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Framing Systems
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Posted by Robert Gammon on Sunday, 27 April 2008, at 11:48 a.m.
Most of us live in house with wood framing. Although costs have risen, its still a reasonably priced construction material and yields a reasonable house.
However, wood is subject to water damage, termites, fire, tornado and hurricane damages.....
SIPs can aid with many of these problems, especially if the SIP is constructed with Steel or other alternatives to OSB or Plywood faces and it does so for a reasonable cost delta over wood framing.
The real solutions to these issues are steel framing (with wood elimination) and ICF. In spite of rising concrete costs, ICF does appear to be cheaper per sq ft of wall space than Steel. I have done some rough figures to suggest that ICF might save $15/sq ft over steel.
An interesting combination appears to be to use ICF for exterior load bearing walls, with a 100% steel roofing system and steel interior studs (and furring strips). Foam sprayed to the underside of the steel roof can bring insulation value easily up to R30 or higher, and can seal the joint between the walls and the roof.
The question is then, "Who builds this for the home owner?" The ICF folks may not understand commercial building systems and the steel interior studs would slow them down. The ICF folks who do know commercial building practices appear to be in the distinct minority of ICF certified installers.
An architect might just be the solution. Use a floor plan and exterior elevation that the architect has designed, or use your own plan as Phil did. The architect will critique your plans to help you see the flaws in the design you bring in vs the design that s/he has proposed. Once a plan is accepted, the architect reviews everything to make sure that all local building requirements are met and issues a set of building plans.
The architect then surveys the local market for suitable builders, sends the plans for bids, and reviews the bids with homeowner. Once a builder is selected and a contract is signed, then the architect takes FIDUCIARY responsibility to ensure that the house gets built according to the plans that the architect and homeowner have specified. It is my understanding that this is how most commercial and public buildings get built with an architect supervising construction.
Its my nerves here that lead to this long winded speech. To some of you this is redundant information, old history, so to speak. The fiduciary responsibility is new to me, and it seems VALUABLE. This service may cost 10% or more of the overall project, but if it delivers the project on time or ahead of time, with no construction mistakes (do overs - and yes, we homeowners are responsible for most do overs in residential construction), and no cost overruns (other than what the homeowner has put upon the project as it matures), then it may just be worth the expense.
Granted, there were other factors at work, but Benito Loyola took 3 years from groundbreaking to closing on the long term loan. I do not want to take that long. I do not want to build a structure larger than 1/2 of his, and I am focusing on things 1/3 the size of his.
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