Why does wood framing still dominate American Construction while other countries have moved toward more resilient materials like Cold-formed Steel Framing (CFS Framing)? At US Frame Factory, we are obsessed with the future of building. Recently, our own Mateo Atwi sat down with Patrick Flood, the Director of USA Manufacturing and R&D for Scottsdale Construction Systems (formerly Knudson Manufacturing), to get to the bottom of the industry’s slow evolution.
Patrick isn’t your average manufacturing director. With a background in aerospace engineering (his kids literally call him a “rocket scientist”) Patrick brings a level of precision to construction that the industry desperately needs. In this interview, we dive deep into the evolution of roll-forming machinery, the “throwaway culture” of modern housing, and why finding the “sweet spot” in prefabrication might just save the construction industry from its own inertia.
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The Engineer Who Wanted to Build Real Things
In a digital world, there is something deeply satisfying about making physical things. That is the philosophy that drives Patrick Flood. While he studied aerospace engineering with an astronautical sub-specialty, he realized early on that his heart wasn’t in theoretical calculations, but in creating tangible machinery.
Patrick’s journey took him from the Navy to Knudson Manufacturing in the mid-90s, right when the industry was trying to figure out how to make light-gauge and CFS steel framing viable. He was instrumental in designing the platforms that eventually evolved into the KFS 1420 which is the workhorse machine that many manufacturers rely on today.
One of the biggest takeaways from the conversation was the shift in technology. When Patrick returned to the company in 2018, he helped transition their product lines from hydraulic drives to servo drives. For the non-geeks out there, this means moving from “brute force” power to computer-controlled precision. This shift didn’t just make the machines cooler; it made the steel studs straight, consistent, and incredibly accurate, a necessity if we want to compete with the ease of wood framing.
The Problem with “Throwaway Houses”
One of the most compelling parts of the interview was Patrick’s take on the current state of residential building. He didn’t mince words: we are building “throwaway houses”. If you have ever gone to a big-box store to buy lumber, you know the struggle. You have to sort through the pile to find the few boards that aren’t warped, twisted, or knotted. Yet, we build our “forever homes” out of this organic, inconsistent material. Patrick argues that Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) offers a return to lasting architecture. Steel is straight. It stays straight. It doesn’t rot, it doesn’t feed termites, and it handles moisture significantly better than wood,.
But the argument for steel goes beyond just avoiding warped walls. It is about safety.
Patrick recounted the Marshall Fire in Superior, Colorado, a devastating event where wind-driven brush fires wiped out entire neighborhoods of wood-framed homes. The fire stopped just blocks away from the home of Scottsdale founder Gary Knudson. When you see neighborhoods leveled by fire, the choice of framing material stops being a preference and becomes a safety necessity. In high-density areas or wildfire zones, non-combustible framing isn’t a luxury; it’s common sense.
The 4% Problem: Why is the US So Far Behind?
Here is a staggering statistic that came up during the discussion: In Australia, approximately 37% of residential construction utilizes light-gauge steel. In the United States? That number has hovered around 4% for nearly 20 years,.
Why the massive gap? According to Patrick, it comes down to Industry Inertia. The US construction industry is a massive ship that is very hard to turn. After World War II, wood framing saved the day by providing a cheap, fast way to build housing for a booming population. That legacy created deep roots. Adopting steel isn’t just about swapping out the studs; it challenges the entire ecosystem of the house.
Patrick explained the “Whole House” challenge. When you frame with steel, you can’t just use the same screws for sheetrock. You have to change how you install doors, windows, and trim. If a framer has to stop and figure out how to attach a standard pre-hung door to a steel jamb, productivity drops. If the new framing system doesn’t integrate seamlessly with the windows and doors available at the local supply house, adoption stalls,.
Furthermore, wood framing has the benefit of a century of standardization. Ask ten wood framers how to build a header, and you’ll get roughly the same answer. Ask ten steel framers, and you might get ten different “creative” solutions. This lack of standardization makes General Contractors nervous. They often stick to wood not because it’s a better product, but because they understand the risks. Steel represents the “unknown” in labor and pricing, which scares off many builders.
Finding the Prefab “Sweet Spot”
We hear a lot of buzzwords in construction today: Modular, BIM, Robotics, AI. Yet, despite all this tech, construction productivity has largely flatlined compared to the manufacturing sector. Patrick believes that we won’t fix this with silver-bullet technology alone; we need better business methodologies.
This brings us to the debate of Modular vs. Panelization. There is a trend in the industry toward “full volumetric modular”. The process involves building entire finished boxes in a factory and trucking them to the site. Patrick offers a more nuanced view. He believes many modular companies go “too far”.
When you finish a module in a factory by hanging mirrors, painting drywall, installing tile, you have to transport that heavy, fragile box across highways and through city streets. Often, the damage incurred during transport leads to expensive on-site repairs, negating the efficiency gained in the factory. It’s the law of diminishing returns. Instead, Patrick suggests the industry’s “sweet spot” is likely advanced panelization.
Panelization allows for parallel processing. You can build the wall panels in a controlled factory environment while the site crew is pouring the foundation. When the slab is ready, the walls go up in days, not weeks. This speeds up the project without incurring the logistical nightmares of transporting massive, fully finished modules into dense urban environments like Atlanta or San Francisco.
The Future is Engineered
So, where do we go from here?
The good news is that the tide is turning. As the engineering community becomes more savvy with cold-formed steel, we are seeing less “over-engineering.” In the past, engineers familiar with heavy red iron would treat CFS framing the same way, resulting in heavy, expensive structures. Today, we are seeing smarter, lighter designs that utilize the true strength-to-weight ratio of the material,.
Economic drivers are also pushing the market. With land prices skyrocketing in urban centers, developers are building higher. You can’t easily build a 10-story apartment complex out of wood, but you can with light-gauge steel. Additionally, the push for non-combustible materials in senior living and multi-family housing is forcing a look at steel.
At US Frame Factory, we agree with Patrick: the goal is to move away from the “throwaway” culture toward consistent, engineered, and lasting infrastructure. It’s a shift that requires not just new machines, but a new mindset.
Ready to build something that lasts? Check out the full interview with Patrick Flood on our YouTube channel to hear more about the technical evolution of roll-forming and the future of the construction industry.
Interested in using Cold Formed Steel for your next project? Contact US Frame Factory today for a quote on metal studs, trusses, and wall panels.