Steel Framed Homes

LiquidSound

Anybody had experience with these? This seems to be the way to go with building these days. The rule of thumb I've heard is *half the cost, half the build time*

Think about it. The steel is true and straight..which means it'll go up faster..everything fits perfectly. You don't have to *make* it fit. Anyone who has built a house knows what I mean. That means lower labor costs.

Perfect fits mean no wood fluctuation induced settling. No settling=no air leaks=less heating and cooling bills. Not to mention a stronger construction. Also, no need for load bearing walls. That means you can have vast, open rooms without walls disturbing the "flow".

Rust resistant. Mold resistant. Fire resistant. Termites..what??
Less costs to insure. They usually come with very long warranties.and talk about appreciation!

Lower costs to build. Lower costs to maintain. Lower costs to insure. Lower costs mean larger houses. Lower costs also mean more money to spend in a ground up theater..see where I'm going with this? Want that bonus room?..throw it on. Can't afford it now?..it's very easy to add on later.

There's less waste compared to a wood frame, which also leads to less cost. It's environmentally friendly. It's wallet friendly. It's theater friendly.

I cannot find a downside.

Looks? Well, if your thinking warehouse..check this out.

LiquidSound

I take that back, I can forsee a possible downside in a theater application..but I pose it as a question. Which I'm sure one of the techies on here can answer.
Will a steel frame house provide any type of interference, electronically, in a theater application? Maybe I could get Monster Clean Steel...

ohskigod

i wouldnt think so, not if the room is properly insulated, sheetrocked, whatever. if steel was exposed, that is a different story.

LiquidSound

I highly doubt it would be exposed. No more exposed than the wood in your wood framed house.
My house will be extremely well insulated using something like this.

trubluluc

.......next time around.
Termites suck!......
and chew.

stronger,inside walls not load bearing,
Yes sign me up.

-Luc

LiquidSound

I'll also employ two of these type systems one running in front of a fan through ducts, and another running through pipes underneath the floor. I'll power them with solar panels. Or a solar panel, coupled with a Stirling Engine combination..which is more efficient. Oh yeah, that will take time and money but that's the price I'll pay for self sufficiency.

scottnbnj

i love steel for partition walls, especially when a lot of material has to be carried through a finished home and up or down stairs.

but, it might be a good idea to google up residential steel framing drawbacks. last time i checked there was still debate on a couple of your points (thermal bridging and greener), but there are new products and techniques rolling out all the time. climate and applications might be factors.

you can also do long spans with wood products and some wood products are straighter and more consistent than traditional framing materials, though you're right about cost.

there's info on the net with details for listening rooms. i'd look for folks that have experience doing it and talk to them about their design compared to what you find on the net. steel has different acoustic properties than wood, i'm not sure about absolutely better or worse. googling something like "resonant frequency steel wood stud" might get you started.

)

unc2701

I don't know if this is still the case, but it used to be that you couldn't use steel in houses since if the house caught fire, it collapsed faster w/ steel. sounds weird, but the steel would bend faster w/ the heat than fire would burn through enough of a wood beam to make it unsound.