You might think of steel framed construction as something only used in commercial and industrial buildings, but residential steel frame construction can serve you well, too. You’ll enjoy fourteen benefits to steel frame construction that might surprise you whether you use it in a granny or mother-in-law’s house or your new workshop. You’ll obtain a more sustainable, affordable, and durable building by using a steel frame because you can use this versatile metal in floor joists, framing, and as a roofing material.
Steel Framing Construction Guide to Benefits
1. Steel produces a lighter frame than wood. While steel outweighs wood, due to the design of an I-beam, it weighs less than a wood frame. It also weighs less than Parallam, glulam, and LVL frames.
2. The weight results in fewer costs. The lighter weight reduces materials shipping cost and reduces your budget in other ways, too. It reduces the labor needed, too, since it simplifies the building foundation and structural support systems.
3. Steel helps you build faster. The pre-engineering of steel parts means they’re ready to go up when they arrive, and this speeds construction. Even large-scale projects go faster by eliminating the need to measure and cut each piece.
4. You also enjoy lifetime savings with steel. That’s because you can recycle it instead of needing to pay to dump it in a landfill, which costs you money for dump fees.
5. Its durability reduces your maintenance needs. Over a 50-year term, you would pay tens of thousands of dollars less to maintain a residential steel frame construction.
6. Steel costs less than ever due to improvements in the manufacturers’ process. The ton of steel that in 1980 took ten work hours to create now takes one. That results in cost savings for you and your building project.
7. Steel makes the better choice in any area that experiences frequent natural hazards like high winds, heavy snow loads, or seismic activity. It also proves more impervious to pests and decay. Steel won’t rot the way wood could.
8. The result of this heartiness is that insurance companies may provide you with lower policy premiums for steel buildings. Lowering your home insurance costs and your umbrella insurance costs can’t hurt.
9. Less building time can also mean fewer interest payments to your lender. You can put the building to use sooner, especially important for a home office.
10. Steel also provides an environmentally friendly option. Unlike wood, which can contribute to deforestation, it requires no non-renewable resource. Many steel materials come from recycled steel. Each year, 80 million tons of steel get recycled. That makes it the world’s most recycled product.
11. You also open the door for your architect, since they can design virtually anything with steel and know that it will be safe. Whether you need a building with a large open space like an airplane hangar or something with multiple stories, the flexibility of steel makes it all possible.
12. Steel framing can long outlast wood framing. This means less need for reinforcement down the line.
13. Steel buildings provide greater energy efficiency. When you connect the prefabricated steel parts, it creates such a tight seal that it essentially becomes air-tight once insulated.
14. A steel building uses non-combustible materials. You won’t have to worry about a fire burning down your framing as you would with 2×4 framing. Steel is just tougher.
You don’t have to choose a solid steel building. You can mix steel framing with wood. This lets you create a hybrid building to suit your needs. You do need to have your builder choose the best quality of steel materials available. You also need to hire an experienced builder. This opens up many options for your architect, too. Using steel makes logical and creative sense.
Read our steel framing construction guide, then call or email us. We can help you with many projects, including a granny flat.
Read our steel framing construction guide, then call or email us. We can help you with many projects, including a granny flat. We have many designs from which you can choose. You won’t even need an architect because we already handled that.
Contact Inspira Build today for more information on residential steel frame construction. We build granny flats, backyard shacks, residential sheds, industrial sheds, and portable buildings. We build where you live throughout Australia. Let us help you build a steel-framed flat or commercial building that can stand the test of time.