Photo Credits: FRAMECAD and Frame Up Now
SFIA member FRAMECAD offers an end-to-end steel building system for the engineered design, roll-forming and construction of cold formed steel (CFS) structures. Arizona-based Frame Up Now is using this technology to develop DIY residential framing kits, creating a simplified method to quickly construct single family homes using steel framing.
“I believe steel will overcome wood in a matter of 15 years,” says Brad Cooper, co-owner of Frame Up Now. “We are in a hurry to make this a big success.”
DIY Steel Framing
While lumber has long been the primary material used to frame houses, metal provides a better option for cost savings and durability for do-it-yourself framing kits, according to the Frame Up Now website.
The process begins with a precise set of plans engineered in the FRAMECAD system. FRAMECAD Structure verifies detailing for walls, trusses and web joists. Then FRAMECAD Detailer converts the design information into detailed framing plans with 3D model viewing capabilities and a high level of accuracy.
Using the FRAMECAD building system, engineered steel framing components, including joists, trusses and wall panels are produced. Frame Up Now turns these various components into DIY steel framing kits.
Using the FRAMECAD building system, steel framing components are produced. Frame Up Now turns these various components into DIY steel framing kits.
Engineered, Produced and Fabricated From Steel Coils
“[Customers] buy a kit that comes as fully assembled steel frames and they put it together themselves onsite,” says Rodger Ford, CEO of Frame Up Now.
The metal frames and components are engineered, produced and fabricated from structural quality steel coils. They are then shaped at an ambient temperature using roll-forming machines. The advantage of DIY CFS framing:
- Produced in large quantities and at high speed with consistent quality and precision
- Assembled off-site and delivered ready for installation
- Minimizes need for highly skilled labor
- Fewer workers are required on-site, an added safety benefit
‘A Tsunami of Steel’
Cooper has been building homes mainly with wood for the past 25 years. When he came across steel framing as an alternative, he changed his mind-set and has found the transition easy.
“I don’t know if I would want to go back to wood,” says Cooper.
Cooper predicts an increase in the use of steel framing in residential construction with new manufacturing technology, including the use of mobile factories that build a frame onsite. It’s the beginning of “a tsunami of steel,” Cooper says, in both onsite and offsite construction.
The Steel Framing Advantage
Cold-formed steel (CFS) leads the way as the preferred framing material for residential structures for multiple reasons. CFS is:
- A pre-engineered material that can be cut to exact lengths
- Dimensionally stable and does not expand or contract with changes in moisture content
- Lightweight compared to wood and concrete
- Resilient and will not warp, split, crack or creep when exposed to the elements
- Sustainable and 100% recyclable
- Durable and has a high tensile strength
- Non-combustible and is a safeguard against fire accidents
Read the original article from FRAMECAD
Additional Resources
- Builders Embrace Steel Framing for Offsite Construction
- Steel Framing Saves Time and $1 Million on Government Project
- Homebuilder’s Transition to Steel Framing ‘Makes Everyone’s Job Easier’