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What Are The Advantages Of Structural Steel Buildings?

When building, people have two choices; to go the structural steel, or the wood way when constructing the framing. Wood framing has been for the longest time now used in framing construction. However, in the recent past, steel has been introduced into the industry and is fast gaining popularity when it comes to constructing framings for both commercial and domestic houses. This article gives the advantages that come with the use of structural steel when constructing buildings.

Reduced Turnover Time

When relying upon steel for building house structures, the turn over time is greatly reduced by almost a half. This is because steel parts are joined together at the factory and transported to the site when the framing is complete.

Metal beams at the top of the unfinished steel structure
The factory where the framing is built has controlled climate conditions and this ensures that work does not stop even during harsh weather. With other building materials like concrete and wood, everything is done at the construction site where harsh weather conditions slow the building process by a very big margin.

More Tensile Strength

Naturally, steel has more tensile strength compared to wood. In reality, a ton of wood is lighter, compared to an equivalent ton of steel. However, if the wood was used in building a high rise building, the weight of the wood would be too much for the house to hold during harsh weather. Even though steel is heavier than wood, its weight is ideal to withstand harsh weather thus protecting the integrity of the building. This makes it ideal for building houses in areas that experience frequent tremors and earthquakes.

Environmentally Friendly

When building a house using wood, many trees are cut down, which contributes to environmental degradation, leading to climate change. The ripple effects of climate change are felt in the sporadic weather patterns like ranging sea waters and melting glaciers. However, when using steel for building house structures, wood is spared and this ensures that the environment is not interfered with in any way. Steel is the new trend in building house structures since we all must leave our children’s children a better world than we found it.

Highly Durable

With wood as a building framing structure, come many challenges that limit its shelf life. For example, wood is always attacked by pests such as termites, and this is the main challenge that wood comes with. It is also frequented by wood rot because of mold formation when it comes into contact with water or long-term exposure to moisture. All these challenges make the wood very weak as a material for building house structures. However, when dealing with steel for building house structures, you will never experience wood rot and pests attacks. To eliminate chances of corrosion with water and excess moisture, steel is treated with alloys that provide a protective layer.

Cost-Effectiveness

The main benefit that accrues from the use of steel for building house structures is cost-effectiveness. Since most governments are geared towards protecting environmental degradation, acquiring enough wood for building house structures is very challenging, which translates to inflated upfront costs. After installation, wood is faced with enemies like pests and wood rot, and this means increased maintenance costs. With steel, on the other hand, is relatively a cheaper option especially when operating under a budget. This is because steel occurs naturally as a mineral, making it readily available in abundance. With steel, you do not have to deal with issues such as rot and decay and this reduces maintenance costs to almost zero. Since steel has more tensile strength than all other building materials, it makes it cost-effective since there are no maintenance costs.

Steel parts are joined together with the use of tightened bolts. This brings into play another benefit; versatility. The same way steel structures are erected faster is the same way it takes to disassemble the structure by loosening the bolts if the need arises. However, the benefits discussed above cannot be felt if the steel is of low quality and the contractor does not possess the required knowledge and skills. It is therefore upon you, to look for quality steel and go through a rigorous process of vetting a good steel contractor. Having ensured that, you can rest assured that your building will withstand the test of the wrath of Mother Nature. You can always reach out to experts like us for advice on the most ideal material to go with. Feel free to contact us today.

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