The Bones of my House

Holly Hursley and I took a crazy leap and went to Austin a couple weeks ago to visit a tiny house framing company called Volstrukt. We went to their manufacturing warehouse to see the process, solidify my design, and meet with the managing director – Marc McQuain, and Jayson Laipenieks – the design and production manager. I was super excited to finalize my plans in person, and to learn about their steel framing.

The Framecad system they use converts a flat roll of steal into the sticks that would frame my house. It does all the cuts, holes, and dimples to make the screws flush. They are able to put my custom design into their computer program, which works with the Framcad machine to produce lightweight durable steel studs. I don’t personally know any tiny house builders using steel framing, and I have rarely come across it online, however it makes complete sense for me. 

Volstrukt’s tiny house steel framing is appealing because it cuts approximately 1000lbs off my framing alone, while adding strength and creating an efficient and quick build. The Framecad machine cuts holes within the walls for easy installation of electric and plumbing lines. The steel framing also takes out the margin of error when working with wood, and is much more precise with it’s mechanized cuts and measurements. Additionally, the manufacturing process hardly produces any waste, only a bit of steel from the cutouts, which can all be recycled. 

Marc McQuain and Jayson Laipenieks were really welcoming and thorough when describing the process of manufacturing steel framing. They were passionate about their product, and spent extensive time with me finalizing my design. The guys panelizing the framing in the warehouse were also really nice and accommodating of Holly taking photos and filming. Marc and Jayson feel connected to the tiny house movement and want to offer framing with structural integrity. I’ve found some genuine people to work with so far, and these two are terrific as well!