Hmmm. Not sure what to say to the first paragraph. It’s a Queenslander. They always have access under the house, and people always store stuff there. Any engineer who signed off a Qlder design with those disclaimers is negligent, ‘cos it’s never going to happen! In this case there’s a double garage under the house, with the man shed, man cave, boys’ den etc. The roof ties come down onto timber beams set on steel stumps at 3m intervals upon which the I-beams rest. Structurally sound.
The only potential issue I can foresee with steel is galvanic corrosion from use of unapproved fittings where you get condensation. Anyone who’s contemplated buying a steel boat (or has owned one) knows the issues, as do some Tesla and many Lotus owners. Never forget, that as soon as you design something as idiot proof, someone invents a better idiot!
Steel beams can warp in fires, whereas thick wooden beams don’t. As they burn, a protective layer of carbon builds up on the surface. I put exposed timber beams in my house, but they had to be twice as thick, 100mm, as if they’d been in a closed ceiling, to give that extra time. You often see in photos of fire damaged buildings (WWII for example) where the building has been gutted, no roof or floors left, but the charred joists are still in place.
Expand
