

Of course, fabrication, delivery, and assembly costs are additional. Based on current information from United States Steel, a steel frame house has an average cost between $9.50 and $11 per square foot, meaning that the total cost for a 2,000 square foot home falls between $19,000 and $22,000. This material is fabricated off-site and delivered and erected on site quickly it may cost less than lumber, especially when you factor in labor and the extreme cost of lumber brought on by the effects of Covid-19. Light construction structural steel is becoming a popular alternative to lumber in parts of the U.S. For the most current graph of cost estimates, please click here. What’s more, lumber prices have gone off the charts since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Near the end of 2020, the average price was increasing above $600 per 1,000 board feet. Lumber prices have risen steadily in recent years due to restrictions on timber harvesting in the Pacific Northwest, making the framing of a home a costly component of building construction projects. The cost of framing materials depends on the material you choose, lumber or steel.Ī typical 2,000-square-foot home uses almost 16,000 board feet of lumber and 6,000 square feet of structural panels like plywood. Read more about possibilities for roof frames in your build.

Then comes the sheathing to add more protection to the frame – and finally, the roof. Next, there are wall studs and ceiling and floor joists about every 16 or 24 inches along the floor. If your home has more than one level, then it’s built one story at a time, with each floor serving as a platform for the one above it. The most popular method is platform-frame construction, in which walls sit on top of subflooring. Once your home’s foundation is completed, it’s time to start framing. There are a lot of details involved in framing a house that can affect the cost, some you can control, some you probably can’t. If you’re thinking about building a dream house like this Modern Farmhouse style home, you’ll surely be concerned about cost, which includes framing costs.
