Steel slow to gain foothold in home construction

Though steel is a staple in commercial construction, residential construction still relies primarily on wood framing.

In spite of the obvious benefits of steel strength, longevity and reduced fire potential, builder Brian Brockman believes wood will remain the dominant material in residential building.

"Lumber would have to get awfully high for people to switch over," he said.

Brockman cited cost as the main reason he doesn't believe home builders will switch to using steel. Brockman pointed out that it's not the cost of the steel itself that is prohibitive. With the way today's houses have a variety of angles and corners, offsets in the foundation, hips and valleys, using steel would be too labor-intensive, he said. Special equipment is needed to size and maneuver steel beams.

"You can go over and just pick up a board and cut it," Brockman said. "But that's not as easily done with steel."

Steel in construction

However, even homes built with wood still use steel in their construction.

Rick Creson, partner in DeVille Steel, identified four main ways steel is used in home building. Steel reinforcing bars are used in all foundations, concrete footings and basement walls, as required by building codes. They're also used in the slab of garage floors or driveways.

Steel beams across the ceiling of a basement are used "to provide ceiling and roof support over a large area, say a large rec room, where they don't want posts everywhere to break up the continuity of the room," Brockman said.

The third area steel is used is over windows and entryways. Said Brockman, "You can't stack bricks very high over a door or window, so we'll bridge across the top of that window with steel angle iron and then stack the bricks from the top of that door or window on up to the soffit or gable."

Steel supports for such purposes come in all shapes and sizes, including curved pieces that allow bricklayers to form safe but artistic arches.

Another common use of steel is interior or exterior railing for decks or stairs.

Not all of these uses are mandated by building codes. But Manny Smith, partner in Fimco steel, believes steel should be used by "any discriminating builder that builds a quality home."

"Wood will rot over a period of time," he explained. "It will sag, you'll get termite infestation, whereas steel is permanent. Once it's in, it's there forever. That's the advantage."