Steel Vs Wooden Studs: The Face-Off

Construction & Contractors Blog

Wood is often the traditional choice of stud material used on interior wall frames during construction. One of the main reasons for this is that wooden studs are often the most cost-effective for use in wall framing.

Steel studs are often more expensive than their wooden counterparts and their use in residential construction has just begun to gain popularity. This article provides a few reasons why the extra initial cost of steel studs may be worthwhile in the long run.

Longevity/Durability

The extra cost of using steel studs as opposed to their wooden counterparts often translates into a longer lifespan for the stud material. This is primarily because steel studs are less likely to be affected by the presence of moisture in the atmosphere. Unlike their wooden counterparts, steel studs will not retain moisture in their structure. Thus, moisture-related problems that affect the structural integrity of wooden studs (like shrinkage, swelling and cracking) are more or less eliminated when wooden studs are replaced with their metal counterparts.

Exposure to moisture may cause corrosion on studs made of steel. However, chances of this happening are reduced through the process of galvanization during the manufacture of steel studs.

With this in mind, it's likely that steel studs will outlast their wooden counterparts if used in residential wall framing.

Flammability

During home construction, general contractors are required to adhere to various building codes that aim at reducing fire hazards around the residential setting. You can help to reduce the fire hazard around a newly-constructed home by choosing steel framing studs over the wooden ones. By virtue of not being flammable, wall-framing studs made of steel will not encourage the spread of fire around the house in the unfortunate event of an outbreak.

Studs made of wood have a high affinity for fire which is derived from the highly flammable nature of the parent material used in their fabrication. The use of wooden studs therefore makes the wall frame more of a fire hazard.

Lightweight Construction

There's also the fact that wooden studs are often heavier than their steel counterparts. For this reason, the cost of transporting wooden studs is often higher than that of transporting their steel counterparts to the construction site.

In the same breath, the installation of wooden studs is a more labour-intensive activity (partly due to the heavier nature of the studs) as compared to the installation of steel studs.

The savings that you stand to make during the transportation and during the installation of steel studs may be sufficient to justify their higher initial cost of acquisition. 

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14 June 2016

Compelling and Creative Commentary on Construction and Contractors: A Blog

Welcome! My name is Frances, and this is my first blog. Whether you found me through a Google search or were passed my link by a friend, I am so glad you found my blog. I plan to fill it with a range of commentary on the world of contracting and construction work, and I hope that you find my ideas compelling and creative. I am a dog trainer, but I have always loved the world of construction. I tend to work a lot on the weekends and evenings, when my clients are off work. As a result, I have a lot of time to write during the day, and I decided to create this blog. Thank you for reading.