Standing on the ground, staring up at a giant skyscraper, is one way to make yourself feel tiny. To think of all of the materials, planning, and construction that went into such a magnificent building is mind-blowing. But what if the same materials used in the most iconic buildings of the world could be used in your next home construction project with steel fabrication in Melbourne?
Steel beams are efficient, strong, recyclable, resilient, and versatile. Steel beams are not reserved for monstrous city buildings. They can be used in residential properties to create a safe, strong, and sturdy home.
Why should you consider steel beams for residential construction? Keep reading to discover the benefits steel provides a home.
- Steel Beams Are Efficient
One of the top reasons steel beams are an efficient building material is because they are quickly created. Steel beams only take a few days of construction time. For residential construction, steel has less contact with the earth, so no excavation is required.
- Steel Is Strong
Steel is powerful and impact resistant. The Mohs Hardness Test rates materials from on a 10-point scale, with one being the softest. Carbon steel has a 6.0 score on the Mohs scale.
Steel beams create a strong foundation for your building. They can withstand rough weather and should last up to 30 years. With steel beams, homeowners don’t need to worry about the material warping or splintering like wood.
- Steel Is Eco-Friendly
When it comes to environmentally-friendly building materials, steel is a top choice. Steel itself is created using recycled materials. An estimated 80 million tons of steel are recycled every year, making it the world’s most recycled product.
At the end of its life, your steel beams can be repurposed. According to the book Structure In The New Millennium, 45% of steel manufactured through the 1960s and 1970s is being reused to create new steel. Producing steel requires 35-40% less energy than manufacturing iron.
- Steel Beams Are Durable
When you choose steel, you receive a durable product. Steel can withstand extreme temperatures and natural disasters, so your home will become safer than ever before.
One example of steel’s durability is its fire-resistance. Since steel is non-combustible, steel-framed buildings decrease your risk of a fiery disaster. Wood, on the other hand, is the third most-ignited material in a home.
5. Steel Allows for Design Freedom
Steel is versatile, which is a homeowner’s dream come true. Steel beams can bend to fit a particular radius to create beautiful arches, facades, and domes. Construction teams can explore different shapes and designs thanks to steel’s malleability.
6.Less columns, more open space
Steel sections provide an elegant, cost-effective method of spanning long distances. Steel-built buildings are often more adaptable, with greater potential for alterations to be made over time, extending the lifetime of the structure. Extended steel spans can create large, open plan, column free internal spaces, with many clients now demanding column grid spacing over 15 metres. In single storey buildings, rolled beams provide clear spans of over 50 metres. Trussed or lattice construction can extend this to 150 metres. Minimizing the number of columns makes it easier to subdivide and customize spaces.
7.Adaptable and accessible
These days, a building’s function can change dramatically and rapidly. A tenant may want to make changes that increase floor loads significantly. Walls may need to be repositioned to create new interior layouts based on different needs and space usage. Steel framing and floor systems also allow easy access and alterations to existing electrical wiring, computer networking cables and communication systems. Steel-built structures can cater for such changes. Non-composite steel beams can be made composite with the existing floor slab, cover plates added to the beams for increased strength, beams and girders easily reinforced and supplemented with additional framing or even relocated to support changed loads.
8.design freedom
Steel offers architects more design freedom in colour, texture and shape. Its combination of strength, durability, beauty, precision and malleability gives architects broader parameters to explore ideas and develop fresh solutions. Steel’s long spanning ability gives rise to large open spaces, free of intermediate columns or load bearing walls. Its capacity to bend to a certain radius, creating segmented curves or free-form combinations for facades, arches or domes sets it apart. Factory-finished to the most exacting specifications under highly controlled conditions, steel’s final outcome is more predictable and repeatable, eliminating the risk of on-site variability.
9.Speedy building:
Time is money and no one likes to wait for a long time to move into their new house. Due to the predictability and accuracy of its components, your structural steel residential property can be erected quickly. Structural steel components are pre-manufactured by the fabricators and then traded to the construction site. This fabrication process doesn’t take days and weeks, and hence, you can get your house ready in a short duration of time.
10.Highly customizable and versatile:
Structural steel has a high strength to weight ratio. It requires less support to build huge structures, thus giving you a spacious house. Also, it is highly flexible and can be fabricated according to your design needs. In future, you will not have to think several times and consider your budget before knocking down a wall or pillar. Plus, you also may not have to think before adding a new section in your house. The renovation process will be easy like never before if you choose structural steel over other materials.
11.Cost effective and eco-friendly:
The cost of structural steel has become inexpensive in the last 15 years. Use of structural steel in residential construction can be highly cost effective as compared to concrete and wood. These structures require less maintenance costs. Not only this, repair and replacement costs also reduce when you have a house made of structural steel. Also, structural steel can be recycled several times without adding to the pollution levels. Which is why structural steel is known as a green material.
Sources-
https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-steel-manufacturing-and-fabricating-markets