10 Benefits of Steel Tiny House Kits

10 benefits to consider when choosing to build your tiny home using steel framing.

1. Higher R.O.I. — Your return on investment is better because with wood framing most of the cost is in the labor. This is either carpentry work you pay someone else to do or work you do yourself. Wood might be more inexpensive to buy, but it requires a lot more work to build than steel framed kits. With steel tiny house kits, 80% of your investment stays in the quality permanent materials, not lost as a labor cost.

2. Lightweight & Strong — Steel’s strength-to-weight ratio is 25-times higher than wood. A steel tiny house frame is 40-60% lighter than wood and 10-times the strength of a comparable wood frame. So it’s half the weight and exponentially stronger.

3. Quick Assembly — At the factory the steel framing is all pre-assembled into wall and roof panels. Once delivered to your job site you can assemble the panels in a day or two with the help of friends.

4. No Special Skills Needed — The pre-assembled steel frame tiny house kits don’t require an experienced framing crew. Since the kits are made directly from precise CAD (computer aided design) drawings, the panels are designed & built to simply screw together. All the screw holes line up perfectly square every time, there’s nothing to cut or measure. All you do is fastening panels together at square angles and attach it to your foundation.

5. Pest/Rot/Rust Resistant — Galvanized steel comes with a barrier to moisture and rust and makes an incompatible environment (or meal) for pests like termites.

6. Thermal Bridging Defeated — Modern sheathing options like ZIP™ Systems provides the thermal break, structural sheer strength, vapor and air barrier all in one application. Thermal bridging is a thing of the past – even for steel frames. Read more about thermal bridging.

7. Stonger Than Your Average Steel — The structural quality 20-22 gauge sheet steel in our kits is rolled through a series of dies and formed into c-sections. It’s ‘cold-rolled’ so no heat is required to form the shapes. As the steel is rolled, each c-section is cut to length, punched, dimpled, crimped and labeled. You can feel confident the structural elements will be sound and not be subject to fragile fold points.

8. ICC Complaint — The cold-rolled steel process used to produce these steel tiny house kits is ICC-compliant and IRC-compliant. This means you have verified proof that the technology producing your home’s steel frame is proven and produces the highest quality product. Read this ESR-2361 PDF for more information about the FRAMECAD technology.

9. Highest Quality — An engineered frame means you can sail past the design phase and avoid the risks for cost increases and delays. With the design done and the frame erected, it is easier to get a fixed budget, whether you are doing the work or bidding to subcontractors. Independently certified by the world’s most recognized quality assurance systems and organizations, our roll forming technology and manufacturing processes can be used for building throughout the United States.

10. Experienced Designer & Manufacturer — Michael Janzen has been designing tiny houses since 2008. He’s well known in the tiny house movement for advocating smart & frugal choices for tiny house living. That explains why Michael has chosen to work with the best manufacturer in the tiny house movement to product these Steel Tiny House Kits. Volstrukt uses the industry leading cold-rolled steel framing technology to produce tiny house frames and have been recognized by people all around the tiny house community as the leader in this space.

Photo by Volstrukt.