You’ve just bought a house. You want to demolish the house and rebuild it from the ground up. You’re now confronted with the decision of what materials to use and what style to opt for in your ideal home. The materials you wish to use to create your home will be a deciding factor. Ultimately, the choice will be between wood, brick, and steel. Steel is frequently employed in the building of skyscrapers, towers, and other inventive constructions. But what about creating your own house?

For a variety of reasons, steel may and should be utilised in the building of residential dwellings. To be clear, this is not to argue that wood or brick should be avoided when building a house. Rather, this is intended to highlight the benefits of using steel in situations when cost-effectiveness and time efficiency are critical. Following that, here are six reasons why steel should be utilised in home building.

Need Steel Processed & Supplied for Your House Needs

Do you require steel supplies? For custom builds, look no further than Galvin Engineering’s experts. Although we’re in the business of pest control, Galvin Engineering are a great local Brisbane steel processor and are able to custom make any materials you need for your project. They’re also great at CNC machining and fabrication of all kinds of metal. So check out Galvin Engineering if you’re looking for someone local in Brisbane who can get the job done.

6 Benefits of Steel in Residential Construction

1. Long-term viability

First and foremost, we must do all possible to reduce wasteful waste, particularly in the building industry. Steel is the world’s most recyclable material, so you’d be doing your part by choosing it. That being said, a product that is infinitely recyclable allows the home to contribute to future homes with no needless emissions waste and avoid it from resting in a landfill for the foreseeable future.

2. Longevity

Although steel is sustainable, there is a frequent notion that it is a poor product. Steel, on the other hand, is a near-perfect material for building a house due to its durability. Steel requires less repair and maintenance, which means that whether you are a homeowner or a landlord, you will save thousands of dollars over the life of the property.

3. Cost-effective

This, more than any other factor on this list, is why steel is superior to other building materials. People assume that steel is more expensive than wood, however, this is not true, not only in terms of material cost but also in terms of efficiency. Steel is extremely energy efficient when properly insulated and designed. Steel also saves time when it comes to construction. Steel is well-known for simplifying building foundation design, which contributes to speedier construction time and significant cost savings. Steel’s lesser weight provides for lower transportation expenses as compared to other building materials, which reduces project overhead.

4. Adaptability

The last thing you want when creating a house is limitations. You want to let your imagination run wild, and steel allows you to do so. Working with steel while creating a home is an architect’s and designer’s dream since it can be moulded and sculpted in any way, for the outside or interior. Steel, on the other hand, provides a structurally robust construction that allows architects to push the boundaries of their ideas, allowing your home to be completely unique.

5. Resistant to Natural Disasters

Aside from the property itself what is more valuable while owning a home? Mind at ease. And you’ll be able to get it with steel. Steel protects a home and everyone inside it more than any other building material due to its capacity to endure earthquakes, severe winds, blizzards, and, most critically, fire. It will also save you money in the long run because insurance companies like metal constructions because of the benefits and safety measures they provide.

6. Space

To return to the adaptability of steel, it can utilise space better than any other structural material. This may be used to enable for the structure’s thinnest shell and smaller support beams that are just as robust as wood beams. This is especially useful in highly populated places when space is limited and not readily available. In addition, depending on your aesthetic preferences, you may replace brick walls with steel, allowing you to make the most of your property.

Consider steel as your best option now, whether you’re building a new house or trying to buy one. Steel’s construction and cost-saving potential are not to be overlooked; it is a fantastic material that far too few homes take use of. Don’t allow that happen to you. Use this knowledge to ensure that the location you name your everlasting home can endure being around indefinitely, as steel can.

BORER IN AUSTRALIA

PESTFREE offers pest control services for all three species of borer (sometimes known as bora or woodworm) and other wood boring insects that affect AUSTRALIAN timbers. Larvae of the beetles eat their way through the interior of wood before emerging via flight holes as adults to mate and begin the life cycle over again. All untreated timbers can be attacked.

PESTFREE technicians will survey the extent of infestation and apply penetrating treatments with natural insecticide, which persists in the wood, killing insects as they emerge, and preventing re-infestation for at least ten years or more in normal circumstances.

PESTFREE technicians have had over 20 years experience in borer control and hold Approved Handlers Certificates, and University Diplomas.

BORER (Bora)- WOOD BORING INSECTS

Borer is also known as Bora or woodworm. There are up to 7 species of wood- boring insects in AUSTRALIA that might attack the timbers of your home or other buildings. The most common of these is the Common House Borer (Anobium punctatum) also known as Woodworm/FURNITURE BEETLE.

A close relative, A lavomaculatum is rarely distinguished from the Common Borer and may be the more common in Canterbury. The life cycles of these insects are similar. Adult females lay up to 100 eggs on bare timber or in old flight holes. The eggs hatch after 4-5 weeks and the larvae bore through the wood, eating it and using yeasts in their stomachs to help break down cellulose in the wood. After 3-4 years the larvae pupate in a chamber near the surface, then 4-8 weeks later the adults exit the wood by eating their way to the surface. The adults fly to find a mate and begin the life cycle over again. The females lay their eggs on bare wood, in the case of painted weather boards this will be the flight holes created by emerging adults. The flight holes are approximately 2mm in diameter for Common Borer and 3-4mm for native borer. It is important that a thorough survey is carried out to ascertain the extent of any infestation. It is frequently the case that a few flight holes are visible on the exterior of painted weather boards, however when the boards are examined more closely the interior of the timbers are badly damaged and many flight holes are present on the interior surface.

Two-toothed longicorn (Ambeodontis tristis (Fabricus)) is a much larger wood boring beetle that can be found attacking construction timbers. The flight holes are much larger, up to 7mm in diameter and often oval. The larvae of this beetle can attack harder heartwood and because of their larger labyrinths they can severely weaken structural joists and beams.

Borer larvae prefer the softer sap wood timbers to eat and damage. It is often seen in weatherboards or floor boards that some are heavily attacked and others untouched. The untouched timbers are likely to be harder heartwood. It is also the case that attack is more likely on the south side of a house and in the floor boards and joists. This is because borer prefer the cooler damper areas where the relative humidity is higher.

Borer Timber Protection

PESTFREE provides timber protection treatments with a guarantee of protection. Surface saturation with Tim-bor® (sodium octoborate) solution is environmentally friendly, odourless and long lasting. Treatment of timbers to remove borer infestation is the same for whichever species is present. Exposed timber can be treated with insecticides that penetrate the wood and will protect it for 10 years or more. Usually the floor timbers are attacked because of the high relative humidity in the sub-floor.

PESTFREE can treat these exposed timbers to eradicate the borer and protect the timbers. Weatherboard homes in AUSTRALIA are not always pre-treated and are often infested where the softer, non-heartwood timber has been used. Weather boards are more difficult to treat as they are not usually exposed. However, weather boards can be protected by injecting the flight holes made by emerging adults.

The penetrating treatment will kill larvae within the boards and prevent adults reinfesting the boards via the exposed wood of the flight holes.

Fumigation with methyl bromide will eradicate infestations but is usually only practical for pieces of furniture or properties that can easily be completely sealed. Methyl bromide has no residual action, so, following fumigation, treatment of the timber with residual insecticide is required to protect the wood from further infestation. Where fumigation with methyl bromide is not possible or practical, control is by treatment of exposed timbers and injecting of flight holes with residual insecticide as above.

Some treatments are solvent based and require it to penetrate the timber (i.e. Kerosene or Diesel) these materials are highly flammable and could have insurance implications should a fire occur after a borer treatment. They also are mixed with organophospate insecticides that have been taken off the market in other countries due to their carcinogenic properties. The manufactures of solvents do not recommend that they are sprayed into confined spaces such as roof and subfloor cavities.

Tim-bor® is water based and not flammable, it is safe for you and your house.

Formulated with a concern for the environment, Tim-bor is used for the control of carpenter ants, drywood termites, wood decay fungi and wood boring beetles. As water soluable borate powder, Tim-bor diffuses into the wood and acts as a wood insecticide, fungicide and preservative. Tim-bor won’t break down over time like most organic compounds, therefore offering longer lasting protection. Best of all, Tim-bor is virtually odorless and has no known resistance.

Timbor is a natural insecticide and fungicide that is widely used as wood preservative and protectant. It is composed of nearly pure sodium borate, a mined crystalline form of boron with comes from the earth itself.

Lepisma saccharina

Appearance

• 1/2″ long. Torpedo shaped with 3 long bristles at end of abdomen.
• Wingless with long antennae.
• Silverfish — Silver–grey colour.

Lifecycle

• Eggs laid in crevices.
• Adults live for 1–3 years.

Habits

• Run quickly.
• Silverfish favour moist, warm conditions.
• Feed on food debris, starches and gums and are active at night.
• Minor pests of kitchens, libraries and commercial premises.

Feral Cat

Felis catus

Appearance

• Similar to a domestic cat, but when in good condition the feral cats displays increased overall muscle development, which is noticeable around the head, neck and shoulders
• The average body weight of the male feral cat is from 3kg to 6kg, while that of females varies from 2kg to 4kg

Lifecycle

• Cats can begin breeding when they reach puberty, which occurs when they are between four and twelve months old. Gestation period is 58 to 65 days and the average feline litter contains six kittens

Habits

• The feral cat is most active at night, with peak hunting activity occurring soon after sunset and in the early hours before sunrise
• Feral cats are now found in most habitats on mainland Australia, Tasmania and many offshore islands, although not in the wettest rainforests
• Feral cats survive without any human contact or assistance, hunting animals to survive
• The feral cat has caused the extinction of some species on islands and is thought to have contributed to the disappearance of many ground-dwelling birds and mammals on the mainland (source: Department of Environmental and Water Resources)

Termites or “white ants” as they are popularly called in Australia is a major pest issue for property owners. Nothing quite compares to termite infestations in terms of potential for damage and destruction. As a matter of fact, at least 1 of 3 residential properties in Australia is believed to be harboring such destructive pests or at least had a past history of termite attacks. Termite property damage in a year can property damage that is more expensive than the one’s caused by storm, flood and fire put altogether.

Some of the damages caused by termite infestations include:

• Damage to wooden furniture
• Weaken wooden foundations making properties unsafe to dwell in
• Do extensive building damages as they build nesting areas underground, within walls or on roof interior

What’s more is that property damage attributed to termite infestations are not covered by most insurance programs. Thus it is vital to prevent and eliminate all traces of termite infestations in and around your property before significant damages are done.

Signs of termite infestations:

• Mud leads resemble tunnels which are used by termites to infiltrate your property
• Paint or plaster blisters
• A hollow sound when you tap what seems to be wooden solid structures
• Unusual power failures as they often chew through electrical wirings
• Mud particles protruding from wooden structures like timber
• Sagging of wooden doors, floor and ceilings

Protecting your home from termite infestations

• Avoid storing wooden pile or debris near your property
• Avoid erecting any wooden structure directly on the ground as termites can easily get to them
• Termites love humidity so secure your plumbing drainage and air conditioning units for possible leaks
• Clear the area surrounding your property free of vegetations to aid in detection and ease of inspection

The task of actually eliminating termite infestations is best left to seasoned and reputable professionals. Pest Free Brisbane can also help you implement preventive measures to ward off the presence of termite infestations effectively preventing the problem from reoccurring.

Detecting termite infestations

Early detection and prevention is the key to the best termite pest control solution for property owners. After all, the best way to solve any problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Our pest controllers can certainly help you do just that with the help of the latest and most effective tools and technology for termite detection which includes:

• Termiscan which is essentially a portable thermal imaging device that can be used to effectively detect the presence of termite infestation hidden underneath timber and other wooden structures like walls, floor boards etc. It saves you the trouble of having to do a visual confirmation of these pests which often requires a fair amount of drilling, disassembly and outright damages to walls, floors and ceilings.
• Moisture meters to check for high humidity. Termites thrive well in hidden areas with high humidity.
• Timber sounding equipment can be used to check wood density and detect hollow areas hidden within that are sure to be caused by termite infestations.

Eliminating and treating termite infestations

Here at Pest Free Brisbane, we provide various solutions for effectively eliminating and preventing termite infestations. This includes the use of chemical solutions that are odorless and environmentally safe. These chemical can be applied to trenched areas and soil or directly into the termite colony for maximum effectiveness.

Baiting systems can also be used and installed in areas surrounding your property. These systems attract foraging termites, feed on the bait treated with a special solutions designed to slowly kill and eliminate termites as the foragers return to the colony and spread its effects.