When selecting building materials there are several key factors to keep in mind. Today Agcor Steel lays out instances in which a Steel Structure is preferable to Wood. Cost, upkeep, and safety should always be taken into consideration however all materials have benefits and draw-backs to them. In the interest of commercial and agricultural properties a steel structure will always come out on top of wood in terms of safety and maintenance.
- Little Amount of Maintenance Required: This has two main benefits, 1) It allows you to not have to deal with the cost and effort put into a more regular maintenance schedule 2) Steel degrades at a much lower rate than traditional materials like wood. This makes the building stronger and have a lifespan thereby making it safer to use in the long run.
- Steel is able to withstand High-Grade Winds: Steel is perfect in areas that will be more apt to experience natural disasters/harsh weather conditions like heavy storms, tornados, and hurricanes. Unlike wood steel has the ability to flex without breaking entirely, this makes it so that the building is unable to collapse on itself.
- Resistance to fire and other disasters: If you have an investment of any kind or just want an extra layer of protection steel may be the way to go. Even the safest wooden structure is still wood at the end of the day, which is flammable steel on the other hand not so much. Steel is not totally immune to fire through, fire is still capable of weakening the structure but at a significantly reduced rate.
- Steel is Safely Recyclable: Sustainability of a structure has never been more important than it is today. As result builders and consumers alike are on the lookout for materials that have a longer life-span. Unlike steel wood can only be used once, steel on the other hand is highly recyclable and can be re-purposed for later projects virtually a limitless number of times and still keep it’s structural integrity. In fact the vast majority of steel building components today come from other recycled components from a previous project.
- Greater Strength-to-Weight Ration: In construction one of the best ways to ensure the safety and longevity of a structure is to incorporate the use of stronger materials that don’t simultaneously increase the weight-load in proportion. Some materials that may be light and versatile, may also not be strong enough. Additionally a stronger material may be too heavy for the structure. Steel is basically the goldi-locks building material…just right being both strong and not being very heavy either given it’s strength.