All Your Steel Framing Questions Answered

Yes - buildings up to 10 stories can be built faster and more efficiently than using traditional structural steel or concrete.

A single-story house using cold-formed steel for the wall and roof framing has approximately 16-21kg of steel per square meter of floor space. A two-story house has approximately 19-25 kg of steel per square meter of floor space.

Steel’s strength and non-combustible properties offer greater protection for your home and family. Choosing steel-framing can eliminate high wind, fire, and lightning damage to your home.

The overall recycling rate of the steel industry is 86%, the highest of any industry in the world. This offers an environmentally sound alternative for home framing. Steel framing scrap is a valuable commodity that should not end up in a landfill.

Yes, steel framing can easily be designed to meet and exceed energy efficiency standards across the world.

Steel framed walls are unaffected by temperature or humidity changes and more of the heating and air-conditioning costs remain inside the house, saving money spent on utility bills.

No, because of steel’s strength, you can design your home with larger open spaces. With a steel frame, the walls will remain straight and true and can be finished with any materials that are traditionally used.

Positive connections and the strength of steel provide great protection against earthquakes and hurricanes. A lighter structure with stronger connections results in less damage from seismic force. Steel’s high ductility makes it the best construction material for earthquake-resistant design.

Typically, steel framing is a similar cost to other construction materials. However, the speed to build, accuracy and limited rework mean the total development costs can be significantly reduced. 

Mold requires three things to grow:

1. The mold spores, which exist everywhere there is air

2. Moisture

3. Organic material, which provides the food for the mold

Steel does not contain any organic material and therefore cannot support mold growth.

Yes, galvanized steel provides better rust protection. The reason is that zinc, through its sacrificial galvanic action, can “heal” cuts, scratches and abrasions in the steel. With the rough handling that construction products receive, as well as the cutting, drilling, shearing and fastening of members, the coating gets cut and scraped away. The galvanized coating works better than the enamel at covering areas that are cut or scratched.

No. Steel framing is recommended by the Healthy House Institute for chemically sensitive and environmentally conscious homeowners who seek good indoor air quality. Steel frames do not need to be treated for termites and are free of resin adhesives and chemicals normally present in other construction materials. 

No. A steel frame home will look exactly like any other home. The same exterior finishes can be applied to a steel frame as those applied in standard construction.

Yes. Since steel framing enables larger spans in the design of the home, fewer interior load bearing walls are needed, making renovation very easy while allowing more flexibility in design.

No. The use of zinc coating on the steel framing protects the steel from corrosion for the life of the structure.

Yes. A steel frame actually allows more protection for the occupants since it provides a direct path to the ground in the event of a lightning strike. This reduces the likelihood of explosions or secondary fire.