Perception of Steel vs Timber Framed Homes

Patrickof

Hi,

I'm looking into steel vs timber frame houses for a developer considering both.

Has anyone come across strong opinions against steel frame homes, or are they fairly rare?

There's two options, steel joists or to have an in-situ poured concrete slab for the first floor - the concrete sounds interesting - both noise wise and fire protection.

Though would people have a "retail warehouse" type opinion of such a home?

Firewalkwithme

I can't understand why you would want to consider using a steel frame or 'steel joists' as you put it. Are you talking about a standard blockwork house with the occaisional steel beam if needed? Steel is very expensive after all and if you just build the houses using standard block constuction you may only need one or two steel beams in the house.

I think a precast floor might be a better option than insitu but why not just use a timber floor at 1st floor level? Are there going to be separate units on the first floor?

One of the benefits of timber frame is the speed at which the houses can be built. Once the foundations, rising walls and ground floor slabs are done, the rest of the structure flies up in no time.

If I had a look at your drawings I might be able to give you a better idea - I do a lot of this stuff.

Viking House

Hi Patrick

We were going building a steel framed house in Tipperary for a client but we opted for the Poroton block with the external insulation instead. We thought that by the time we would have all the steel fabricated and erected we would have the walls built with Poroton. We also felt it was easier than trying to eliminate cold bridging through the steel. We are starting building now on a bed of Polysterene eliminating any direct connection between the footings and the ground, so this would not suit a steel structure.
I also do not like the Polyeurethene sheets some companies put on the inside of the steel frames, this messes up the breathability of the walls causing condensation in the walls.

Patrickof

Thanks cartoon head,

It's a similar system to the timber framed concept and the costs are roughly the same. A sample system is at www.fusionbuild.com

I'm not sure which system the developer will go with, what I'm interested in is finding out what people's reaction to a steel framed home would be?

Most peoples impression of steel frame buildings are warehouse or office block type buildings and they wouldn't necessarily think of them as suitable for homes.

Firewalkwithme

Ok, I see what you mean now. I would have some concern about the steel frame option from the point of view of someone who later wanted to alter their home. For example, if the owner decided to knock an ope out of a wall to put in double doors, I would think that a timber frame would be far easier to work with.

galwaytt

There is a scheme of 140 v.high efficiency homes built in Tuam by Coffey Construction of steel-frame construction. Houses are so efficient they don't need boilers...........

Yes, mods after might be a prob, or at least more difficult.

They all have conc floors upstairs, as it's easy to do in a steel house.