Light Gauge Metal Stud Framing for house, Is it fire resistant?

[jenofstructures]

I want to consider designing a house using a light gauge metal stud framing system
but i want to know its level of fire resistance. I also learned that its walls are made out of wood, how can it stand from floods?

Please give me advice on this kind of framing

thanks

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. engineers creates wonderful buildings, but only God can creates wonderful minds

 

[rowingengineer]

the metal framing has about the same fire resistance as timber, but it really dose depend on your cladding.

I am a little confused with the second question, generally the best protection from floods is to have the house out of the flood level, either on stilts or similar. However most houses can stand some short term flooding to the structure, such that it is dried out fast enough to stop large amounts of swelling.


An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field

 

[jenofstructures]

can i used masonry for walls instead of using wood?



Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. engineers creates wonderful buildings, but only God can creates wonderful minds

 

[Ron]

It would be helpful if you would give us your location. Codes vary in different areas.

In the US, you can use essentially any material for the walls, provided they are designed properly for structural integrity and waterproofing. There is rarely a fire resistance requirement for single family residences.

Again, in the US, masonry can be used for the walls. I can't imagine that your code would not allow masonry as well.

 

[Compositepro]

I did read an article that fire fighters are becoming concerned about light metal framing. Metal studs lose strength very quickly when in a fire. There have been cases where houses collapsed unexpectedly under firemen while fighting a fire. Wood timbers have been shown to retain strength longer than steel I-beams in a fire.

 

[concretemasonry]

The above comment is true in many cases.

For industrial/warehouse buildings, often a stuctural wood system will get lower insurance for contents and personal injury. The reason is the rapid and unpredictable collapse of the steel roof system, compared to wood that allows more time for firefighting and rescue instead of pulling back sooner. Concrete is rated better.

Internationally, wood is just a minor material in residential construction. For walls, masonry is the most common.

Dick



Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.

 

[jenofstructures]

masonry is alright in my location. local engineers actually uses Masonry as walls in concrete-beam framing system.
I am just interested in studying this kind of framing for mass housing here. I want to see if this will be a good option for those who can't pay so much for housing since i heard that there's a 10% reduction on cost when you use these kind of framing system

although im concern on security risk,fire safety and flooding

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. engineers creates wonderful buildings, but only God can creates wonderful minds

 

[MikeHalloran]

Apparently at least two radically different gauges are offered in metal framing.

A guy was building a room inside a former employer's building, and spent three days on the framing, instead of one, because his supplier gave him 16 gage framing, which had to be drilled, instead of (?)22 gage framing, which is easily pierced with an awl or a self-piercing screw. He was cursing continuously about the stuff.

An extra two days labor per room has to reflect in construction costs somewhere...





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[SLTA]

Fire resistant ratings for different assemblies are provided by UL. Check out this page:

http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin/XYV/template/LISEXT/1FRAME/locating.html

Good luck!

 

[jenofstructures]

i heard that a light gauge framing can be done in only 15days
houses in my country sometimes take 2 months to finish....and i think our labor cost is cheaper than most countries

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. engineers creates wonderful buildings, but only God can creates wonderful minds

 

[hokie66]

I think the time taken to erect the frame of a house depends primarily on how much prefabrication is done. With prefabbed wall frames and roof trusses, it can be done in a few days in either steel or timber, depending of course on the complexity of the structure. If everything is site cut (stick built), then it does take much longer, but that varies a lot as well with the locale.

Light gauge steel is not advantageous over timber for fire, but it is certainly better if termites are a problem.

 

[pwht1]

Fire-rating of studs walls is purely dependent on the cladding, yeah? It doesn't matter if they using steel or timber.