Using structural steel in wood frame construction is not as hard as it looks. It's mostly a matter of recognizing that steel, like wood, has unique characteristics that create their own set of rules. A good craftsman can translate many existing woodworking skills over to steelwork. Builders who haven't worked much with structural steel assume it is hard to find, expensive, and difficult to handle, but nothing could be further from the truth. In many instances, in fact, steel is the easiest and cheapest material for the job. And it's often no more difficult to handle on site than wood components of the same loading capacity. The best reason to use steel in residential construction is its high strength-to-size ratio.
