How do light gauge steel trusses compare in price to wood trusses?
Light gauge steel trusses tend to cost more than wood trusses by 20 to 40% because wood trusses are fabricated in a manner which is highly automated. Light gauge steel trusses require a large amount of manual labor in the fabrication process, therefore causing the completed cost to be greater than wood trusses. As the industry finds improvements in automation and other cost reduction techniques, the price of steel trusses will decrease and will be more competitive with wood trusses. However, the current use of light gauge steel trusses are used primarily to satisfy non-combustible building code requirements, which cannot be satisfied with wood trusses.
