I am designing a 2-story house for the side of a windy slope. The first floor, of course, is to be “nice and open.” IOW, don’t expect much internal shear resistance.
Premier Building Systems rates their SIPs at 600 plf when nailed at 4″ spacing. This requires a double top plate, which leads me to believe the limiting factor is the plate and not the SIP skin. I suppose you give up some insulation in the bargain but that sure would put some strength in the exterior walls. Seems you would need to double the bottom plate, too? Anyone doing this?
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dko,
You need to understand that SIP's are 200% stronger than the same size stick built house (rough, general rule of thumb) therefore that which is called for in traditional stick building isn't needed for SIP construction.
I had free use of the design staff that sold me my panels and ran ideas past them to ensure I was doing things properly. I'd call your supplier and ask him the question to be sure.. but please forget traditional stick framing techniques when building with SIP's