Timber v Steel frames

[Judge]

I am building a couple of townhouses in Wellington, and someone suggested i should use steel frames rather than timber. I understand Steel is cheaper and it does not rot. Does anyone have any views why i should or should not use steel?

Thanks

Judge

[WBuffett]

From nzwood.co.nz

The prime culprit for leaky buildings is the cladding methods used. It was the trend away from weatherboard to monolithic claddings that sparked the problem. The claim that steel frames can alleviate New Zealand’s leaky building syndrome are incorrect. A well designed and constructed wooden-framed building will stay just as weathertight as a steel-framed building – evidenced by all the housing stock that has lasted well beyond 50 years.
· Strength for strength, sustainably grown timber has an overwhelming advantage with which steel can never compete. Wood is one of the few construction materials that can not only save you money, it can save the planet;
· Analysis conducted at the University of Canterbury shows that the wood in a typical wooden-framed house has actually removed and stored as much carbon from the atmosphere as the steel in a steel-framed house has belched into it. Twenty-seven tonnes worth, in fact. An all-wood home has a negative carbon footprint due to the CO2 the trees have soaked up from the air when they were growing. In contrast a steel-framed, concrete-floored, aluminium windowed house is responsible for contributing CO2 emissions. [The CO2 calculations are based on the material’s production only – “cradle to gate”. They do not include emissions associated with transport to site, construction or ongoing utilisation of the building.]
· Wood provides superior thermal insulation. Steel conducts heat out of the home, requiring extra insulation against heat loss.
· Contrary to popular belief, a wooden frame can often perform better in a fire than a steel one. Light gauge steel can melt, distort and fail, facilitating progress of the heat and flames up through the wall cavity. Wooden members tend only to char on the surface, leaving the structure intact.
· Wood-frames are also more versatile and, unlike steel-frames, can be easily modified during or after construction


In addition
Wood has been proven through time in the New Zealand climatic conditions, steel framing has never made a real inroads for residenital buildings and timber framing as a % is increasing, while steel is decreasing.
There is more competition in the timber framing market, and in the builders using it, steel fluctuates in price wildly, a tried and tested product that does not rust, stronger, better insulation/ fire resistance,

[Jumpin]

An all-wood home has a negative carbon footprint due to the CO2 the trees have soaked up from the air when they were growing.

There is certainly some creative accounting gone into that calculation. It does not include the energy costs of clearing the land, fertilising the land, pruning the trees during growth, and the ultimate return of all the CO2 in the wood to the atmosphere at the end of the life of the house. Planting trees to get CO2 credits is the ultimate con and green lie.

[builderboy]

You can make an argument for sustainability for either product - steel used for framing is made from upto 2/3 recycled material, and when the building comes to the end of its life, the steel can be recycled again and again. You can't really do that with timber. And studies in the US and Europe have shown that steel framing in houses has a life expectancy of between 200 and 1200 years. Steel framing systems also produce less waste for landfills.

There is no real cost advantage with building our of either material. The main advantage of steel framing is that it is much lighter, which makes it easier and faster to errect. If time is money, then steel framing does become cheaper.

And if you ask a builder who has switched from timber to steel framing, they like it because there are no issues with chemical treatments and dust.

[Judge]

Thanks for your responses. To be honest. i am not really interestd in the carbon footprint of the materials i will be using. I need them to be reliable and cost eficient. The infor from NZwood is clearly biased in my view. But one thing i am still not clear about is if there is no timber stud, how can one fix things to the wall? for example, if you wanted to put an LCD screen on the wall? Otherwise it sounds like steel is a viable option to me.
Judge

[Viking]

Well I like the inbuilt strength that goes with properly treated timber. And steel uses O2 trees produce 02 and I prefer to breath O2 than CO2. Don't you? If not why not?
And try doing DIY on a steel frame in 60 years when you don't like the shape of the house or want a new window. Stuff called rust has a habit of getting into steel, especially in our salt laden atmosphere. Another Leaky building type disaster coming up one day long after the builders gone. It doesn't rain in California nor Australia but it sure as hell does here. Hellas rusty frames.

Noise travels along steel, but not along wood. Want a quieter house?

[WBuffett]

Thanks for your responses. To be honest. i am not really interestd in the carbon footprint of the materials i will be using. I need them to be reliable and cost eficient. The infor from NZwood is clearly biased in my view. But one thing i am still not clear about is if there is no timber stud, how can one fix things to the wall? for example, if you wanted to put an LCD screen on the wall? Otherwise it sounds like steel is a viable option to me.
Judge

Fixing things to wall on steel framed ..a pain in the a** I have one apartment that was trying to put a wall mounted dryer on ...ended up being more cost effective to buy a front loading washing machine so the dryer could lie on top of it. If you want the LCD tv on the wall in a steel framed house make sure you specify where you want to place it in the plans before you build the house, and try not to change your mind afterwards.

The nzwood article is just stating the facts, steel framing is weaker, less fire resistant , noiser, more corrosive, less insulating, I dont think a steel framing manufuacturer is going to contest those claims, because they are fact.

[builderboy]

You can fix TV'S, Dryer's etc to steel framing, you simply need to use different fixings. While timber screws are widely available, screws for steel framing applications are more specialised, they are still available through distributors like MSL etc.

I am not going to get into an argument with WBuffet regarding claims that steel is weaker etc etc, because he is coming from such a biased viewpoint. The fact is that you can design a house using steel framing to meet any of the structural / fire / thermal / acoustic performance criteria you want, just as you can do so with timber. You can't take a timber frame house and simply replace the timber with steel and expect it to perform the same. But if you design the building correctly from the beginning, you can use steel to meet or exceed the performance of a timber framed house by doing some small things differently.

[Viking]

Another thing, try lifting and shifting a steel frame house. Kiwi's like moving their houses around and a tin one is going to move all over the place.

[Judge]

This is very helpful. Thanks everyone.

[KiwiFrames]

Don't be fooled by the ignorance of timber people, galv steel frames is covered by a 50yr durability warrantee from NZ Steel. Ask timber to match that without dying of chemical.! Thats why the NZ Asthma Foundation endorses steel frames as healthy framing system. See their website under Sensitive Choice.

[WBuffett]

Saying that timber frames will cause people to die from chemicals is slanderous and if you stand by those comments give your full name and address so you can defend those words in court. I would encourage this website to remove the above post as I would not want it bought into disrepute by legal action as it provides helpful advice and discourse in relation to property investment. This fellow is virtually accusing timber framing of murder.
I understand he wants to rubbish the opposition to increase his own sales but lies like this do nothing for his/her reputation if indeed he/her has one which I would doubt.

[Jumpin]

Lol !! Think u shd learn to read Buffet!! :-)

[WBuffett]

Lol !! Think u shd learn to read Buffet!! :-)

If you'll teach me bro

[Jumpin]

still teaching my own kids...