An earlier post described how to use ¼” steel rod to install electrical boxes you may have forgotten. This steel is incredibly versatile and so it’s handy to have some around during construction.
Here’s a list of things we’ve used it for: attaching bracket for wall mounted bath sink; attaching shelf brackets and nailers; reinforcing cast-in-place concrete countertop; reinforcing top of brick wall and arch; tying brick wall to earthbag wall; reinforcing brick wall footer.
So Owen,
Where do you source your 1/4″ steel rod and how does it compare price wise to say 3/8″ rebar? For instance, as of today, 10/12/2014, my local big box store has the 3/8″ rebar in 12ft sections for $3.15 which is 26.3 cents per ft. I purposely used the rebar as the comparison because it could serve the same purposes (as concrete reinforcement even better) and is very common and available. The 1/4″ steel rod on the other hand is not as common so that can affect price. The more a item is sold, the cheaper the price, usually.
I’m touring South Asian countries this year. Reports coming soon.