What Is A Steel Channel Stringer?
Starting a new construction project has the potential to invite many confusing questions to your mind whenever you first begin. You’ll often consider things like “What are we building?” or “Who is this being built for?”
If you find yourself starting a construction project for a building that includes stairs, a whole set of new questions come into play as well. One of these being what material is best to use when building stairs.
Steel channel stringer is one of the most common and reliable stringers in the market right now. They’re heavy-duty, cost-efficient, and widely available. In this article, we’ll introduce what the steel stair stringer channel is, its benefits, and where to buy high-quality steel stair stringers.
Quick Review of the Stair Anatomy
First and foremost, we need to understand the anatomy of stairs as it’s important to know why stringers are important. Most metal stair makeups follow the same build as stairs built from any other material. They include risers and treads (the parts that people step on), and stringers that support the former two parts.
We won’t go into too much detail about the other two parts, so for now we’ll just focus on the stringers.
What is a Steel Channel Stringer?
As mentioned, stringers are the parts along the side of treads and risers that support the stairs and prevent them from collapsing or tilting. There are many types of materials that are commonly used for stringers. These materials (aluminum, steel, wood) are even interchangeably used between commercial and residential buildings.
However, some are better for certain types of stairs and buildings. In this case, steel channel stringers are the best for commercial building stairs as they offer great support. These commercial stairs constantly have people walking on them, so having great support is necessary.
If you’re concerned about the size of the steel stringers, then you’d be happy to know that they come in a variety of shapes and thicknesses. The structural steel they are made of is highly versatile and can fit into almost any stair makeup.
As for their actual structure, they are long beams with their cross-sections cut off in a ‘c’ shape. Steel channel stock is generally much lighter than other metal products, and much more flexible.
Common Types of Steel Channel and their Uses
Just like there are multiple types of stringers available for stairs, there are multiple types of steel channels used for making stringers.
The standard selections for making steel stringers are steel c channel, structural tube steel, and steel plate. The difference between these types is size and weight. However, the majority of steel channels seldom go more than 12 inches deep.
The A36 variety goes up to a stock length of 20 ft. This grade of steel channel is specifically designed for stair stringers. These are actually called junior channels since they can be used for other projects that require lightweight structure support.
Benefits of Steel Stair Stringer Channel
Now let’s take a look at some of the benefits of steel channel stringers.
Versatility
As mentioned earlier, this type of metal is highly flexible and weighs less than other metals. That means you’ll be getting a great amount of versatility from this product without risking something such as durability or integrity.
What’s more, is that this product comes with a varying amount of different steel types. You can pick and choose the right type of steel channel for your project depending on what thickness or size you need.
Durability
Just like mentioned above, steel is one of the most durable construction metals that is also widely available. Despite its flexibility, this material can withstand years of use without seeing much wear and tear. You’ll also be able to load high amounts of weight onto these if you choose to make them into stringers.
On the note of durability, steel channel stringers can actually be galvanized to protect them from exterior elements such as heat and rain. Galvanizing is the process of coating a metal in zinc to protect it from elements that would originally pose harm to the metal.
Affordable
Steel is one of the most commonly available metals in the market and is used in a variety of construction products. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that the metal is actually pretty nice on the pocket.
Steel stringers are cheaper than their aluminum counterparts. But remember to keep in mind that prices for metals fluctuate depending on their availability. Another thing that also affects the price is whether or not the material is going to be galvanized or painted. Be sure to take into consideration whether you are purchasing the raw steel stringers or not before weighing the costs of the two materials.
Easy to Install
Wood and aluminum stair stringers can prove a challenge to install since they are not the most flexible of materials. Steel is one of the easier construction metal materials for installation because of its flexibility. In particular, for stair stringers, all you have to do is bolt them together.
Here are some additional benefits of steel channel stringers:
- Low maintenance
- Low cost to install in addition to the low cost of the material
- Flame resistant
- Easy to clean
- Aesthetically pleasing- can be painted or even used for unique designs
Where to Buy the Best-Quality Steel Channel Stringers
If you’re looking for the best quality steel stair stringer channel for your project, then look no farther as Bushwick Metals has the highest quality steel near the Bridgeport area.
We’ll supply you with the best quality steel channels at a charming price. We even offer additional steel products that include beams, plates, and bars. We’re your one-stop-shop for all your construction metal needs.
Our services don’t stop there. We can even do plate-processing and metal bending or shaping if that’s what you find necessary. If you find that steel channels aren’t the best for your project, we also offer other channels that’ll suit your needs. So if you’re interested in using steel channel stringer for your stair project, go ahead and visit our website to get a sales quote today!
