Why Structural Steel Is a Top Choice For Residential Building Construction

About Me
Advice for Home Extensions, Additions and Adaptations

Thanks for checking out my blog! My name's Olivia, and I'll be sharing my advice about construction and contractors here. When my husband and I first decided to move in together, we didn't fall in love with any of the homes on the market so we decided to build our own. We learned a lot about construction and contractors during that time, but our journey wasn't over yet. Over the years, we've had multiple changes made to our custom home, including extensions to accommodate new babies, adaptations for in-laws moving in and even an outbuilding studio for my son's music production endeavours. As you can imagine, I've had to do a lot of research on home building over the years, and now I'd love to pass that advice on to anyone else who needs it. Look around—I'm sure you'll find something useful.

Search

Why Structural Steel Is a Top Choice For Residential Building Construction

1 February 2019
 Categories: Construction & Contractors, Blog


Timber, undeniably, has been the conventional material employed for residential building construction. The timber frames were thought best for residential applications, whereas steel was limited to commercial projects. Nevertheless, steel is steadily making its way due to the advantageous attributes that it offers construction projects. If you are deliberating on materials to utilise for your residential building construction, here are four reasons why steel should be the top choice for your project.

Steel has a high tensile strength

Although timber is the traditional material used to construct the frame of a building, the amount of timber needed can be quite heavy. As a result, not only are the transport costs expensive but the cost of materials are as well, since you need a lot of wood for the framing. Steel is a more affordable option due to its high tensile strength. The tensile strength of steel means you need less material to create the frame of the building, reducing your transportation costs. Moreover, since the steel employed will be light in weight, it bears less burden on the foundation too.

Steel accords you a fast turnaround

Another problem that comes about when you choose timber for your residential building construction is the time it takes to erect the structure. Timber needs to be cut and shaped on-site, and this takes up a substantial amount of time. Steel, conversely, is fabricated off-site. Hence, when the steel parts are delivered to your building site, your contractors take less time to erect the frame of the structure. The quick assembly of the pre-shaped steel components will also reduce the overall labour costs of building the residential structure since your contractors will not spend as much time on the project as they would when working with timber.

Steel has superior durability

Although all construction supplies will be susceptible to some kind of damage, timber tends to be one of the most vulnerable materials that you can work with. Wood is inherently at risk of damage from a myriad of threats. From decay from water exposure to pest infestations, a residential building made of wood is likely to need abundant repairs during its lifetime. While steel is vulnerable to corrosion if proper measures are not taken, it remains impervious to termites, fire and other external factors that would have an adverse effect on a timber frame.

Steel has less environmental damage

One benefit of employing steel that some people may be unaware of is that you can always opt for recycled materials. Moreover, innovative advancements in the production of steel have made the process of manufacturing this material more energy-efficient than ever. Thus, you can be assured your residential building construction is not harming the planet.