While fire is a more recognizable harm to North American homes today, termites actually account for more property damage annually. One particularly hearty strain of termite, the Formosan subterranean termite (FST), is ripping through homes and trees in southern Louisiana, neighboring parts of Texas, and surrounding Gulf states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida thoroughly devastating old and new homes alike. The FST has also been detected in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and has had a presence in Hawaii for over 50 years.
Cold-formed steel framing helps build termite-resistant homes. With straight walls, square corners, no nail pops or drywall cracks, steel framing offers strong solutions to problems builders are facing all over the US and Canada. Because steel has the highest strength to weight ratio of any building material, it is by nature a superior construction material. It doesn’t rot, warp, split, crack or creep. It doesn’t expand or contract with moisture content. It doesn’t burn or fuel a fire. It is impervious to termites and other wood-eating pests. And a historical graph of steel prices is a flat line; with stable material prices, the framer can hold his quote for the framing package, and be assured the quality of the materials used is consistently high.