Top 5 Reasons for Using Cold Formed Steel When Building
Starting in 2019, the United States supply chain took a serious downturn, creating long delays not only for products and building materials, but also labor shortages. Lumber prices continue to increase as our supply chain continues to be weak. Combine that with large nationwide builders competing with the same products local builders in Southwest Florida are trying to purchase it has created delays and price increases. Builders are looking for solutions to compete with these large nationwide builders while also keeping client satisfaction high. After doing extensive market research, we have found building with Cold Formed steel proves to not only solve those issues, but also is superior in some cases to the typical wood frame, wood trusses and concrete block.
Cost Effective
Building with Cold Formed Steel can prove to be very beneficial on several fronts. First, as steel is not combustible like traditional wood it minimizes the fire risk, which results in lower insurance costs for homeowners who build with this product. Building with cold formed steel also reduces waste during the construction process, which means you get to keep a little extra money in your pocket.
Finally, as you may have seen building prices have been increasing significantly over the past couple years, which is causing the overall building price of a house to increase. Especially in Southwest Florida, where smaller custom home builders are competing with the large nationwide builders for materials it is causing long delays and an extra increase in material cost. Building with cold formed steel we have direct connections with the the steel suppliers, which allows us to reduce cost and delivery time.
Sustainable
This is by far one of the best benefits of building with cold formed steel. Steel is the only building material that is infinitely recyclable. As a recognized green building material, cold-formed steel framing projects can earn credits for green building ratings such as LEED and similar programs. With the average home using upwards of 50 trees to build one house we not only looking into creating a more sustainable building material but we are protecting our environment for generations to come.
Durable and Resilient
In Florida, we have many naturally occurring factors that can harm a traditional house. First, we have the humidity, which when walls are not sealed properly can get into the wood framing and create mold. This mold can be common in attics in Florida due to the poor ventilation. Second, we have termites, which when homeowners do not keep up on their pest control plan these little critters will find their way into homes and eat away at the framing and structure of the house. It can be treated if caught, but it is not something a homeowner wants to deal with.
On the other hand, steel is inorganic, and thus impenetrable to rot, mold or termites to live. A protective layer of zinc and other metallic coating steel provides long-term durability that research demonstrates can last hundreds of years without any deterioration.
Faster Build times
Over the last couple years home builders and future homeowners have seen delay after delay on building. We have seen it first hand were these delays cause hardships for families who have already sold their home based on the initial expected completion date or moved across the country expecting their house to be completed, only to be let down after hearing there are supply chain issues.
By us having direct connections with the cold formed steel factories, we are able to have all of our steel products delivered to us 5x faster compared to if we had to order wood framing, wood trusses, or concreate block. This allows us to stay on schedule and not rush to finish your house as we get closer to the completion date.
Stability
Steel behaves in a highly predicable manner, due to its consistent chemistry, when stress is created through high winds and the load it carry’s. One of the biggest advantages of steel is that is does not absorb moisture, which eliminates most of the expansion and contraction of construction materials that produces cracks, warps, and other defects in both internal and external finishes.
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