Considering how scarce good lumber is in some areas and the many good qualities of steel framing, it is hard to understand why people still use wood framing in construction projects. Here are five reasons why metal stud framing is superior to wood.
Benefits of Metal Studs over Wood Framing
Some Important benefits of Metal Studs over Wood Framing are:
1- Metal is fire resistant. In extreme heat, metal can be bent or melted, but for building purposes, metal does not lose structural integrity under any normal structure fire. Metal is not as reactive to weather. Wood swells and shrinks during different times of the year which causes issues on inside walls with cracking and splitting, and doors that don’t close correctly. Metal does not have this issue and stays the same all year round.
2- Electrical chases are built into the metal framing. When framing with wood, holes need to be drilled through the studs using large auger bits and hole hawg drills which is a labor intensive job. Often where there is structural framing, an outlet will have to be carved out of a header or 4X member in order to fit where it needs to go. In metal studs, there are built-in chases. The metal conduit can be slid into the channels as well as the flexible conduit, which is extremely simple to use.
3- Fasteners used for metal framing are small sheet metal screws which can actually be removed if a stud needs to be relocated during construction. The metal header pieces are pre-built to fit together. The studs themselves are very lightweight which saves on freight, gas, and shipping. Less weight to haul around on the job site increases productivity and saves the backs of the installers.
4- Cutting wood makes a huge mess of sawdust which gets in your nose and all over the job site. It takes powerful saws to cut larger wood members which can be quite dangerous if not used correctly. Metal studs can easily be cut with a pair of tin snips which can be carried in toolbags. Despite their lightweight and being easy to cut, they are still plenty strong enough when standing upright in their correct orientation.
5- The last advantage of metal is that termites can’t eat it and they don’t want to try. In fact, there are a lot of other bugs such as carpenter ants that will destroy wood but have no effect on steel.
If you are planning a new building construction, ask yourself why you want to use wood framing. Are you absolutely sure there is not a better way?