Light steel frame rising up

“Hey ho and up she rises….”. From nothing all of a sudden a gable went up. The light steel frame super structure was rising, seemingly out of nowhere, to the shock of the neighbours and the building inspector!

Light steel frame structures do go up fast – the outer shell can be up within a week. The labour costs in time saved are enormous. But the artisans should be skilled to work with these materials to produce an end product that lasts. It’s not just any contractor who can work with lightweight steel and obviously “our” builder was way out of his depth. It also seems that magnesium oxide boards may have their own problems when not installed correctly. MgO boards may crack causing corrosion of fasteners as well as aluminium window frames.

Light steel structures are considered to be environmentally friendly because they are cost effective with fast build times. Steel is the world’s most recycled material and when constructed correctly these buildings are energy efficient. See the article by Light Steel Frame Homes (PTY) Ltd outlining the advantages of light steel construction Benefits of Lights Steel Frame Homes.

For further reading see PBC Today. Also read someone else’s passion for LSF housing in Passionate about LSF Construction.

The first gable of the super structure

The first gable went up on 31 March 2017. It’s almost like a house of cards with the super structure delicately sitting on the concrete slab.

Various stages construction of light steel frame super structure

One good thing about building in the Western Cape is that you are guaranteed not to have rain during the summer months. Our build started in summer, so when the  winter rains came much of the super structure was already in place.