as quickly and as cost effectively as we do with wood today," said Stevens. Even with training programs in place, builders say they experience a steely learning curve and a sudden surge in demand for residential steel framing would find the industry unprepared. Steel framing in the hands of untrained contractors could be an energy disaster. "The code people are watching it because steel conducts heat through the walls more than wood so insulation and "R" value becomes a consideration," said Salem, OR-based Myron E. Ferguson, author of "Build It Right" (Home User Press, $18.95). New steel framing requirements have been approved by the International Building Code, but it's up to local jurisdictions to incorporate them in local building ordinances. "Over a period of two years, it will be picked up by local municipalities," Stevens said. Right now California, Florida, Hawaii and Texas are leading the way. One builder, Callaway Steel Framed Homes in New Braunfels, TX offers the following steel framing advantages. Lower energy costs. Steel-framed work allows nine inch R-30 insulation for the walls and roof, compared to R-11 to R-19 insulation typically used in conventional wood framed homes. Strength. Steel framed homes withstand the forces of hurricanes and earthquakes better than conventional wood framed homes. Fire and termite resistance. Steel isn't invulnerable but it doesn't warp, rot, buckle, creep, split, splinter or burn like wood framed housing. The termite-proof material is found in 60 percent of homes in Hawaii where the voracious Formosan termite reigns. Design flexibility. The strength of steel allows fewer "load-bearing" interior walls and more open, clear exteriors. Expansion and remodeling is easier with steel's erector-set like capabilities. Potential cost savings. Theoretically, because steel is stronger than wood, fewer pieces are necessary to build a home and that could mean a smaller building crew spending less time on the job. Engineering steel to exacting specifications also eliminates waste found in wood framing because of warped and defective lumber. "Steel offers a little bit more on the technology side. We can control building inside a plant. We can control the stud size and quality more than you can outside when you are building with wood," said Stevens. The North American Steel Framing Alliance offers additional information for home buyers, builders, designers, manufacturers and code officials. | 
