When you are about to build a new house, you have lots of choices of the kind of materials your contractors will use to erect your home, but one that may not come into mind is steel fabrication from a company like Bronson Sheetmetal Fabrications Pty Ltd. Standard homes use wood as a framing structure, but a steel-fabricated house uses steel, which can offer advantages in strength, durability, fire resistance and energy efficiency. Read on to learn more detail about these benefits.

STRENGTH

Steel has a higher tensile strength than wood. Tensile strength measures the amount of stress that a material or surface can withstand before breaking. And unlike a wood-fabricated house, a steel-fabricated house is fire-resistant and it won't expand due to moisture, fade, yellow or harbor destructive insects such as termites. When you choose steel fabrication for your new home, the steel frame is constructed at an off-site facility that has strict quality and temperature controls. This means that the steel isn't exposed to the elements and is only brought to the work site when it's time to frame your home. It also saves you construction time because so much of the work of framing your home is already done when the steel is delivered to the work site.

ENERGY SAVINGS

When contractors fabricate your house with steel, they use foil insulation to lower the amount of heat entering your home, which can pay off in the hot summer months. The steel used in the fabrication is a reflective material, which means that it diverts heat away from your house, and the insulation foil is derived from aluminum, which is also a reflective material. The foil insulation is coated with fiberglass, which is fireproof and provides an additional layer of protection for your home. This is a more efficient type of insulation than wood, which absorbs heat and has no reflective properties. A steel-fabricated home can lower the amount of air conditioning you use during the summer, resulting in less expensive energy bills.

INSURANCE SAVINGS

Many homeowner insurance companies offer discounts for houses that are steel-fabricated because of the higher level of fire protection. Fire is one of the biggest covered risks on an home insurance policy, and any building safety material that helps prevent the spread of fire is something that insurance companies will typically reward in the form of discounts. Steel isn't fireproof, but it has a much higher melting point than wood, which can provide sufficient time for firefighters to contain a house fire.