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1. Costs
The rising cost of lumber and the steady price of steel have set the stage. Now, based on current steel and lumber prices, the cost of steel framed home construction is comparable to wood framed home. The steel industry invested over $15 billion to modernize steel mills during the past ten years and is well positioned to meet increased demand with high quality, cost competitive material, steel is abundant, competitively priced and fully recyclable.
2. Superior Building Material
Steel possesses the highest strength to weight ration of any building material being utilized today. It remains one of the strongest, most durable and economically manufactured materials. 80% of all commercial buildings are constructed with steel as the primary structure. Stronger, straighter, noncombustible, longer lasting and many other characteristics contribute to the undeniable superiority of steel as a building material. With the dramatic current price advantage, there's no other choice in residential framing but steel !
· Inorganic; does not rot, warp, split, crack or creep.
· Fire Resistant : Will not contribute fuel to the spread of a fire.
· Termite Proof.
· Consistent Quality : Steel is produced in strict accordance with national standards-no regional variations and inconsistencies.
· Less scrap and waste (2% in steel vs 20% in wood construction).
· Square corners stay squared; windows and doors open & close as they should.
· Post-framing professionals prefer steel frames.
· Lightweight : Steel is 60% of the weight of wood framing....making it easier to handle.
The Flexibility Of Clear Span Construction is unique to pre-engineered residential systems, sturdy steel columns fully carry the load of the roof and additional stories to all outside walls. To the builder this means that interior walls can be creatively place in any configuration without load bearing considerations. A much larger variety of floor plans can therefore be made available to the buyer with same basic pre-engineered plan. Additionally, the trend towards larger, more spacious rooms favors clear span construction.
"Certainly it is obvious, that the use of non-combustible material serves as an advantage when reducing the risk of fires. With gypsum interior finish material supported on a steel frame you have a combination of non-combustible products and the likelihood of a fire being further fueled is nearly eliminated." --Source : Metal Home Digest, Summer 1994.
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3. Buyer's Choice
Most home buyers are typically more interested in the features and benefits of their home as a better value. This is where steel frame homes shine even brighter. The features and benefits to the home buyer are numerous and in today's market, the builder that can sell more features, build in more benefits and be price competitive will have the edge. Features of great value to today's home buyer include :
· Safety : Fire Resistance : Structural members and framing in wood construction are the third most commonly first ignited material in U.S. home fires. Fires started in framing materials :
· More resistant to the effects of severe hurricanes and tornados: Steel Framed Homes can be designed to withstand up to 155 mph winds
Less likelihood of damage from lightning strikes due to superior grounding characteristics .
· Termite Proof : $ 750 million in damages per year Last year, 2 Million wood frame house treated for termites.
· Superior aging & maintenance advantages : The Steel industry consumes twice the amount of recycled material as all other industries combined - double that of paper, non-ferrous metals (aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, etc.), glass and plastics combined.
· Finish-out (using traditional materials) can look just like a traditionally built home.
· Big Energy Cost Savings : Wide wall cavities allow for up to 9" batt insulation rated at R-30 .
4. Blending
You can't tell a Steel Framed home by looking at because, once completed, these homes look just like traditional stick homes.
There are thousands of steel frame homes completed in the United States and overseas. You may choose from our list of standard floor plans or design one of your own. There are no limitations to creating floor plans due to the unique "clear-span" feature of steel framing...interior walls are non-load bearing (carrying none of the weight load), and can be arranged in many configurations not possible with conventional wood framing methods.
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5. Price & Quality
Steel has been around a long time...so why did it take so long to arrive in home construction? The answer has to do with costs! Until recently steel framing, while dramatically superior, was cost prohibitive to the average home buyer. Now, due to a devastating shortage of lumber, steel is no only comparable to wood construction it adds many features and benefits to your home, simply not possible with traditional methods.
It takes about 10 mature trees to frame an average sized home. These days, mature trees are scarce. Tropical forests are being destroyed at a rate of nearly 50 acres per minute. Deforestation in the U.S. is even worse than in Brazil, with 90 percent of the native American old-growth forests already logged in the northwest.
6. Quality
Steel possesses the highest strength to weight ratio of any building material being utilized today. It remains one of the strongest, most durable and economically manufactured materials. That is the reason that 80% of all commercial buildings are constructed with steel as the primary structural component. Stronger, straighter, non-combustible, longer lasting and many other characteristics contribute to the undeniable superiority of steel as a building material.
7. Fire Resistant
Steel Framed Homes offer much greater protection from fire. Steel is non-combustible, so it does not contribute to the spread of a fire. Structural members and framing in stick built homes are the third most commonly first-ignited material in U. S. home fires.
8. Termite Proof
Termites and other pests are no match for steel. More than 2 million U. S. homes will require termite treatment in a single year. Your Steel Framed Home framing system will be immune from such damage, and you can avoid the expense of treatments using chemicals such as chlordane, that are hazardous to you and to the environment, provided you choose the building materials as carefully.
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9. Protection From the Elements
One of the most remarkable qualities of Steel Framed Homes is their ability to stand up against the elements. Both the inherent strength and "Increased Wall Thickness" of steel Framing are contributing factors to these advantages.
10. Higher Insulation Rating
Steel Framed Homes can be up to 40 percent more energy efficient than a wood-framed home. The depth of the steel beams provide a wider space for insulation -- enough room for 9-inch (R-30) batt insulation in the walls and roof. Most other homes use much thinner R-11 to R-19 rated insulation. Besides lowering your energy Bills, Your Steel Framed Home will also be much quieter because thicker walls block out noise as well.
Steel Framed Homes can be approved for Seismic Zone 4, the highest earthquake rating required in the U. S. Steel-framed homes have also withstood hurricanes and tornados with little or no structural damage, and can be designed to withstand up to 155 mph wind load.
Steel Framed Homes are practically maintenance-free. To begin with, steel frame homes are built with truer lines. Walls are straight floors are flat, doors do not stick, and upper floors feel solid. The difference becomes even more dramatic over time. Unlike wood, steel frames do not shrink, rot swell, creep, creak, split, bow, shift or deteriorate. Years from now, your Steel Framed Home will be as straight, as sturdy, and as beautiful as the day you moved in.
11. The Superior Quality of Steel Frame Homes
All Steel-framed homes are not built alike. Some companies take conventional wood-framed floor plans and substitute narrow steel studs for wooden ones (a stick-for-stick replacement). While this method utilizes steel as a building material, wood frame construction techniques (not steel techniques) are applied. With our suppliers, the craftsmanship is engineered into the components from the factory, and can be built only one way--the correct way.
Steel columns that are factory-engineered to fit together precisely. All Components are cut, drilled and marked in the factory, so they're ready to simply bolt together on-site, with high-strength bolts and screws, instead of nails and staples. Steel studs are then screwed in place to create non-load-bearing walls and floors.
12. Clear Span Flexibility
Your Steel Frame Home can be virtually any size, from 480 to over 12.000 square feet or more. We have a wide range of models, from one to three story designs. These homes can be built on a slab, over a basement, on stem walls, or on pier and beam.
With a majority of Steel Frame models, the steel frame fully supports the structure so there is no columns getting in the way. Add vaulted ceilings, fireplaces, lofts, sunrooms, and unusual door and window treatments. Classic Homes allow for clear span interiors up to 30 feet wide. |
