FAQs
Steel framed homes are growing in popularity as a disaster-resistant alternative to traditional wood construction, but they’re still a relatively unknown alternative. In our years of doing business we’ve found the most commonly asked questions and provided our simplest answers. You may also contact us directly if you want more details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Once they are finished, our homes look like any other house. They may have a stylish, colored steel roof system, but other than that you can’t tell them apart from a conventional house inside or out. You can even choose to use non-metallic materials for your walls and roof, like shingles and brick or stone.
The inside framing is covered with sheet rock and painted. You can use crown molding and other nice trim details to make your home special. Our walls are perfectly straight so that the lines finish out crisp and clean. Our clear span design lets you use any floor plan you want. Because our homes are so energy efficient, the temperature stays more constant, and the home feels more comfortable.
Absolutely! It can go anywhere in the home you like. Fireplaces are much safer in our homes because our structure is non-combustible.
That’s fine too. Just choose our frame package only or create a custom quote and pick the roofing and siding options that fit your design.
A steel framed home is no more likely to be hit by lightning than a wood framed house. The difference is that the steel home is much safer if it is struck. When lightning hits a wooden object, like a wood-framed house or tree, the energy has nowhere to go, and it usually explodes and often causes a fire. On the other hand, a steel object — like a light pole or steel-framed home — instantly conducts the energy to the ground. That’s why once or more in your life you have probably seen a tree (or a shingle roof) with obvious damage from a lightning strike, yet you never see similar damage on steel poles, cars, or steel-framed buildings. Remember that most of the commercial and public buildings in your community — churches, bank branches, schools, stores, etc. — are framed with steel, and they are not being constantly struck or damaged by lightning. In short, the safest place you could be in a lightning storm is inside a steel-framed structure.
As you may know, we sell steel siding, which is vastly superior to vinyl siding. The steel is rigid and will not sag, crack, or rattle in the wind like vinyl. Steel siding is highly impact resistant. If you hit it hard enough, it may dent, but it is almost unbreakable, and of course very fire resistant. All vinyl siding will melt next to a heat source like a barbeque grill or trash fire.
They are no louder than other roof types, and the foil insulation blanket directly under the roof panels along with the attic insulation and sheetrock deaden the sound.
Yes! All our homes have an open span design so you can put the interior walls anywhere you want to. Be sure to ask out our custom residential design service.
Yes, you can locate your framed openings anywhere you want. Plus, we send extra framing and trim in case you want to add extra windows or doors.
Yes, but our standard designs are more affordable and can be produced quicker
No, but most people build them on slabs because it’s so much less expensive. We offer optional floor joist systems for our customers who want to build over basements or crawl spaces.
Yes, you will probably save a lot of money on heating and cooling costs. We give you a reflective foil, radiant barrier insulation for the roof and walls to act as a thermal break and to stop radiant heat penetration in the summer and radiant heat loss in the winter. Regular insulation doesn’t stop radiant heat.
That’s the kind of heat that makes car interiors so hot while sitting in the sun. Our reflective foil insulation stops 97% of radiant heat penetration and loss. Plus, you get a ventilated attic because our soffit and ridge cap are vented, giving you continuous air flow through your attic. You can put as much conventional insulation in your attic as you like. We give you 6″ exterior wall studs, enabling you to use lots of wall insulation.
It’s hard work, but it’s not complicated. You just bolt it together, following our numbering system.
Yes, you will need motorized lifting equipment to help you unload the steel when it arrives and to stand your main columns and rafters, which you can typically finish in one day. After that, you can probably get by with ladders and scaffolding on single-story models. For most houses, a “Skytrack” forklift, which has a boom that extends both outward and up, is ideal. For two-story houses, a boom truck or small crane might be necessary. For the smaller homes, people have also used standard forklifts and front-end loaders.
A local contractor or metal building erector can erect it for you. Make it clear to them that this is a bolt-together “red iron” framing system, not a light gauge stud-truss system.
Most people get them built for between $150 to $250 per square foot. A lot of the cost depends on how you finish out the inside and local labor rates. Also, people who act as their own general contractor or do some of the work themselves can save a great deal.
Most pictures just hang on picture hangars that have a small nail that goes into the drywall only, just like a wood framed house. If you are hanging a large, heavy mirror or picture and the location happens to fall on a stud, you just use a screw instead of a nail. If the location is between studs, you can use a molly bolt or expansion bolt that goes into the drywall; just like in a wood framed house.
Yes. We give you a reflective foil, radiant barrier insulation for the roof and walls to act as a thermal break and to stop radiant heat penetration in the summer and radiant heat loss in the winter.
No, though most people do because it’s more cost effective. We offer optional floor joist systems if you’d prefer a basement or crawl space.
More Questions?
We’re happy to help. Please visit our Contact page and fill out the form there, or call our office directly at: