Building a New House? - Consider Steel Stud Framing

You may have heard of light gauge metal framing, which uses steel studs rather than wood studs. It has many advantages over regular wood studs. There are also a few disadvantages, but I feel they are greatly outweighed by the advantages.

People tend to believe that metal framing will cost more than wood, but it actually costs the same or less. It can save you up to around 30 percent. Regular 2x4s will still be used a little bit in the construction though. Generally, they are used to bind 2 studs together were an outlet will be, in order to prevent the stud from bending. Most builders also slide them into the door frames to make them a little sturdier.

Steel studs are always straight, and never have any problems generally associated with wood studs. They will not have any knots, will never twist and warp and do not swell or shrink. Building a straight wall with wood can be very difficult, because of its tendency to warp. With steel frames, you generally lay down the tracks for the floor and ceiling, and then slide each stud into place.

Steel studs are generally 30-50 percent lighter than their wood counterparts, which means what used to be a six man job, becomes a two man job. Even though they weigh half as much, they are much stronger than wood. This means you can span greater distances and make arches much easier to accomplish. They also have stronger connections between the pieces, which makes it less vulnerable to natural disasters.

Although there are many reasons to use steel frames, there are some downsides. The biggest one is it has no insulation value and can transfer heat out of your house in the winter. There are stud designs where only the edges of the metal actually make contact with the wall, which makes the wall's R-value much better. Hanging pictures and knickknacks are going to be slightly tougher to put up, because you have to use a screw rather than a nail to hang them.

Building with steel studs is different than regular wood construction. You can cut the metal with either a metal snips or circular saw with a toothless metal cutting blade. It is highly recommended that you wear ear protection, a dust mask and like with any project, safety glasses. Metal also has a sharp edge, so you will want some decent gloves. Running electrical wires is a little different. You still drill a hole, but you will need to insert a plastic bushing to prevent the wires from rubbing against the sharp metal. You should also use a plastic tie to secure the cable above the electrical box. I also touched on this before, but you will want to mount a 2x4 between the two studs for the electrical box to be mounted on.