Steel Making Minor Dents in Residential Framing Market espite a surge of usage by larger builders in Florida, Arizona, and Hawaii, steel continues to lag behind wood as a framing material, according to a survey conducted by the NAHB. More than 600 builders participated in the poll, but fewer than one percent listed steel as a "primary material" in their new homes. Respondents are using wood to frame the interior walls in 92% of the new homes they build, a drop from 95% in the 1995 survey. The marginal rise in the popularity of steel framing is due mainly to demand from larger builders (defined by the NAHB as those starting more than 100 units per
