Steel-Framed Homes: Style, Personality, & Performance

Metal homes aren’t a new idea; they’ve actually been around for well over a century. But steel-framed homes continue to become more popular all across America today, and for good reason. What makes a steel home a better choice? We’ll explore that topic in more detail with this blog; keep reading to learn more!

Reasons to Build a Home with Steel

Why consider building a home from steel components, as opposed to wood or other materials? Honestly, there are so many positives and benefits that come with choosing steel as your primary construction material, that it’s mind-boggling to consider why a homeowner would choose anything else!

• Galvanized steel buildings are strong, won’t rot, and can endure essentially anything that Mother Nature can throw at them.
• Steel buildings afford more insulation possibilities which can save you a bundle on utility costs.
• Steel buildings can actually be less expensive to build per square foot, especially when it comes to onsite installation.
• Unlike most other building materials, steel is also 100% recyclable.

Making a Plan for Your Own Metal Building Home

On top of the advantages mentioned above, a pre-engineered, custom-manufactured steel home can also be designed, engineered, & custom-fabricated to match virtually any blueprint or plan you have in mind. Steel is actually a more flexible & adaptable construction material than wood. Ready to make some plans for designing your own steel home? Here are a few factors you’ll want to keep in mind, and some steps you’ll want to follow:

• Select a floor plan

Which type of floor plan will work best for you and your family? Would a single-story plan work best, or do you need more than one story? Are you someone who likes to entertain guests, or do you prefer more family privacy? Are you an outdoorsy kind of person or family? How would you like to group your bedrooms? Do you have any special accommodation or access needs?

• Single story, or multiple levels?

One primary consideration here revolves around the size of the lot you have to work with. You may want a sprawling, ranch-style home with everything located on one main level. A steel building can certainly accommodate that. Or perhaps you don’t have as large of a building site available, but still, want plenty of square footage for living space. Instead of building your home longer and wider, you can just build it taller. A steel building can be built to suit this approach, as well.

• Social gatherings vs. family privacy

Think about how you want to organize your interior floorplan in terms of traffic flow. Is the ability to host gatherings and entertain guests important to you? If so, you might want to build in some wider halls and multiple entry points for your interior gathering spaces. On the other hand, if creating your own private family oasis is more of a priority, then you could opt to place a small den or reception area near the front of the building for receiving guests. The rest of the floorplan is yours to use any way you like for private, secluded living space. The fully-usable interior clear span space of a steel building home offers you lots of possibilities in terms of floorplan flexibility.

• Love of the outdoors

Are you a nature lover? Do you like to spend as much time outside as you do inside? Then it makes sense to include some features on your home that give you easy, convenient access to the outdoors. A front porch and a beck deck are essentials. You may also want to consider putting in several exterior access doors around the house. Another nice feature of a steel building home is that you can place exterior access points pretty much anywhere you want, without sacrificing any structural integrity.

• Bedroom grouping considerations

If you have small children, you may prefer to group your bedrooms in fairly close proximity to one another for ease of access. Have teenagers, or want to build in some living space for grandparents? What about a guest room or two? In these cases, you’ll probably want to create more separation between the master bedroom and other bedrooms. Consider spacing your bedrooms around the perimeter of the home, and then build in your kitchen space, dining room, and common areas in the middle of your floorplan.

• Special needs or access concerns

Got a family member who uses a wheelchair, walker, or other special devices for getting around? Then you’ll also want to make sure your hallways, bathrooms, and doorways are designed to be wide enough to accommodate. You should also give some thought to creating an easy-to-navigate flow and traffic pattern for your interior living space, as well.

• Don’t forget about local codes and regulations

One final consideration you don’t want to miss is to make sure you’re completely familiar with all of the local building permits, codes, and regulations that apply in your location. It’s a good idea to double-check your intended building design and floorplan against these guidelines on the front end of the process. The last thing you want is to end up being penalized, fined, or even asked to tear your building down and essentially have to start over. Better to be safe now, than sorry later!

Steel Frame Homes vs. Stick Builds

Let’s take another look at why a steel frame home really is a superior choice over a traditional stick-build. Sure, wood has been around as a building material since the beginning, but that doesn’t make wood better. Wood actually comes with a pretty long list of liabilities that steel simply doesn’t have. Steel also delivers some features that wood can’t come close to touching:

• Steel is Much Stronger – Concerned about impacts from strong storms or ongoing weather threats? Then wood really isn’t your best choice. Wood is prone to absorb moisture, warp, and even rot over time. Galvanized steel, on the other hand, remains straight and true, doesn’t absorb moisture, and doesn’t rot. A steel home will also provide better protection from UV radiation, wind, rain, snow, even lightning & earthquakes.
• More Resistant to Other Threats – Steel is more than just weather-resistant, it’s also inflammable. Wood is a natural fuel for fire, but steel won’t contribute to any fire threats. And here’s another thing steel resists that wood doesn’t: pests. Termites, insects, rodents, and other pests can do some real damage to wood, but they really can’t put a dent into steel. In addition, steel makes a very poor host for mold or mildew growth.
• Floor Plan Freedom – Clear span interior space is another clear advantage of a steel building – in most cases, no internal columns or supports are needed, no matter how long or wide your building is! That certainly won’t be the case with a wood-framed home. With a steel home, you can really design your interior floor plan any way you want.
• Simpler to Remodel or Expand – Since the external steel framework is self-supporting, remodeling the interior of your home is much easier with a steel home than with a wooden home. It’s also easier to add on to an existing steel structure down the road; expanding a wood-framed home is truly a major construction project.
• Much Easier Maintenance – Here’s one of the features that many homeowners have really come to appreciate about steel. While wood requires focused ongoing maintenance like painting, staining, and refinishing … steel really doesn’t. Steel paneling colors are sealed directly into the metal, so chipping, peeling, and fading aren’t really concerned. Steel is also generally much easier to clean than wood, too.
• Cheaper to Insure – Because of steel’s innate strength, durability, and resistance to both fire and the elements, a custom metal home is typically cheaper to insure than any comparable stick-framed residence. So there’s one more cost-effective advantage of choosing steel as your building material!

Let Carport Central Provide You with a Perfect Steel Building Home!

Sure, we do carports, garages, and barns, but that really just scratches the surface when it comes to the application possibilities of a custom steel structure from Carport Central! We can also provide you with a steel building that’s perfect for finishing as a primary residence, barndominium, vacation cabin, apartment, condo, or rental property. In fact, one of the best ways for you to visualize the possibilities is to try your hand at designing your own custom steel home plan. How? With our easy-to-use 3D Building Design Tool, which is simple to access from any computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone!

Prefer to just talk with a real human who can help you to get exactly what you want? Give one of our friendly, knowledgeable building specialists a call at (980) 321-9898 today. We’re always here to help, and we’d love to show you the Carport Central difference!