Q: My house plan calls for steel beams that will support the floor joists and even parts of a brick wall. Can I substitute wood beams for steel? Is a steel I-beam hard to handle on the job site? Do ...

Many renovated buildings replace wood and masonry structural elements with steel. The replacement of heavy wooden roof and floor joists with the lighter steel open-web bar-truss joists is a common ...

DEAR TIM: I’m getting ready to build a large room addition that needs a beam to support the floor joists. I’ve been told that a wood beam will work, but I’ve always seen steel I-beams in other houses.

Q: I’m building a new home and visited the job site a few days ago. I was aghast at a possible defect in my foundation. Parts of the concrete foundation are suspended in midair. The walls are only ...

General contractor Williams Brothers, of Houston, started loading the I-beams onto tractor-trailers Monday for a short trip to the San Jacinto River. The beams have been stacked in the grassy median ...

The central components of the future Napa 9/11 Memorial Garden were set into place Wednesday morning, turning a lofty concept into gritty assemblage of battered steel. Nearly 100 volunteers, city ...

Scan the skyline of New York City and it’s almost everywhere you look. Same thing with Chicago and Philadelphia and just about any big city where the buildings poke into the sky. Everyone knows ...