AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.09.2004, Side 53

ed to make room for different
thicknesses of insulation.
6) Buildings of more than one floor
can be built.
7) A cheap basement can be con-
structed under the ground floor.
8) Curved walls can be formed in
the horizontal plane.
BUILDING COST
The builder, Jón Eiríksson, who has
built a number of timber buildings,
made the following cost compari-
son in 04.03.2002.
“The following is a cost com-
parison of a steel building on one
hand and a timber buildíng on the
other. The basis for comparison is
a 120 m2 house fully finished on
the outside with glazed windows. It
is fully insulated on the inside with
a damp proof course and a floor.
Foundations are not included as
they are the same in both instanc-
es. The timber building costs kr.
5,400,000 and the steel building kr
3,820,000.”
In the above comparison of a tim-
ber building and a steel building it is
stated that when the building is fully
finished on the outside and ready
for interior cladding the building is
almost half finished. This means
that the saving in the steel building
all takes place in the early stages of
the construction of the house. The
comparison also shows that the first
part of the steel building is about
30% cheaper than the first part of
the timber building. The steel build-
ing is therefore about 15% cheaper
than the timber building.
THE EXPERIENCE
Two years ago the first house of
the type described above was built
at Tjörn in Skagi and it could be
said that further construction was
halted to find out how it stood the
test of time. The results have only
been positive and therefore another
house, intended for the capital area,
is now on the drawing board.
A review by the owner and inhab-
itant of the steel house at Tjörn in
Skagi,, ■
Tjörn, Aug. 15th 2004
1. The reason for choosing a steel house rather than a timber one was first and foremost that the steel house
was considerably cheaper and could be built more quickly. One of the main advantages was the incombust-
ability of the steel house. Water is scarse at the site and the fire brigade is at a distance of 25 km.
2. The building of the house started on June 18th and we moved into a finished house on Sept. 12th the same
year. No overtime was worked. The house was built by two or three buiders working together.
3. The house is insulated with mineral wool and heated with electric radiators. The heat is even and comfortable
and cost is kept at a minimum.
4. The house is soundly insulated and traffic and weather noises are at a minimum.
5. There are very few cracks inside the house and to find them one has to look very carefully.
6. On Jan, 14th 2004 there was a gale with 35-40 m/sec. This storm was not felt indoors any more than if this
house had been built of concrete. One could hardly find any vibrations and very little weather noise was heard.
7. During the almost two years that we have lived in this house it has proven to be very good and no unexpected
occurrences have taken place. To judge from our experience more houses of this type should be built as they
are both cheap and seem to be very solid. Hopefully more people will have the good luck to build houses like
this. ■
Best regards, Baldvin Sveinsson"
avs 53