Who out there has used SIPS in residential construction? Are they good? To what extent have you used them (Walls Floors ETC.) I am in Tennessee just in case that makes a difference. I am going to be building a home and I am leaning toward using these. Please give me your opinions.
Thanks
JamesP
Replies
JamesP
I've built with them and with ICF's If I were to do it all over again I'd build the walls with ICF's and the ceiling with SIP's
Yes they are wonderfull to work with.. extremely easy to learn and great to design in place with.
Unlike traditional stick building you aren't commited to putting windows in one certain spot for structural reasons..
You can walk along the deck and decide that windows should be here and here rather than hope you get it right in the design stage..
Just a little comment.. I'm extremely detail careful and in spite of living in this house for decades, when I built it I was astonished at the possiblities I'd missed. Views that I hadn't realized were possible, indeed demanded a window!. SIP's and ICF's allow spot changes without any preplanning.
Check out my blog. I used them and would do it again.
You'll have to go into the archives for July/August of last year to see some SIP stuff.
Regarding Frenchy's "Window Anywhere" comment, that is partially true. He built a timberframe, so he could pretty can much do what he mentioned.
Mine is not timberframe, so I have some windows that needed headers and some that did not.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
Adventures in Home Building
An online journal covering the preparation and construction of our new home.
jhausch,
Actaully the place I bought my SIP's had a foam core header that pretty much met the same requirements that engineered wood offers..
Don't forget that SIP's are 200% stronger than stick built.. It's easy to forget that fact when designing for SIP's. I mean only 2% of all homes are built using either SIP's , ICF's or any other alternate form of construction.. There isn't a lot of real knowlege out there and often because they just don't know better building inspectors will require things that really aren't needed..
This is a case where you have to know more than the building inspector and find a tactful way of sharing it with him..
I am familiar with the SIP headers offered. However, would you not agree that the need of any header would run-counter to your earlier statements.
I just want to make sure the OP knows that headers are sometimes required.
jhausch,
yes that's correct! in some SIP only homes you would need headers in some applications.. (not all) The manual that they provide clearly states what those requirements were,, since my place is timberframed I simply ignored that part. (actually double timberframed)
Yes, It's easy forget to mention all the details of construction in these short little posts. I've found in the past when I tried I ran so long I doubt anybody read it.. however I've found out that if I don't mention everything I'm sure to be called on something..
Your point however is well made.. in some circumstances you need to put a header in..
James:
The one thing that I would point out is, that when using SIPs, it is absolutely critical to seal between the panels. Otherwise the warm, moist interior air escapes to the outside of the panels and can condense on the exterior sheathing resulting in amazing amounts of rot & fungal growth. I have been involved, as a mediator, in a situation involving improperly sealed panels installed about 5 years ago, and it is ugly!
BILL
I would use them again, but I would go with the prefabricated wiring chase. Going with structural panels (osb-foam-osb) for walls, I had the blue board tacked to the timber frame structure before the panels were assembled. This makes cutting your own chases problematic.
The structure involved some cantilevered bumpouts constructred of SIPs and these proved surprisingly strong. I left a 3' bump-out unsupported for 3 months before I finally put a beam under it. In that time it had not moved a hair out of level. These were 4.5' XPS foam panels for walls, and the floors of the bumpouts were 9.5" foam with LVL let in on the sides.