2001 Space Odyssey: Bones of Wood or Steel

As we are settling on the general plan layout and what we wanted the house to look like, we have to figure out how the addition will be supported.  I ran my take on the configuring the addition’s bones by our engineer, Shari. She’s trained as both an architect and structural engineer and is great at helping us figure out the most efficient structure that achieves our goals.  Sometimes we have to use steel beams and columns rather than wood to achieve the long spans and wide-open plans clients often like. The down side of steel is that it often adds to the budget and introduces another trade to be coordinated. The good news from Shari was that we won’t need much steel for our place. Thanks Shari!  Stay tuned as we figure out the next piece of the puzzle….how we will efficiently heat and cool our ‘new’ house.