The question I am asked very often is if I would use steel framing again and unfortunately, I would say no. Let me explain why…
We have finally got the cladding on our Park Ave project where we have trialled the steel framing product. This has been interesting period for myself and the builders with both taking away key learnings from this exercise.
There are huge pro’s which include being light weight, accurate and very solid which are all in favour of the home buyers. These can handle up to 9.2 earthquake on the Richter scale
Our steel framing is .85mm where as the standard used around New Zealand is .55mm. This is great from stability and there will be no issues with rot etc…
The only negative from the developer’s point of view I see is that the time it takes to clad and Gib the property. Instead of using nails with a nail gun we have to screw every single screw. The time start adding up when there are over 5,000 per house
The suppliers are key to any project, communication, on time delivery and commitment to client. We didn’t have any of these from our suppliers but with a great team of builders everything can be overcome. What we couldn’t fault was their product, great quality, high quality galvanizing all positive signs to an Engineer.
Choosing the right suppliers is key to a project. All in all a good product, I would stick to the 0.55mm if I were to do it again and most important check references even if you are guinea pig.
