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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed
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To: flatsville who wrote (59246)1/18/2001 4:01:33 PM
From: GraceZ  Read Replies (1) of 436258
 
I'm married to a metal stud guy (take that any way you want to) and I've looked at construction sites all across the country for years. Metal has been used in commercial for years and years because of the local fire code and the ease of installation. I do remember looking at commercial construction sites around San Francisco and saw lots and lots of wood on commercial sites. If I had to guess it's because of the earthquake codes. Metal is far easier to build with.

The housing market has almost always limited metal to multi-dwelling units (the fire code again) but it is starting to show up in single family houses. The biggest difference between the two types of construction is that wood is structural on inside weight bearing walls and single family houses frequently have more than one story. The lightweight stuff you see on most office partitions doesn't need to be structural because there is usually steel I-beams and slab to support upper story walls. There is a heavier structural weightbearing metal stud....but it is almost as heavy and difficult to work with as wood (no tin snips for cutting, you have to use a chop saw with a metal blade). My husband complains bitterly when they have to use it because it slows them down considerably.

You have to remember that as well as attaching the studs to each other and the floor they are used for attaching drywall to and drywall requires quite a few screws. The self drillers needed for the structural steel are a lot more expensive than standard drywall screws and they take a lot out of the installer because they require a great deal more pressure on the screw gun (I know this first hand).

Aside from that, homeowners have a strong preference for a house constructed of wood. Add to that, there is a different set of skills among the construction workers that work in each respective industry. The commercial and residential labor pool doesn't cross over much.....although I have yet to meet a commercial guy who hasn't at least built part, if not all, of his own house.
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