A former Florida fire chief is building his 6,000-square-foot retirement home utilizing corrosion-resistant, galvanized structural steel and sprayed-on concrete to create a structure that can withstand up to 250 mph from either tornadoes or Category 5 hurricanes and hold up to the brute force of a 9.1 Richter Scale earthquake.
Steel has long been used for high-rise and large-scale construction because of its strength and durability, but residential (and multi-family) construction continues to use wood framing.
“Builders are still using the same type of building George Washington used,” Francavilla said. “It takes 40 trees to build a typical 2,000-square-foot wood frame home. The Spray Rock System requires no trees at all. Leave the wood for furniture.””
Instead, the steel used in this new building technology is harvested from four recycled cars.
Because of pre-cut holes in the steel framing in both exterior and interior walls, electrical and plumbing setup is quicker, because there is no need for drilling through studs or for furring through exterior walls.
Read more at BuildSteel.org