Creators Syndicate

FIGHT BACK!  BY DAVID HOROWITZ 

An All-Steel Home? 
         
        Americans have lived in wood-frame houses for hundreds of
years.  Which makes sense, since timber has always been one of this
country's most  plentiful resources. Wood houses are sturdy,
long-lasting, economical and  relatively simple to build. 
        But now, the economics of home construction are changing.
Commercial  logging is being cut back, and the cost of wood is
skyrocketing. In the past three  years, the price of wood framing has
gone up 50 percent. And that's forcing  builders to look seriously at
steel as an alternative framing material.        Steel-frame homes
don't look any different than wood frame ones.  Exterior and interior
walls are identical in appearance. The difference is inside  the walls,
where instead of wooden beams, studs and joists, the frame is 
fabricated from lengths of pre-formed sheet steel. Plumbing, electrical
wiring  and heating ducts are installed in the usual way, and then
sheets of drywall are  screwed to the frames to form the interior
walls. 
        Steel construction has several advantages over wood framing.
Hollow  steel beams are two-thirds lighter than wood. In mass-produced
homes, beams  can be pre-cut to length for delivery to the building
site. The trim waste that's left  is 100 percent recyclable. And you
can forget about termites. 
        But the major advantage is cost. At today's prices, steel
framing materials  are about 25 percent cheaper than wood. That can cut
thousands of dollars off  the cost of building a house. Steel frames
are also quicker to assemble, which  reduces labor costs. 
        For carpenters accustomed to framing with wood, working with
sheet  steel does take some getting used to. The joining techniques are
different. So  are the tools. Instead of hammers and circular saws,
steel framers work with tin  snips, electric shears and reciprocating
saws. Connections are made with  sheet-metal screws instead of nails.
It's like assembling a huge erector set. But  the framing skills
required are basically the same as for wood, and most  carpenters find
the transition relatively easy. 
        There are some popular misconceptions about steel homes. Some 
people think they attract lightning or will interfere with television
reception. Not  true. Nor do steel houses rattle in the wind. But steel
does conduct heat better  than wood, so steel framed houses must be
fully insulated against hot and cold  weather. 
        This type of construction is not new. I've worked in
steel-framed news  rooms and office buildings for more than 30 years,
and it has always amazed  me how interior walls, and sometimes whole
offices, can appear and disappear  in a single day. (I must admit,
however, that trying to work or talk on the phone  while someone a few
feet away is cutting sheet metal with an electric saw can  be nerve
shattering.) 
        Home builders have stuck by wood framing for a variety of
reasons. It  may be because wood is still relatively inexpensive in
their particular areas of  the country. But in most cases, it's simply
because they are not familiar with  steel construction and aren't
comfortable with it. 
        Last year, only 1 percent of new homes were framed with steel.
This year,  the industry expects that to go up to 6 percent. If lumber
prices continue to rise,  that trend may become irresistible. 

        If you have any questions or comments, please write to  David
Horowitz in the Consumer Forum+ (go FIGHTBACK). 


COPYRIGHT 1994 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.