English (5/6-04) Building Dreams Out Of Steel

Building Dreams Out Of Steel While Revising A Fairy Tale

Click to enlarge photos.

© Copyright Metal Home Digest, May-June 2004
By Racheal Tafelski
Assistant Editor

John Toth likes to tell the story of his Taos, NM, home by telling his revised version of the three little pigs. The first pig built his house with straw and spends his time chasing rodents, calling the exterminator and worrying about mold. The second pig built his house of wood, and spent his time painting, patching rot and caulking joints. The third pig built his house with brick and spent his time tuck-pointing, fixing his roof, and writing checks to the utility company.

In this version, the fourth pig built his house of concrete and steel. Instead of bills and repairs, this little pig relaxes and barbeques (we were afraid to ask what) on his patio.

As the story reveals, John Toth wanted metal as a major element for his new home. He moved from Cleveland, OH, and purchased a 13-arce lot in Turley Mill, NM, a gated community that overlooks the Rio Hondo River. The lot backs into the Carson National Forest and has spectacular views. It is 20 minutes away from the family’s winter ski vacation spot of many years in the Taos valley.

Once the lot was purchased, the family had to decide on a design. The surrounding area is noted for its unusual home construction materials. Some homes in the area are made of adobe and other "earth ship" homes are made of a mix of strange materials like beer cans, bottles and tires. Toth said, "I knew no matter how exotic a design or how high-tech the construction methods may be, the local population wouldn’t get too shocked."

After some thought, the family decided on a home design with elements borrowed from Frank Lloyd Wright using vaulted cantilevers, concrete or stucco and glass, as well as feature elements of stone. "My wife and I have always been admirers of Wright’s architectural styles. I decided on the design using elements of Wright that I admired," Toth noted.

Toth carefully decided on what material to use in his new dream home. He said, "Given the location, climate and terrain, I decided that several key things needed to be addressed in the design. It needed to be architecturally pleasing but built with strong materials that are thermally efficient, dimensionally stable and require little or maintenance. In addition, the material had to be lightweight for easier erection. Living close to a forest made insect resistance a very important issue. The area is prone to wild fires, causing fire resistance to be an important factor in choosing metal as well. I knew metal was the key."

Building The Dream...

Construction on the steel-framed home began using garage stem walls and first floor living area walls that are 8" concrete block with steel reinforcing rods. The walls are framed with 6" CSJ, 18-gauge galvanized studs. Spaced 16" o.c., the walls are sheathed with 5/8" non-combustible GP Densglas. Floor and roof framing consisted of 12" cees, with 3.5" flanges from 12-gauge galvanized steel. Second floor joists were spaced 2’ o.c., and covered by 9/16", 24-gauge corrugated Vulcraft deck and a 4" concrete slab which housed a hydronic heating system.

Exposed 8" CMU walls had 2" EIFS applied on the exterior. Between the metal stud furring, 2" extruded polystyrene was installed with 1/2" gypsum board and plaster. The R-value of these walls is approximately 21.

The roof joists were placed 32" o.c. and covered by 22-gauge Vulcraft 1.5" B deck, isocyanurate insulation and White Genflex thermal polyolefin fully-adhered roof membrane.

The garage used 2" fiberglass insulation for the 2" thick walls and 22-gauge steel composite foam panels were applied over the sheathing and studs. The concealed-fastener panels have a PVDF finish and an R-value of 15. Overall R-value of the garage walls is 34, much more than the average house. The garage also features a steel insulated door.

The second-story stud-framed exterior walls had 2" EIFS applied to 6" stud walls. R-19 insulation was installed in stud cavities. Inside, 3/4" foil-faced isocyanurate foam board, 3/4" furring, 1/2" gypsum board and plaster was installed. These stud-framed walls have an R-value of 34, plus the added radiant barrier from the foil insulation.

All the overhanging soffits have 1.5" composite foam panels with smooth aluminum face, in a Bone White PVDF finish. The bullnoses on the outriggers are matching .040" pre-painted aluminum.

Southshore Sales & Service Inc. designed and built the home. A long list of suppliers for the project include metal stud framing from Unimast Inc., metal joists from Prolamsa Inc., metal deck from Vulcraft and insulated composite metal panels from Benchmark Architectural Systems Inc.

The end result was a strong, lightweight, functional, energy efficient, cost effective, architecturally-pleasing design. And some very proud homeowners.

© Copyright Metal Home Digest, May-June 2004

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