Steel Houses

What a steel house is

A steel house is a dwelling whose load-bearing frame is made of steel sections. The sections are cut and drilled in the workshop and prepared as panels or members; on site they are bolted or screwed together and the wall, floor and roof layers are built over them. The essential difference from concrete construction is that most of the building is produced in the workshop, with no formwork or curing on site. The family runs from single-story bungalows to two-story detached houses. Frames are fabricated in Istanbul; international inquiries are welcome, and shipping and installation terms are agreed per project.

Bungalows

The bungalow is the single sub-service of this family: single-story, usually with a veranda, built for holiday and hospitality use. The same plan can be produced several times for repeated units, while cladding, insulation package and interior finish level are chosen per project. This page covers the structural system, insulation, foundations and permits common to all steel houses.

Advantages and limits

The first advantage is weight: a steel frame carries far less mass than the same plan in concrete, which reduces foundation and ground loads. The second is precision; sections are cut to size in the workshop, so walls come out straight and corners square, and interior finishing needs less correction. The third is dry construction; wet work stays in the foundation.

The limits should be stated just as plainly. A steel house is not a "permit-free" building; as a permanent dwelling it is subject to planning law, and the plot's planning status comes before anything else. Thermal and acoustic comfort are the job of the wall layers, not the frame; a cut-down layer package makes summer heat and neighbor noise more noticeable than in concrete. Steel is never left unprotected against fire; the plasterboard and mineral wool layers are there for fire safety as much as insulation. For very wide spans, heavy stone facades or several floors, a hot-rolled steel frame, or sometimes concrete, is the better answer.

Structural system: light-gauge or hot-rolled

The two systems share a name but work differently. In light-gauge steel, load is spread over panels made of closely spaced, thin-walled galvanized sections; most external and some internal walls are load-bearing. In a hot-rolled frame, a few columns and beams carry the load and walls are only partitions.

Both systems benefit from steel's nature in an earthquake: the building is light, so seismic forces are small, and steel is ductile, deforming without breaking and absorbing energy. That advantage is not automatic. The structural design is prepared by an engineer to the applicable seismic code; panel diaphragms and bracing in light-gauge, and column-beam connections and wind bracing in hot-rolled frames, are what the calculation addresses. Anchor and assembly errors spoil the calculated behavior, so assembly follows the approved design and details.

Insulation and envelope

Comfort in a steel house comes from layers. A typical external wall, from outside in: facade cladding (fiber cement board, sandwich panel or timber-look composite), a breathable water-resistive membrane, OSB or cement board, mineral wool between the studs, a vapor barrier and plasterboard inside. The roof follows the same logic: roof covering, underlay, ventilation gap, mineral wool and ceiling board.

Mass is not the only answer to sound; layers of different density and resilient strips between section and board cut noise. For heat, the vapor barrier matters as much as insulation thickness: it must be on the warm side and continuous, or winter moisture condenses inside the wall and wets the wool. Insulation thickness is chosen for the climate zone.

Foundations, moisture and services

Even a light building needs a foundation. A raft is used on flat ground with good bearing; pad footings and tie beams on sloping or point-loaded plots; the soil report and structural design decide. Steel never touches concrete directly: a damp-proof strip goes between base track and foundation, and anchor bolts are planned with the foundation. Electrical and plumbing runs pass through service holes in the studs, with grommets protecting the edges; wet rooms get cement board inside. Service routes are designed with the frame, not cut in afterward.

Project stages

1. Needs and plot: plan wishes, number of floors, plot location and planning status, soil report if available.
2. Preliminary design and quotation: structural system, envelope and insulation package, finish level, scope items.
3. Architectural and structural design: prepared by the engineer and architect; the permit process runs with the local authority.
4. Workshop fabrication: sections cut, drilled, prepared as panels or members and labeled.
5. Foundation: raft or pad footings on site, anchor layout, service outlets.
6. Shipping and assembly: frame erected, envelope layers applied; installation scope is agreed per project.
7. Finishing and handover: services, finishes and final checks; scope may be frame only, frame plus envelope, or turnkey.

What drives the price

• Floor area, number of floors and plan complexity
• Structural system: light-gauge or hot-rolled frame
• Roof form and covering (mono-pitch, gable, hipped)
• Facade cladding and insulation package
• Interior finish level: shell, fit-out or turnkey
• Foundation type and ground conditions
• Shipping distance and vehicle access to the plot
• Site conditions and crane requirement

To receive a preliminary design and scope list, send the plot location and planning status, the plan you have in mind or a sample drawing, the number of floors and the expected finish level.