Houses Made From Steel
After several weeks of residents watching two story walls with no windows being built they are now relieved to find out it is not warehouses being erected in their neighbourhood but houses.
The project is being led by a Tampa company called ‘Super Homes’ and who are specialists in steel construction. The three houses being built all have galvanized steel frames which are superior to conventional wood or block houses for numerous reasons. The main ones are no termites will be able to penetrate the homes and they will have a far strong wind rating than normal homes. Something that the State of Florida in America is all too aware of with the devastating tornadoes they have to endure with year after year.
One of the houses is to have the new address of 1006 St Lois Avenue and is expected to be listed for sale at $900.000. The other two will be on the northeast corner of Lois and West Morrison Avenue are somewhat smaller and are expected to sell for approximately $800,000. The insulated steel panels are all to be covered with stucco on the outside.
Project Manager David Marcantonio said “Once these houses are done you’ll never know the difference. “Homeowners can cut their insurance premiums in half over conventionally built houses” he added.
Company ‘Super Homes’ boasts that the houses being built are nearly 60 per cent more energy efficient than standard models and they are considered to be ‘green homes’.
Every year in Florida, thousands of homes are destroyed by tornadoes. Homes that have been flattened are rebuilt using wood and concrete, only to be reduced to rubble the next time a tornado hits it.
Steel is the strongest metal and protects better than most other materials. It holds up far better to changes in weather or natural corrosives like wood and will stand up to natural disasters such as earthquakes or tornadoes.
Many schools, churches, aircraft hangers and warehouses are already made out of steel and far more companies are leaning towards new buildings of steel.
Cast Iron Houses Built In the 1900’s
Due to a shortage of traditional building materials 500 cast iron houses were built across England in 1925 after a variety of innovative construction methods were tried and tested.
Even though they could be built with relatively unskilled labour, the houses were twice as expensive to build as brick and 4 of the semi-detached houses were erected in Dudley, West Midlands as part of a major housing development plan.
These houses are now in the Black Country Museum where visitors can walk in and around them taking them back in time. The thousands of rivets are clearly on display and the sheets of cast iron are as hard and cold as when they were first built.
Could these be the homes of the future? Houses that can give us more protection than wood and concrete and can withstand the ever changing climate of our weather?
