Thank you for asking a multipart question. I can help with some of
these. It would be interesting to me to hear lots of answers. The
first thing, yes there is such a thing as a steel house. There are
steel house builder organizations as well and they have a good sell.
One of their strengths, and I agree, is that steel is good at
standardization. Beautiful large, sturdy homes can be built of steel
and the more standard the production, the more advantage. In another
advantages, I worked on a large home that was so precise in its
intent, that the builder said that we should have built the whole
thing out of steel, because the wood dimensional instability was going
to impact the details of the fine finishes.
It is my experience that materials and markets have big sociological
aspects to them. There is a big advantage to go "with the builder."
I greatly enjoy this question. In a very large way, yes, you should
develop the best relationship possible with the builder. You want to
get the best he has to offer, no? We only get a few opportunities to
build something as large as a home.
So, you seek information about steel, but you have the right suspicion:
What does this material mean in terms of the market for construction
in my area and how does nature treat it as a building material in my
area?
I say, yes, steel can be a competitive material in the Northeast in
terms of weatherability and maintainibility. Socially, carpenters are
usually great resources and they like wood. However, the next project
I work on will probably more steel light guage brackets and framing in
the right spots than the last one. |
