Iron Engineering FAQs

The light gauge engineer takes the architectural and structural design prepared by the architect and structural engineer of record and designs a cold-formed steel structure to meet those specifications while also designing a structure unique to the capabilities and preferences (e.g. welding vs.

They both refer to the same type of material — thin steel that has been rolled to less than ⅛ of an inch and bent into a specific shape without being reheated. It’s known as light gauge steel, cold-formed steel, and cold-rolled steel.

Yes, in most cases. It can be challenging if the column is shorter than the width of the wall, though it can be done with the right approach. Ideally the column and wall should be the same width.

No, it is not required. Fast Top Clips replace top-of-wall bridging for non-load bearing walls.

It is possible to weld cold-formed steel. The welder should be certified by the American Welding Society (AWS) D1.3 and follow AISI S100 standards. In general, field welding of material thinner than 16-ga is not recommended.

Joists or studs that bear on its flange put a compressive force into its web. In order to prevent buckling of the joist web, a small piece of the stud can be installed at the bearing location to improve the capacity.

No. Most metal clips are proprietary and have listed capacities. Another manufacturer might produce similar clips or one that can achieve the same result, but the capacities need to be checked.

No. While many manufactures are members of industry groups that have standards, some manufactures operate under their own guidelines. As an example, ClarkDietrich 16-ga stud material is standard 50-KSI steel. Other manufacturers have 16-ga as 33-KSI.

Usually not. Most general practitioner type structural engineers stay away from specialty engineering (aluminum, cold-formed steel, glass, trusses, etc.

It depends on the size and scope of the project. For a single-story retail building, we can complete the project in under two days’ time. However, our backlog of work may delay our start and require a couple of weeks to be returned to you.