What’s The Best Way To Build a Low-Cost House

Written by Posted On Thursday, 07 November 2019 05:15

A major obstacle to owning a new home is the rising costs of construction and materials for building. When analyzing the cost of building a new home from the ground up and looking for ways to build more efficiently, it is clear that one of the most expensive parts of the process is the choice of framing material. Wood frame construction is widely used for residential construction in the US, but steel offers builders and homeowners some significant savings, compared to building with wood.

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Materials Used in Home Construction

Typical home construction has become standardized over the years as builders use materials and equipment that are familiar to them and that are designed to work well together in residential construction. Many new homes begin with a frame built of timber studs, which is then covered with wallboard on the inside. Insulation is applied in the spaces between the framing studs and the outer surface is covered in siding, brick, stucco, or stone.

 

A metal building home offers some potential cost and time savings in construction. From the frame, the steel home is then finished and decorated to the owner's taste with wallboard on the inside and layered with insulation before it is sheathed on the outer surface of the home with siding, brick, stone, or stucco.

 

Steel home construction may save money and time, and will certainly result in a strong and sturdy home that is built to last for generations. The steel frame will not warp or sag, and will stay true and level for the life of the home.

 

How to Choose?

 

Both wood and steel homes have pros and cons to consider in making a decision about what type of material to use in building a new home. Some of the things to consider include:

 

  • cost of building with steel versus wood
  • ease of construction
  • adaptability to design customization
  • durability of materials Wood framing is the current standard in residential building, which gives it the advantage that most construction professionals are very familiar with the material and have easy access to equipment and materials they need to work with wood. Construction crews also appreciate the convenience of working with wood when customization and modifications of plans are needed. Wood can be quickly and easily cut to shape or drilled, and other materials quickly attach to wood with screws, nails, and other widely available fasteners.

 

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Wood frame construction has downsides as well, including rising costs due to the expense of growing, harvesting, and processing timber from trees , as well as ecological concerns of cutting forests  to build homes. A wood-frame home is potentially vulnerable to rot and mold that can weaken or destroy the frame of the house if moisture gets to the wood. Insect damage, which can destroy a home from the inside out, is a very real threat to wood-framed homes. Wood is known to weaken and sag over time, leading to floors that are not level and may squeak in certain places where the wood has changed shape slightly over the years.

 

Among the positive points about building with steel is the fact that it is widely available as a building material, and it can be faster to construct into a frame by simply assembling and attaching steel studs to each other. The material is ideal for home construction as it can last a lifetime and beyond without losing strength or sagging, as wood can do. A properly constructed home made of steel will have perfectly level floors and walls throughout the life of the home.

 

Some of the issues to consider when building with steel include the need for clear and certain pre-planning, as most fasteners can attach only where there are holes made in advance. Wiring and plumbing can be run through the studs only where they are drilled for access, so there is some amount of decreased flexibility for customization or minor changes as the home is under construction.

 

Why Steel Homes Makes Sense

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Professional crews who are skilled in working with steel can build a frame in a very short time. In a way, building the home of steel is much like constructing a child's construction model by linking the steel beams together on site.

 

A steel home is often cheaper to insure than one framed with wood, as steel has much greater fire resistance and is likely to stand strong in extreme weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods. Considering all the costs and long-term issues involved in building a new home, steel is a material that deserves a close look for its value and longevity.

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Emma Williams

Emma is a real estate agent in LA, Califonria. She's a single mother and a pssionate writer launching her own blog at thewebaddicted.com

https://thewebaddicted.com

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