Jerry Baxter, an owner of the Holiday Inn Express in Hearne, Texas, attests to the benefits of cold-form steel framing. He’s saved money in the hotel’s construction, insurance costs and ongoing maintenance needs.
“After building our first hotel using wood for structural purposes, we decided to try out cold-formed steel,” Baxter says.”The insurance savings were just the beginning of many advantages.”
Baxter’s company, Hearne Hospitality, LLC, owns two hotel properties. One is the wood-framed Best Western in Franklin,Texas, built in 2006. The other is the pre-fabricated, cold-formed steel Holiday Inn Express built two years later.
The three-story Holiday Inn Express is 37,045 square feet in size. It has 64 guest rooms, an inviting lobby, breakfast area, meeting rooms, back offices and an outdoor pool. Baxter hired Abacus Engineering to design both of his properties.
When Baxter built the Best Western, his team assumed that, because of cost, wood framing was the only acceptable type of construction for a three-story structure. They built the Best Western using wood. But for the second hotel, the design and construction team decided to go in a different direction.
Baxter says Dennis Dyke, owner of Abacus Engineering, suggested using pre-fabricated, cold-formed steel framing. Prefabricated, cold-formed steel offered several advantages, including speedier erection, lower insurance rates and, the team believed, lower ongoing upkeep and maintenance versus wood.
Less Labor Required
Pre-fabricated cold-formed steel joists and rafters proved lighter than their wood equivalents. Thus, less labor was required to handle the material and install the walls, floors and roofs. Since the CAD design and pre-fabrication included the punches and openings, the installers had no need to drill and cut through walls and chases.
“Even the project manager was freed up to focus on other areas,” Baxter says.”He didn’t make constant checks of the cold-formed steel for accuracy and tolerances, which he’d have to do with wood.”
No Problems with Pests
“Absolutely. The advantages of prefabricated, cold-formed steel makes it the best choice for load-bearing framing in sustainable, commercial projects like our Holiday Inn Express,” Baxter says. “I think the cold-formed steel framing was the primary factor in this job’s success.”
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