Aren't prisons in US cinderblock
Anyway I associate that with prison, but this idea needs to be checked out. Steel house ... I dont like the fact that in a conventional house, by the time you have paid it off, you've replaced everything piece by piece ... hence I was fixated on log, and steel might be the better option. I cant stand drywall, but I might live with it if I know its all steel behind it all. Steel siding, steel studs and steel trusses under a steel roof. Very good. Now to find someone who'd do it.
Cool.
Srinath.

Curious as to whether one can insulate a steel home against really hot weather?

Quote from: pandy on February 19, 2007, 04:54:57 PM
Curious as to whether one can insulate a steel home against really hot weather?

Chrome the Mofo ... it will reflect 99%, and you'd be good ...  ...
Cool.
Srinath.

BLING!! 

My GF and I have been plaining on building a home next year. We looked at modualrs, domes, etc... The steel ones that I looked at seem like a GREAT idea. They are easy to assemble w/ only a crew of 2-4. They can be made COMPLETELY Steel, siding, framing and roof.   And Yes.. You can insulate just like a wooden house

Quote from: seshadri_srinath on February 19, 2007, 05:03:36 PM
Chrome the Mofo ... it will reflect 99%, and you'd be good ...  ...
Cool.
Srinath.

OMG!  I didn't have to pull my srinath~english dictionary to read this!!   

Pandy, have you ever been in a steel shop during the summer?  Or in a home with a metal roof?  They insulate the same and really the inside temps aren't that big a deal.

I'm doing the plumbing in a neighborhood that's all 2&3 store modular homes....yes 3 stores! The are pre plumbed, wired and hvac, just have to connect between the floors and under the "house"
They are all high end , right on the Sav.river, 400,000 dollar pieces of total crapolla!
The dumbies that set them up mixed up 4 houses, so they had the wrong tops on them...you'd drive by and go.....huh? Too funny!
And actually engineered lumber, like tgi beams and the like, while made from pressed board are extremely strong, the have a huge vertical weight limit. And if the builder knowa what he's doing and the carpenters are carpenters and not 2x4 installers that house is supper solid....plus it'll never settle. But in this area, augusta,ga expect to pay 195-260 per sq ft for that quality. Steels wacky though...now caves, that's where its at!

I just looked at the kodiak steel homes site...I don't like most of their floorplans...plus they're priced really high!  At least I think they are considering what they're offering (when they say "frame kits" I assume that's all they mean...the framing).  By the time you're done building a 2500sq/ft home you've still spent $200,000.

I think I love this one, though!

http://66.162.2.42/dispatch.php?what=displayHomeFrameset&pl=rhino (the augusta and the chadwick I like...lots of floorplans...damn...haha)

Quote from: makenzie71 on February 19, 2007, 05:21:49 PM
Pandy, have you ever been in a steel shop during the summer?  Or in a home with a metal roof?  They insulate the same and really the inside temps aren't that big a deal.

Only uninsulated ones....that's why I was curious about how the insulation compared. 

You put 6" of glass between you and anything and you'll be plenty safe.

Oh yea Mak, that rhino site is cool.
Let me know when you get more progress.
I just think it may end up costing more than site built or modular. I will check it too ... but no distributor for rhino in NC area ...
Cool.
Srinath.

Well for what I wanted to do initially, it would be MUCH cheaper.  I wanted (and still do, somewhat) to build a home using a prefab steel building...but kalee isn't too thrilled with it because it wouldn't look like a home on the outside, really.  It'd look like a...well...a building.  In my area you can get an 18" foundation laid and built a 45X65 steel building over it for around $15,000 to complete.  Then you just make a home out of the inside...which, for the 2100~2200 sq ft of living area I would like to have, it would cost around $35~45000.  Then it's just the cost of furniture which could easily run another 20k haha

Problems there ... windows, insulation, many others ... internal walls.
Defintely better off with something designed and kitted out as a house. I somehow want to build one without taking out a loan ... that means I can cut out a ton of crap that the bank will require me to ... Let me see what they say when I call them.
Cool.
Srinath.

Nah putting in windows ina steel building is simple...easier than in a wood home, in my opinion.  We've done this is several shops.  Interior walls are one of the biggest reasons I wanted to do this with a steel building.  Outside walls are load bearing...not inside.  They can be anywhere, which makes room location and dimension and remodeling possabillities endless.  Steel home structures are different, though, and the interior walls are loadbearing.

another good thing about steel is, if you are off by a 1/4 of an inch or off in another manner you can fix it very easy with some wacks of the ironworking hammer .  working with steel is so much easier than working with wood. being a machinist/welder/and ironworker taught me that.

Yea my welder can do major house additions too ... just toss some crap on it and weld ...  ... yea like he does with trailer roofs while his brother satisfies the trailer chicks  ...
Cool.
Srinath.

Quote from: Susuki_Jah on February 19, 2007, 08:30:26 AM

Quote from: RVertigo on February 19, 2007, 02:29:54 AM
I lived in a VW bus with two other people for a while...

That's made out of steel.   

did you really now? lol freeken hippie

I really did...  I wasn't a hippie, I was a homeless 16 year old...   

I met a man who built customs steel homes here in NC. His House's looked just like the real thing wood and rock work the whole 9. not sure of the cost but I'm sure they would last longer.

I've also seen steel buildings fitted into high end office buildings with nice windows and ok looking siding, you should be able to look as nice as you want them.

Quote from: RVertigo on February 20, 2007, 01:17:45 PM

Quote from: Susuki_Jah on February 19, 2007, 08:30:26 AM

Quote from: RVertigo on February 19, 2007, 02:29:54 AM
I lived in a VW bus with two other people for a while...

That's made out of steel.   

did you really now? lol freeken hippie

I really did...  I wasn't a hippie, I was a homeless 16 year old...   

dang man crazy.  kinda like boxcar children

Quote from: Crucialval on February 20, 2007, 07:32:57 PM
I met a man who built customs steel homes here in NC. His House's looked just like the real thing wood and rock work the whole 9. not sure of the cost but I'm sure they would last longer.

I've also seen steel buildings fitted into high end office buildings with nice windows and ok looking siding, you should be able to look as nice as you want them.

You have a number ?? or a company name or something. Many thanks ...
Cool.
Srinath.