As a sign that steel has matured, drilling and bolting are largely eliminated. Steel floor framing is a self drilling screw operation using a power drill with a hexagonal socket at minimum, or a clutched screwdriver for the professional.

Choosing the flooring system for his home was the determining factor in Peter Keetch's decision. After weighing up the pros and cons of timber, concrete, and other steel flooring systems, he selected LYSAGHT QUIKA-FLOOR®.

By opting for a suspended steel flooring system, The QUIKA-FLOOR® product allowed Peter Keetch to reduce costs due to less footings required, when compared to conventional timber bearers and joists, and also allowed less site preparation on his sloping site at Quakers Hill in Sydney.

The intelligent design of QUIKA-FLOOR® appealed to Peter Keetch. "BHP Steel Lysaght has designed the QUIKA-FLOOR® system so that is has no cavities, which can contain moisture and cause future corrosion problems. All sub-floor components are batch or continuous hot dipped, or have a ZINCALUME® steel coating for long term durability."

Commenting on the installation of QUIKA-FLOOR®, Peter Keetch said: "It's straight and true, doesn't shrink or warp, is easy to carry, handle and install, and nearly all of the components are delivered to site cut to size. All reasons enough for me to choose it. It's fast too, and in some applications you could go from scratch to a completed floor in under a day.

"For myself, laying the floor in my spare time, I liked the fact that the floor joists, being a top-hat shape, do not require any brackets to connect the joists to the bearer - just simply fix them down with one screw each side of the joist. This is a big benefit and, in my experience, is a unique feature of QUIKA-FLOOR®."

"You can use QUIKA-FLOOR® with a standard brick perimeter wall & the adjustable LYSAGHT UNI-PIER® steel posts are used in place of conventional brick piers which save heaps of time, and they come complete with ant caps. If you also use UNI-PIER® around the perimeter, and build it like a freestanding house, you have the added bonus of being able to bring the brickie in at any time," said Peter.

LYSAGHT UNI-PIER® posts are an economical and effective replacement for brick piers, concrete or timber stumps, or painted steel posts. Pre-engineered load tables make council approvals easy, while the adjustable head (200mm adjustment) allows fast installation and leveling.

Peter chose to use a polished pre-finished floating timber floor laid over the top of the chipboard flooring as the finish for his QUIKA-FLOOR® system. He gets the advantages of polished timber without having to sand boards and put up with dust, delays, and the noxious odour of chemical sealers.

"The end result is excellent. My kids give the floor a good workout every day, but there's no squeaks or rattles, and I'm sure the floor is going to be around for a long time thanks to the durability of steel.

"Overall, I found the steel solutions offered by LYSAGHT® products provided a host of advantages over other options and were really easy to use. Being able to obtain all of the componentry and technical support I needed for the flooring system from the one source was a big advantage. BHP Steel Lysaght have both the product range and expertise to make building a steel flooring system quite simple," said Peter.

Location:

Quakers Hill, Sydney
Country:

Australia
Products Used:

LYSAGHT QUIKA-FLOOR®
LYSAGHT UNI-PIER®