Structural steel doesn't play too big a role on the typical remodel job site, and for understandable reasons: You can't work steel with your usual tools, it's heavy, and using it means adding an unfamiliar supplier who may have little interest in how houses are built. Finally, wood (or its engineered byproducts) is plenty strong for typical loads at typical spans. Nevertheless, I've found myself calling for structural steel more often these days in our addition and renovation work. And it isn't always to deal with long spans or heavy loads. More often it's because of steel's compact size relative to wood of the same strength, and because it can be welded into custom shapes that retain the
