Light steel framed house

[Roger440]

12 hours ago, DavidFrancis said:

Thanks for that.  Was your "steel" man hard to find or difficult to persuade into building something the size of a garage?

 

He is a customer and wanted something i had that he couldn't otherwise get, so not a normal arrangement. I dont think he had ever done a "retail" job before! Probably wishes he hadn't either. There was only one 90 degree corner in the whole building, so was "unusual" to say the least. It also took a long time as i usually came second, but then i signed up for that so have no complaints in that department.

 

I can ask him if you want. 

 

Briefly, what do you need and whereabouts are you?

 

[DavidFrancis]

Thanks for the offer, Roger, but it was only a casual enquiry.

 

The chances of me/us needing to build a new house are fairly low, which is probably good as I imagine the process would give me a nervous breakdown.

 

Nevertheless, I sometimes spend idle time thinking about how I'd build one.  One of the options would be to have a steel or engineered-timber frame clad in sandwich panels.  It should go up quickly, have no problems with interstital condensation and eliminate the need for a VCL & breather membrane (I think).  The downside being a poor decrement delay, which could be improved a bit with an extra layer of mineral wool.

 

So that was my reason for enquiring.  Just wondering how easy it would be to find someone to make a small, simple lightweight steel frame (suitable for a bungalow).  And your (ex?) garage was pretty much similar to a very small bungalow!

[Roger440]

11 hours ago, DavidFrancis said:

Thanks for the offer, Roger, but it was only a casual enquiry.

 

The chances of me/us needing to build a new house are fairly low, which is probably good as I imagine the process would give me a nervous breakdown.

 

Nevertheless, I sometimes spend idle time thinking about how I'd build one.  One of the options would be to have a steel or engineered-timber frame clad in sandwich panels.  It should go up quickly, have no problems with interstital condensation and eliminate the need for a VCL & breather membrane (I think).  The downside being a poor decrement delay, which could be improved a bit with an extra layer of mineral wool.

 

So that was my reason for enquiring.  Just wondering how easy it would be to find someone to make a small, simple lightweight steel frame (suitable for a bungalow).  And your (ex?) garage was pretty much similar to a very small bungalow!

Bizarrely, he rang me today. Yes, he is quite happy to do domestic work. He has just been doing a barn conversion.

 

It is as you say, quick and easy. I left my steel frame exposed on 3 sides and boxed in / covered on the 4th. Then, as you say you can add more insulation.In fact, i wonder if you really need foundations, but thats for another thread i really ought to start!

 

 

I have given up on building a house as its just to complicated (not the actual building part) and expensive round here. So i'll stick to building garages. But yes, sort of ex garage. I do still own that house, but its now rented out. New house has no garage, so need to start all over again   Still, its a nice house. Could do a thread on that if there was interest in such a thing. Its certainly no new build though......................

 

[Scaadoo]

Why has light steel framed house building fallen off the construction agenda, is it something to do with Grenfell?

[Roger440]

No idea!

 

Still seems like a quick, simple solution. And can arrive in kit form ready to be bolted together.

 

 

 

[Temp]

11 hours ago, Scaadoo said:

Why has light steel framed house building fallen off the construction agenda, is it something to do with Grenfell?

 

Non standard construction can sometimes  be hard to get a mortgage on.

 

[Alan Ambrose]

Of course, there are plenty of steel framed girder constructions - is that an option? Maybe too much time as a kid playing with Meccano or lusting over landrovers but the simplicity of separating the structural frame from the ‘cladding’ appeals a lot.

[SteamyTea]

Have to question why steel houses are not made.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BISF_house

[ChrisJ]

https://www.framemax.com

 

Not part of the UK, but a company I have dealt with during my time in the US a long time ago, they have done well with pre fab walls for steel frame construction