Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Living in a steel frame house 6Feb 11, 2009 8:33 pm Building Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13002 Site start: 8th July 2009 Handover: 11/12/2009! 5 months total build time. 40 sqs of luxuary...Bliss! Re: Living in a steel frame house 10Feb 12, 2009 6:17 am Polo Hi all, Thanks for the replies. Ed & Helyn - Do you personally like/recommend steel frame house over timber frame house? Does your house have any plaster/cornice cracks? Pinkfairymagic - I hope the company has changed the way they do business since then and got their act together. I read their problems with the BCAV in 2003-2004 year. Recently I asked people who built with them around my estate and most say they are happy, however there are alot of people on the internet that aren't so happy, so a bit scary also. Daring2build - where about are you building? WBA - I hope you will keep us updated on your building progress. Thanks. There is one crack in the whoie house in 12 years - insignificant. On the whole I am happy - especially as I live in a high risk fire area... Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Living in a steel frame house 11Feb 12, 2009 7:28 am ed @ EcoClassic There is one crack in the whoie house in 12 years - insignificant. On the whole I am happy - especially as I live in a high risk fire area... Ed Ed, apparently this is the claim that steel frame mfrs don't like to make - the one about fire. Apparently a steel frame house will perform less well than a timber framed house in a fire, though I hope nobody ever gets to test this out. As far as JG King go, as mentioned in a previous post, it seems their steel framed houses have timber strut sub floors, so part of the problem with their own houses may be the relationship between the steel and the timber causing different rates of expansion/contraction which may result in more cracking and creaking. Caveat: This effect of the 2 different materials is my own personal theory and is not based on any evidence. JB Re: Living in a steel frame house 12Feb 12, 2009 7:40 am Polo Hi all, Thanks for the replies. Ed & Helyn - Do you personally like/recommend steel frame house over timber frame house? Does your house have any plaster/cornice cracks? Pinkfairymagic - I hope the company has changed the way they do business since then and got their act together. I read their problems with the BCAV in 2003-2004 year. Recently I asked people who built with them around my estate and most say they are happy, however there are alot of people on the internet that aren't so happy, so a bit scary also. Daring2build - where about are you building? WBA - I hope you will keep us updated on your building progress. Thanks. WBA : Thanks for your post. Reading Pinkfairymagic's post, I was a bit depressed yesterday BTW - I am building in Arbor on the Park estate, Burnside Heights (close to Caroline Springs Town Centre) Re: Living in a steel frame house 13Feb 12, 2009 7:48 am We are currently living in a steel frame house with colourbond roof in Fern Bay NSW. We intially wanted steel frame because of our horrendous experience with our previous home being devastated by termites. We didnt know we had termites until the house was "sold" and it was picked up on the building inspection... consequently our sale fell over we had major works and costs on our hands. The real estate agent said this was a regular problem and mentioned that he much preferred to sell a steel frame home... his comments starting us thinking
So we chose steel not thinking and questioning any of the points raised in these threads/posts other than the prevention of termites. Our 2 homes were built by the same builder McDonald Jones who install a Bluescope steel frame manufactured by Supaloc. Having a look at the Supaloc web site I notice their ad line "the worlds best framing system". ... and I have to agree. The blue steel stands out on the subdivisions around like "dogs ....." as they go up they look amazing. ..and when you walk thru them it just looks and feels so much better and more solidly engineered than the conventional timber stick frame In our 2 steel frame homes we obviously havent had termites in yet they are in the trees at the rear of the block... we havent experience cracking or popping or anything like that. We have had a bit of cornice cracking in the corners but I think thats normal with most homes.The temperatures have been up there in the high 30's in NSW but our house doesn't seem any hotter than our neighbours timber/tiled home.... although I believe most McDonald Jones homes come air conditioned. We havent experience any noise... banging or the likes . I notice the Supaloc frame is engineered . and designed thru the riveting and expansion joint system to eliminate any noise . I cannot obviously comment on the frame the Melbourne builder GJ King or Nu Steel uses but I don't think they use the Supaloc system and there seems to be a substantial difference in the engineering and outcome We can highly recommend the steel frame home...... we are hoping its built to lastfor ever Life is an enjoyment, enjoy it Re: Living in a steel frame house 14Feb 12, 2009 7:52 am wakeboardandy: It's certainly not a myth for people
that are going through it and living it everyday. Your assumption is also incorrect, my bestfriend doesn't live near me, infact she lives about 5hrs away, although I'm not sure what this would have to do with anything. Country or not, you can get quaility builders here. Sorry, didn't mean to upset anyone, just warning people of my experience and those close to me. It's always wise to know good and bad about ALL builders before you decide who to build through. Polo, I certainly hope their system has differed from now to what it used to be 3 & 4 yrs ago. With clients that seem to be happy with their homes today, things may be changing for the better, thank goodness. I wish you all the best with your build, whoever you decide to go with. There is no builder that is perfect out there, so we as clients always have to comprimise on "something". Building Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13002 Site start: 8th July 2009 Handover: 11/12/2009! 5 months total build time. 40 sqs of luxuary...Bliss! Re: Living in a steel frame house 15Feb 12, 2009 8:12 am James Bond ed @ EcoClassic There is one crack in the whoie house in 12 years - insignificant. On the whole I am happy - especially as I live in a high risk fire area... Ed Ed, apparently this is the claim that steel frame mfrs don't like to make - the one about fire. Apparently a steel frame house will perform less well than a timber framed house in a fire, though I hope nobody ever gets to test this out. As far as JG King go, as mentioned in a previous post, it seems their steel framed houses have timber strut sub floors, so part of the problem with their own houses may be the relationship between the steel and the timber causing different rates of expansion/contraction which may result in more cracking and creaking. Caveat: This effect of the 2 different materials is my own personal theory and is not based on any evidence. JB Yes I know about steel & fire... but I know my home has very little combustible material in it's perimeter construction... I also know that if it is subject to flame for a long period it will fail structurally - but I know it won't add to the fires so I am happier. I can say the only problem I do have is the heating system in the roof space can creak a bit - I think if they isolate this more it would be better. If different materials was a problem you would expect the plasterboard to be a major culprit - we have no problems at all... I would certainly recommend steel frames - JGK Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Living in a steel frame house 16Feb 12, 2009 8:28 am ed @ EcoClassic If different materials was a problem you would expect the plasterboard to be a major culprit - we have no problems at all... I would certainly recommend steel frames - JGK Ed Apparently the thermal behaviour of plasterboard is much more similar to that of steel than that of timber! JB Re: Living in a steel frame house 17Feb 12, 2009 8:39 am James Bond ed @ EcoClassic If different materials was a problem you would expect the plasterboard to be a major culprit - we have no problems at all... I would certainly recommend steel frames - JGK Ed Apparently the thermal behaviour of plasterboard is much more similar to that of steel than that of timber! JB Then why would it be OK with a timber frame? Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Living in a steel frame house 18Feb 12, 2009 8:48 am ed @ EcoClassic James Bond ed @ EcoClassic If different materials was a problem you would expect the plasterboard to be a major culprit - we have no problems at all... I would certainly recommend steel frames - JGK Ed Apparently the thermal behaviour of plasterboard is much more similar to that of steel than that of timber! JB Then why would it be OK with a timber frame? Ed No idea - I am just regurgitating research I have done! However I have found when researching the "steel frame noise non-issue" that many people state their timber framed houses creaked much more than their steel framed ones do! JB Re: Living in a steel frame house 19Feb 12, 2009 9:07 am you are dead right with that..we have never heard a creak in either of our steel framed homes....our next door neighbours timber frame house according to them creaks badly thru the night. Mind you i am a heavy sleeper... joking ! Life is an enjoyment, enjoy it Hi I am wanting some opinions about the build of a steel shed I am going to get one about 4.5 x 2.5 m steel shed and the height will be about 2.3-2.4m high The one I am… 0 14950 This is 100% true. You can not hang anything on steel frames. very frustrating 8 10376 Hi, We have a single story MacDonald Jones house, on a waffle pod slab with steel frame. Are we able to build a second story extension? Other info is we are 900mm from… 0 9247 |