SIPs-great now, but how ’bout in 30 yrs?
I’ve been looking into SIPs, and I love the energy savings but am really, really uncomfortable with the idea that plywood’s going to be holding up the roof.
First of all, there’s simple structural integrity, over the long haul. And then there’s the possibility of damage.
You have a stick-built house, and something went wrong–water got onto the sheathing because something happened to a window, and it rotted, and you didn’t notice until the window started to go. The solution? Replace the sheathing and fix the window.
But what about if that were the outside of an SIP that had rotted? What then?
Replies
That's why we build with ICF. Practically bomb-proof!
Be nice, but not very practical above the basement with the windows!EDIT: I meant windows in this particular case, not all windows.
Edited 1/21/2007 2:34 am ET by Reyesuela
Having built some full icf houses, I must say they work pretty well above or below grade. The window openings do end up with some rather deep jamb extensions.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
i know alot of guys are sold on sips but it always worried me that what you mentioned or the glue surface would fail. just not many around here in ks to prove themselves. larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
It seems to me that one of the benefits of the SIP is that you eliminate, or avoid a lot of the long term problems of the stick-built house by its very nature. So, the rotting surfaces don't happen, for example, because there are fewer opportunities for the intrusion of water. Secondly, the very concept of the laminations of materials is what creates a strength in the structure that stick-built homes of the same thickness cannot compete with.
But, I have yet to experience it, either. It is what I am planning to build - ICF foundation, SIP walls and roof - single story.
Tachi
tachi
Family in Tucson, business in the Far East, and heart in the Colorado mountains!
There was a thread a couple months ago discussing SIP repairs. I think they original question was concerning storm damage to a SIP home. IIRC, the gist of the replies (when the SIP people finally turned up) was that SIP's can be repaired.
jt8
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."
-- Buddha
Thanks! I'll do a search. I think I'm too scared to use SIPs because of quality control issues, though...