Is steel the new lumber?

[Brent Zande]

At Slate Building Group, we recently completed a steel structure duplex and we are beginning on a second single family home in the next few weeks. We were very excited to have the opportunity to try this method of construction with a smaller home product and we learned a great deal along the way.

The Skinny! Steel is a more efficient build, less theft, fast (though not much faster even panelized), straight and solid, substantially less waste, and things are well planned for mechanicals. There are savings here too as compared to lumber, I would say with current pricing steel may be close to 30% less. We also found some negatives in the process. First, trades aren’t too anxious to try something new when there is plenty of work in good old wood. Second, the companies that offer steel framing are often working with really large businesses (not us), so getting the attention a company of our size needs, was tough. Third, the county inspections department really struggled with what to do on this type of structure and we had to jump through many more hoops to get approvals on inspections. The lack of familiarity was tough for everyone as you can imagine. It is a really interesting alternative to wood and I think some builders will continue down this path, but I am hesitant to endorse this as a long term solution and I feel steel will likely fade as the shiny new object often does over time.

What do you think? Is steel the new lumber? https://slatebuildinggroup.com/