ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 21, 1993                   TAG: 9308210109
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF BARNARD ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GRANTS PASS, ORE.                                LENGTH: Medium


WHEN WOOD'S NOT GOOD, HOME BUILDERS TRY STEEL

Kim Cushing, a builder in the heart of timber country, frames his houses with steel.

"That floor is absolutely flat," he said, admiring the steel joists in a four-bedroom home he is building amid Douglas firs and ponderosa pines. "The way the quality of wood is getting around here, I would just as soon not use it. This is a very good alternative."

In the housing boom that followed World War II, most of the big old trees that make the best lumber were cut down. It takes hundreds of years for them to grow back. And the old growth that is left is largely locked up by legal battles to preserve nesting areas for the northern spotted owl, a threatened species.

Mills have turned to smaller trees, producing lumber that is more likely to warp and have knots.

Because of log shortages, extremely volatile prices for lumber and the lower quality of the wood, the nation's major contractors are taking a harder look at steel.

Because most homes are sold before construction, a big jump in lumber prices can kill a contractor's profit. So builders are looking for a material they can depend on, said Gopal Ahluwalia, director of research at the National Association of Homebuilders in Washington.

Cushing said the cost of steel framing is a little higher than wood, but it can be constructed more quickly. With the steel all precut, there is no waste and there are no daily trips to the lumber yard.

Ahluwalia said steel will take a bigger share of the market as lumber gets closer to steel in price. Steel studs are common in commercial building, but steel framing accounts for less than 2 percent of the homes built today, he said.

"By tradition, builders know much more easily how to use wood rather than steel," Ahluwalia said. "It is a totally new culture for them."

Steel-frame houses use heavy steel posts and beams. Eight-inch studs of galvanized steel are attached to the beams with screws. Plywood, waferboard and plasterboard are then screwed onto the studs. Cushing installs a thermal break to stop heat loss through the steel studs.

Tri-Steel Structures of Dallas, which sells steel framing for homes, has recently opened plants in Los Angeles and Atlanta to meet demand, said Bruce Brown, vice president of sales and marketing.

Sales have gone from $14.5 million last year to $20 million this year, he said. Tri-Steel serves more than 300 builders.

"We've been doing this for 17 years," Brown said. "What has taken off so much is the lumber prices that have kicked in here. When lumber doubled [in price] eight or nine months ago, we started receiving over 1,000 phone calls a day."



 by CNB