Re: Steel frame homes in USA

[Guest guest]

I myself have contacted dietrich industries because if I build this is the way I

plan to construct the frame. I think a guest house is a marvelous idea in your

cold climate.

icelandicmygla <sylgja@...> wrote: Good day

I am not new here - I just lost my password.

I would really like to get information if some of you have built a

steel frame home?

Unfortunantely I cant live in mobile home like - but I want to

try to buil a mold and wood free home with steel frames.

Can you recommend any company?

Are there any flaves i should consider?

Nobody has built a steel frame home (only for industry)here in Iceland

and since I have land available - I would like to build one.

I am also interested if any of you would like to travel to Iceland and

sleep in a stell frame home - mold free and breath mopld spore free

air - ?

Should i bother to build a little toxin and mold free guesthouse? Just

outside the capital city of Iceland.

Wuold some of you be interested?

Well for me if I knew about a place where a moldy like me built a

guesthouse for others to vacation - I will be the first one to come?

Are there any places like that in the world?

Kind regards

And give me advise and what you think

Greetings from Iceland

and keep up the good work here in

Sylgja

Iceland

[Guest guest]

" icelandicmygla " <sylgja@...> wrote:

> I would really like to get information if some of you have built a

steel frame home?

> Unfortunantely I cant live in mobile home like - but I want to

try to buil a mold and wood free home with steel frames. Can you

recommend any company? Are there any flaves i should consider?

>

I've lived in airplane hangars - and they're wonderful, but not in

your climate as they are difficult to keep warm.

Just like in that article on those historic prefab metal homes, the

problems of " thermal bridging " of metal framework are enormous in a

cold climate.

Airstream trailers are notorious for their condensation problems. The

metal frame will channel enough cold through the wall to cause

condensation and mold growth on interior panels.

There was a flat roof school with a dropped acoustic tile ceiling

whose stachy growth was fed by the metal straps conducting cold down

from the roof. It wasn't even leaking.

To keep the metal parts from simply conducting the cold right through

the insulation, the metal parts need to be separated by a thermal

insulator. I used an interesting corrugated plastic panel

called " coroplast " .

But this is compensating for a problem you wouldn't have if you built

using the amvicsystem.

-

[Guest guest]

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 15:00:01 -0000, you wrote:

> Airstream trailers are notorious for their condensation problems. The

>metal frame will channel enough cold through the wall to cause

>condensation and mold growth on interior panels.

>erik

I was concerned about this problem but never read about it or heard of

the problem with mold in between the aluminum panels. I did read at

the airstream group people having trouble with condensate forming on

the trailers sheet metal interior. Which made me think if it can form

there it probably is even more likely to form on the inside of the

exterior panels thus getting the insulation wet. I posted a comment

about this concern and a few of the members at the air stream group

posted snide remarks about mold victims being slip and fall artist's.

Besides the cost this is one reason I decided against an air stream.

I like the idea of building my own but I am afraid it would be too

unsightly and no parks would let me rent from them. I finally made my

move to NC and am staying in that house with the moldy basement that

didn't make me sick. I still get exhausted easily and seem to do

better when I am outside so this place isn't going to be a long term

solution but at least it's better than inside of my trailer. The

problem with a small space like that is any problem you have is

intensified by the small amount of air you have to dilute it.

I stupidly didn't account for the humidity being a problem here in

the mountains. The clouds settle in on the depressions or hollows

here in the mountains and the humidity is beyond 100% you have tiny

water droplets in the air. I don't know how mold could not be a

problem in houses out here. But I am not experiencing any of the

major symptoms of molds poisoning I am accustomed to. I tried staying

inside of my trailer and slowly started getting sick over a period of

two days the difference was profound. But I was running the

dehumidifier so the problem could lie with that. In all reality that's

wishful thinking though. I should have left it behind in fl and

counted it as another loss. I am tempted to dismantle it and see if I

can't find the mold. I have a few suspect areas I would like to

examine. The shower and the slide in particular. I found an entire

strip of channel that was not caulked at all on the slide. I

overlooked it because I was looking for breaks in caulking and holes

and what not. Wasn't expecting something to not be caulked at all. I

called the manufacture and they are a joke, they said they only

guarantee their products for 90 days for leaks. They told me that I

need to strip the old caulking and recaulk 3 times a year. Obviously

nobody does this. I guess you get what you pay for.

[Guest guest]

I read an article recently on IAQ problems with 'manufactured housing'

(trailer houses) and I saved it.. thinking about all the people on

here who live in them..

I'll try to find it.. Yes, mold in trailers is a serious problem..

[Guest guest]

For someone who can not find a safe house, do you have any recommendations???

LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: I read an article recently

on IAQ problems with 'manufactured housing'

(trailer houses) and I saved it.. thinking about all the people on

here who live in them..

I'll try to find it.. Yes, mold in trailers is a serious problem..

[Guest guest]

I was talking with a builder friend today about mold and he told me

that all other things considered, someone should try to either find

old *well-maintained* housing that uses real, solid wood, or new

housing that uses real wood, not composites..

(often, this means much more expensive housing stock)

The (cheap) composite materials often used in housing these days

disintegrate very easily and they are also relatively mold prone..

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:00:27 -0400, LiveSimply wrote:

>I read an article recently on IAQ problems with 'manufactured housing'

>(trailer houses) and I saved it.. thinking about all the people on

>here who live in them..

>

>I'll try to find it.. Yes, mold in trailers is a serious problem..

Live,

I would be interested in that article particuly the manufactured

housing.

[Guest guest]

I think that's why even though the house I am in has had 70 years of

180% humidity it's not got mold in it the way my trailer does. It is

paneled with pine and chestnut including the floor and the ceiling.

The wood is in it's basic natural form and probably still has it's

natural defenses against mold even after the trees dead. I don't

know weather I could say that for plywood. (understatement) I am sure

the roof doesn't have a shred of plywood nor the sub flooring. The

outside is done in stone quarried here in NC. I think the natural

stone does an excellent job of not getting wet in between the walls,

or trapping moisture, or forming condensate on it's surfaces. I am

guessing their is no insulation in the walls either.

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 19:21:46 -0400, you wrote:

>I was talking with a builder friend today about mold and he told me

>that all other things considered, someone should try to either find

>old *well-maintained* housing that uses real, solid wood, or new

>housing that uses real wood, not composites..

>

>(often, this means much more expensive housing stock)

>

>The (cheap) composite materials often used in housing these days

>disintegrate very easily and they are also relatively mold prone..

[Guest guest]

Christ < wrote:

>

> I think that's why even though the house I am in has had 70 years of

> 180% humidity it's not got mold in it the way my trailer does.

A lot of old places have condensation areas of micro-niches which

will support Stachy, but a viable spore just hasn't made it there yet.

A funky trailer or old building full of leaks which is not in a plume

can go forever with no Stachy.

A brand new building that has one slight condensation problem, but is

being bombed by an " elsewhere " plume will have Stachy growth as soon

as a viable spore arrives and finds what it needs.

It's a case of " opportunity meets conditions " .

I was surprised at the number of metal buildings in an industrial area

which were intolerable, despite appearing to have few areas suitable

for growth. It looks like those " few areas " are more than enough, if

the entire area is being sporadically plumed with viable spores.

-

[Guest guest]

BUT IS IT NOT BETTER TO HAVE JUST A LITTLE BIT RATHER THAN A LOT OF MOLD??? I

AM SO CONFUSED.

erikmoldwarrior <erikmoldwarrior@...> wrote: Christ <

wrote:

>

> I think that's why even though the house I am in has had 70 years of

> 180% humidity it's not got mold in it the way my trailer does.

A lot of old places have condensation areas of micro-niches which

will support Stachy, but a viable spore just hasn't made it there yet.

A funky trailer or old building full of leaks which is not in a plume

can go forever with no Stachy.

A brand new building that has one slight condensation problem, but is

being bombed by an " elsewhere " plume will have Stachy growth as soon

as a viable spore arrives and finds what it needs.

It's a case of " opportunity meets conditions " .

I was surprised at the number of metal buildings in an industrial area

which were intolerable, despite appearing to have few areas suitable

for growth. It looks like those " few areas " are more than enough, if

the entire area is being sporadically plumed with viable spores.

-

[Guest guest]

Leigh McCall-Alton < wrote:

>

> BUT IS IT NOT BETTER TO HAVE JUST A LITTLE BIT RATHER THAN A LOT

OF MOLD??? I AM SO CONFUSED.

>

If a microniche is in a location that makes it to act like a lot,

then the overall ambient levels don't make any difference in your

level of exposure.

It's like the difference between being in a bar full of diffused

cigarette smoke or being directly next to one single ashtray full of

smoking butts:

There is none!

Like those teachers at North Tahoe HS who got sick that were

directly next to a small colony, and none of the other teachers

believed them because they weren't affected.

Perhaps if they saw how a person next to an ashtray can get an

overdose of smoke while people a few feet away don't even perceive

it, then they'd see why the spores could affect just the people who

were directly in the plume.

-