Framing Contractor Serving Fort Myers & Southwest Florida
Framing is where a building stops being a plan and starts being a structure. Get it right and every trade that comes behind it — mechanical, electrical, plumbing, insulation, drywall — has a straight, plumb, square structure to work from. Get it wrong and you’re chasing problems from that point forward. Doors that won’t hang right. Drywall that cracks. Structural issues that don’t show up until a building inspector does.
Universal Trax runs a vertical construction division led by Brady Herndon — framing, drywall, stucco, and finish work across residential and commercial projects in Southwest Florida. Brady’s crew is currently active on residential builds, commercial tenant improvement work, and institutional projects including work at Florida Gulf Coast University. The framing side of Universal Trax is not a new addition or an experiment. It’s a functioning division with an active project list and a track record that includes 20-plus years of residential framing work through Habitat for Humanity across Lee and Collier counties.
What’s different about Universal Trax compared to a standalone framing sub is what’s behind it. The same company that frames your building can clear the land, grade the site, pour the foundation pad, and install the drainage. That’s not a marketing pitch — it’s a real operational capability under one Florida CGC license (CGC1528772) that developers and owners use to simplify their project structure and eliminate the coordination gaps between subs.
Wood Framing & Structural Framing Services
Wood framing is the primary structural system on residential construction in Southwest Florida and on most light commercial buildings in the region. It’s what we’ve framed most of — single-family residential, multi-unit residential, and light commercial structures where engineered lumber and dimensional lumber are the specified framing materials.
Our wood framing services include:
Floor system framing — joists, beams, and subfloor framing for elevated wood floor systems
Exterior wall framing — load-bearing walls, shear walls, and header framing per structural plans
Our commercial framing services include:
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Metal stud framing for commercial interiors — tenant improvements, office buildouts, retail
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Light gauge structural metal stud — exterior walls and load-bearing applications per engineer
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Soffit framing and ceiling framing for commercial spaces
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Shaft wall construction — elevator shafts, stairwells, and fire-rated corridor walls
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Multi-family framing — both wood and metal stud for apartment and condominium construction
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Institutional and education framing — commercial structural framing for schools and institutional clients
Metal Stud & Commercial Framing
Metal stud framing is the standard for commercial interior construction — office tenant improvements, retail buildouts, multi-family common areas, and any project where non-combustible framing is required by code or preferred by the owner. It’s faster to install on large open commercial floors than wood framing, it doesn’t shrink or warp, and it’s what most commercial GCs and owners expect to see behind the drywall on a commercial project.
Brady Herndon’s vertical division has current and recent commercial framing work in its active project list — including a commercial buildout in Cape Coral and institutional work at FGCU. That’s the relevant proof for commercial clients evaluating a framing contractor: the crew has active commercial projects, not just residential experience.
Truss Installation
Universal Trax has set trusses on residential builds for Habitat for Humanity across Lee and Collier counties. These are not simple gable roofs — Habitat builds in Southwest Florida have hip roof configurations, valleys, and the kind of wind uplift requirements that come with a coastal high-wind zone. Setting trusses correctly in this environment means reading the truss drawings, installing the specified permanent bracing, and following the sequence the engineer specified. Our crews have done it repeatedly across two county organizations.
Universal Trax performed full structural framing including truss installation on residential builds for Habitat for Humanity across two county organizations — Lee/Hendry and Collier. Scope covered exterior wall framing, interior partition framing, roof truss setting with permanent bracing, hurricane strap installation per Florida Building Code, and stucco grade installation on the exterior. This is not a single project — it is a sustained working relationship spanning 20-plus years and multiple builds across two counties. Habitat for Humanity vets their contractors carefully and works with the same ones repeatedly when the work is done right. Universal Trax has been one of those contractors.
Post-Remediation Reconstruction & Insurance Rebuild
After a mold remediation or water damage restoration project strips affected materials from a structure, what’s left is a building with missing sections of framing, open wall cavities, and structural members that had to come out because they were beyond cleaning. The remediation is done. Now someone has to put the building back together.
That’s post-remediation reconstruction — the rebuild phase that happens between the remediation contractor finishing and the drywall going back on. It’s a scope that requires a licensed general contractor because it’s structural work, and it’s a scope that requires a framing crew that can work in a partially occupied or recently remediated building without creating new moisture problems or damage.
Universal Trax handles post-remediation reconstruction framing for both residential and commercial clients. In Southwest Florida, where hurricane damage, roof leaks, and plumbing failures regularly send water into wall cavities and ceiling systems, post-remediation reconstruction is steady work. Our crews are OSHA 30 certified and work in occupied and recently remediated environments regularly.
Post-Remediation & Insurance Rebuild Framing Scope
The Ground-to-Finish Advantage — Same Company, Site to Frame
Most developers and general contractors manage a site work sub and a framing sub as two separate relationships. When the site work runs long — which it does, because permit delays and weather and material lead times are real — the framing sub’s schedule gets compressed. Now the framing crew is starting on a site that’s still being cleaned up from the dirt work. The site work sub blames the GC’s scheduling. The framing sub charges change orders for standing time. The owner is stuck in the middle.
Universal Trax eliminates that dynamic. Brian Cox merged his vertical construction operation into Universal Trax specifically so that the horizontal division and the vertical division can coordinate internally — not through a GC playing telephone between two separate subs. When site work runs long, Brady’s framing crew knows about it the same day, from the same company. When the slab is ready for framing, there is no phone call to another contractor — it’s an internal handoff.
For developers who want a single contractor from groundbreaking to certificate of occupancy, that’s what Universal Trax is built to deliver. The full scope — land clearing, site development, grading, excavation, foundation prep, framing, drywall, and stucco — under one Florida CGC license, one contract, and one point of contact.
Framing Service Area — Southwest Florida
Frequently Asked Questions — Framing Contractor Southwest Florida
What framing services does Universal Trax provide?
Does Universal Trax do both wood framing and metal stud framing?
What is truss installation and does Universal Trax perform it?
What is post-remediation reconstruction and when is framing involved?
How much does framing cost for a residential project?
Can Universal Trax handle the site work and the framing on the same project?
Get a Free Framing Estimate
Whether you need a framing sub for a new build, a post-remediation rebuild, a commercial interior, or truss installation on a residential project — send us the scope and we’ll get back to you with a direct number. If the project also needs site work, we can handle that conversation at the same time.