The materials that your home or building is built out of will directly affect your insurance rates. This is because the insurance industry bases premiums on actuarial studies of how a home can withstand perils like fire and winds.
Nationwide, reconstruction costs are increasing at a faster rate than inflation thanks to sky-high building material prices and supply chain issues. These higher prices can impact your insured’s ability to rebuild if a loss occurs and may result in gaps in coverage.
1. Structural Steel
The rapid rise in building material prices is a concern for homebuilders and homeowners. With soaring prices come increased risk for loss and potentially higher premiums. This is especially true with construction materials that require a significant amount of energy to transport from sources like mines and ports.
Structural steel is a highly versatile construction material that has been used in buildings for over 200 years. It is strong enough to support a variety of loads and can withstand natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes. It is also durable enough to last through several decades of use.
Its versatility allows it to be shaped into various forms, curves and angles, which can help create uniquely designed buildings. This flexibility enables architects to design spaces that are visually appealing and can adapt to future changes in layout. Its strength also means that steel-framed buildings can be built with long spans of column-free space, which creates more open and usable floors.
A structural steel frame’s strength and durability makes it a cost-effective choice for commercial and industrial buildings as well as warehouses, high-rise and residential buildings. Steel framing typically costs less than other framing options and is easy to work with. Its durability also helps reduce maintenance costs over time. Moreover, since steel can be recycled, it is a sustainable construction material that reduces the need for new resources.
2. Concrete
Concrete is a popular building material for a number of reasons. Often used in combination with steel, it offers superior tensile strength for structures that may need to withstand extreme pressure during construction, such as skyscrapers and other tall buildings. In addition to this, concrete is very durable and will withstand weather damage, such as rainstorms and wind storms.
Additionally, concrete can be produced in the exact amount needed for a specific job to avoid waste. Once a concrete structure is no longer needed, it can be broken down and recycled for use in things like roadbeds and shoreline protection. This helps to reduce the number of new materials that are required in all construction projects, thereby reducing the environmental impact of building.
The durability of concrete structures can save builders money in the long run. This is because concrete tends to require less maintenance than other types of building materials, and it can withstand the elements far better. For example, a concrete driveway can last 30 to 50 years before it needs to be replaced, whereas asphalt will typically need replacement after only about 10 years.
Building materials are a key component of the cost of a home or commercial building. Over the past few years, inflation in these materials has been a concern for builders and do-it-yourselfers. Inflation has led to increased prices for lumber, cement, and other construction materials that can have a significant impact on the price of a new or repaired structure.
3. Wood
Wood is one of the most beautiful and versatile natural materials. It’s renewable, provides excellent thermal insulation and is carbon neutral.
It can also be shaped to produce an array of decorative and functional features. Each piece of wood, regardless of its species, is unique in appearance and the color variations that can occur are stunning.
When it comes to home insurance, the types of building materials that make up a house will impact the rate you are charged for your premium. For instance, homes built with a frame construction of wood will likely be charged a higher premium than those that are built of brick or masonry.
The frame of a home is typically constructed out of wood and the walls are often made with drywall. Masonry construction includes bricks, stones or concrete blocks that are held together with mortar. Homes built with a masonry structure are generally considered sturdier than those with a frame construction because they can withstand fire, rain and termite damage better.
The best woods to use in construction are hardwoods, which offer a high level of strength and durability. These hardwoods include oak, iroko and sapele. Compared to softwoods, they have a condensed cell structure, which gives them superior resilience and strength. They also have the ability to resist bending and buckling.
4. Metal
After the pandemic ended, many homeowners started to look at their houses with fresh eyes, realizing that they needed a remodel or an upgrade of some sort. This put an extra strain on the already stressed supply chain of construction materials, leading to increased costs for contractors and the consumers purchasing the material.
There are literally thousands of different types of metal in the world, each one developed for very specific purposes. The most common in the modern world is steel, which is typically 99% iron and 1% carbon. This makes it less brittle than some of its stronger counterparts, but also lighter, more malleable and better able to handle corrosion.
Alloyed steel is basically the workhorse of the metal world and can be modified by adding a variety of elements to change its properties. For example, adding chromium to steel allows it to form a super thin barrier when it corrodes that slows the deterioration.
All of the 118 metals on the Periodic Table are classified as metals (except hydrogen, which is a liquid). Metals are typically dense and lustrous, have relatively high electrical conductivity, can be shaped by physical forces and can be hammered into thin sheets or wires – a property known as malleability. They are good conductors of heat and electricity and can be shaped by chemical reactions that cause their atoms to lose electrons and become positive ions called cations.