Steel framing costs versus wood framing costs?

In doing searches to get rough costs of steel materials for framing (versus standard wood framing), I keep seeing 'comparable' costs... Is anyone using steel framing? What are your material costs? What attracts me to steel is consistency of material (it's always straight), and it's not affected by moisture (galvanized) as much as wood, nor will it shrink. But, I'm ordering some 4" by 1.62", 33 mil (20 gauge) studs, and these are costing $10 per 12 foot stud. Granted, these are hefty studs to be used by me as inner-leaf ceiling joists. Yet, it would seem that the material cost of steel is alot higher than wood.... Hmmm?

From somewhere in the stickies (I hope) http://www.buildingscience.com/resource ... ldings.pdf If you live in any but a desert climate, I'd only use steel/gypsum if you can run a dehumidifer 24/7 set at 40-42% RH, and only turned off during actual room use... Steve

knightfly wrote:

From somewhere in the stickies (I hope) http://www.buildingscience.com/resource ... ldings.pdf If you live in any but a desert climate, I'd only use steel/gypsum if you can run a dehumidifer 24/7 set at 40-42% RH, and only turned off during actual room use... Steve

Although I DO run a dehumidifier 365d/yr (but it only really mostly goes on in the summer, or during rain (or thaws); i.e., when it's humid), this is yet another reason to use wood.... NOW, I'd like to know about the use of PT in a basement... certainly for the baseplates, but what about the rest of the framing? Then again, PT introduces that whole electrolytic corrosion due to the preservatives acting on fasteners or other metals.... K

Check this out... Simpson Strong Tie: Pressure-Treated Wood with Barrier Membranes FAQs Simpson Strong Tie: Barrier Membranes and Preservative Treated Wood (Technical Bulletin) --Keith :mrgreen:

3 years ago, steel was cheaper than wood. Today's prices...steel is more than wood. :twisted: :twisted: :evil: :evil: All my walls are steel stud construction.