It’s a new year, and with a new year comes new plans for home and property renovations. You may be thinking of adding a new building or two to your property. Or you maybe thinking of making an addition on your home. Whatever the project, one of the big decisions you’ll have to make as you move forward is your building materials. Most people think of wood as a building material, but steel is also an option. There might be a bit of a price difference, but you’ll end up saving more in the long run. In order to help with your decision, here are five more reasons why you should build with steel.
Easy Maintenance
For starters, steel buildings require less maintenance than other types of building materials. With other materials, you’ll have to do various kinds of maintenance on a relatively frequent basis to ensure that the materials hold up and still look the way they did when you first built the building. With steel, though, you don’t have to worry about any of that. Not only do you not have to worry about frequent replacements since it holds up to the weather, but you also won’t have to worry about things like painting. While you can get gray steel, there are also other colours available that will keep their color well over the long haul.
As far as taking care of the metal, the most you’ll probably have to do is pressure wash it to get rid of any built-up dirt and debris. This is much more affordable than having to do a ton of maintenance ever year. Depending on the situations, you might have to do a little more, but it’s not going to cost anywhere near what it would if you had to do work to other types of materials.
Fire Resistant
Steel is also fire-resistant. This is especially important for those who live in areas that are prone to wildfire. Since these types of fires can burn for a very long time, they incinerate anything they come across. Not only does this lead to devastation for the environment, but buildings that aren’t built with the right materials can easily be completely destroyed. When you add the cost of rebuilding to the cost of everything that’s lost from the inside of the building, it really adds up. Sometimes this cost can be the final straw that results in not being able to rebuild at all.
While this might not be as big of a deal for those buildings that are just use for storage, it can be a really bad situation if the building is a house. Not only will the people lose their place to live, but they’re going to lose all the memories inside. Steel construction can help prevent this from happening and offers some peace of mind in case of evacuation.
Pest-Resistant
Another awesome reason why you should build with steel is that it’s highly insect and pest-resistant. As most people know, insects are bad news inside your home. Not only can they completely destroy portions of your home, but they can cause infestations that lead to unsavory issues. For example, having an infestation of ants could cause holes to be dug in your walls while having a gnat infestation could lead to your house plants dying since they feed off the roots. Buildings and homes built with materials like wood are very susceptible to insects because there are always ways to get in.
Steel, one the other hand, can’t be penetrated as easily and you’ll have fewer problems with infestations. You also won’t have to worry about anything like allergies or adverse reactions to the insects because you’ll come into less contact with them. Mice and other rodents can’t chew through steel walls. And if you live in an area where terms are a concern, you can rest easy knowing that termites don’t eat metal.
Straighter Walls
You can also look forward to straighter walls. Unlike other materials, steel studs don’t experience any kind of warping, splitting, or twisting. Mix that with the fact that every piece is the same size, and you’ll be able to get almost perfect walls. You also won’t have to worry about things like drywall cracks or nail pops because the materials aren’t being warped. This also means that the different materials, like nails or screws, won’t have to be replaced as frequently because they won’t be making their way out of the metal.
There’s nothing worse than having the perfect building design in your head only to have it be uneven because pieces are different sizes. It’s just as upsetting when the building looks great at first but looks different once beams and studs warp or split. With that being the case, using steel can completely stop this issue from happening. Not only will it look great for a long time, but you’ll also spend less trying to even things out or needing to replace studs.
Stronger Material
Finally, steel is an overall stronger material. This feature is essential for those that live in areas that are prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and very high winds. And if your area is prone to more than one of these, using steel as a building material is arguably essential. Materials like wood aren’t great at standing up with severe weather, and they can cost quite a bit to fix or rebuild.
Steel is strong and durable by design. Not only can it effortlessly withstand normal weather, but it does a pretty decent job at standing up to severe weather as well. Besides saving money that would need to be used on rebuilding, you’ll also have a better chance of being able to keep the possessions, resources, and memories that are kept inside the building.
As you can see, building with steel has quite a few great benefits. Not only is it great for those that live in areas that have harsher weather and conditions, but it requires a lot less maintenance than other types of materials. The important thing is to make sure you shop around and find the best price and highest quality steel available for you. The last thing you want is to spend a bunch of money on low-quality steel that results in a lot of issues and extra spending down the line.
Whether you are looking for a small 200-square-foot home workshop, a 600-square-foot guest house, or a large commercial structure of 4000 square feet or more, we have you covered. Just put in your order and we’ll ship a neatly-bundled kit right to your job site.