Does anyone have any opinions, good or bad, or general advice about using structural insulated panels (sips) to frame up a house? The ones I have been reading about have 3 or 3 1/2" polyurethane foam bonded to 7/16" osb on each side.
The current issue of Fine Homebuilding has a feature article on SIPs. They are the go-to method for timber frame structures,
The current issue of Fine Homebuilding has a feature article on SIPs:
I've never used them and thus have no first-hand experience with them. Having said that, what I've read about them has been largely positive. The only negative I heard was from one of my masters program professors who said they (a timber frame company) had been troublesome with respect to the exterior OSB rotting early under asphalt shingles. The suspected problem was some moisture getting under the shingles from condensation and then having no easy way to escape since the underside of the OSB is effectively sealed by the foam core. He said they started to place furring strips on the root and then a layer of plywood and then used ridge and soffitt vents to allow the air to flow between the SIPs and the plywood under the shingles. This seemed to eliminate the problem. This is about the only criticism, other than cost, which I've heard.
Matt
Here is how I did mine.
--Andy Asberry--
------Texas-----
You might consider Insulated Concrete Forms as an alternative. IFCs don't rot, grow mildew or mold and they will withstand winds of up to 250 miles per hour. They will cost about the same as SIPs, and the wall will perform more like R50 than the R38 you get from most SIPs I've seen.
For more information go to
abarr
Only if you go to a much greater wall thickness. Inch for inch, a SIP will outperform ICFs (never heard of IFC) in almost any circumstance from a thermal perspective. There may be cases where the greater thermal mass of the ICF walls has an advantage.
SIPs can also be used for the roof, whereas, ICFs cannot.
Matt
We built our timber frame house with SIPS - the "stress skin" type that had 1/2" OSB on one side and 1/2" drywall on the other - even on the coldest winter days in Upstate NY you can put your hand on an exterior wall and it feels warm - I would highly recommend them.
We just finished our first full winter in our SIP home (4.5" walls, 6" roof panels, urethane core). The local LP service said a typical new home the size of ours would use 750-800 gallons of LP per winter. We used 415 total gallons from the start of the heating season in October through the week in April of below 30=B0 temperatures here in St Louis. This compares to what we were paying for a new home in south county St Louis for less than half the same square footage.
There was no noticable increase in our cost to build with the SIP's. The service from our panel maker (noted on the web page) was exceptional. Here is a quick link with general info. Visit the panel mfg's site and look at the IR photos of a traditional home and a SIP home and you will see why the SIPs perform so well.
Mine is 17 years old - Cedar shingle/Typar///OSB/EPS/OSB/blueboard///plaster skim coat over a light timber frame. Primary concern has been vermin infestation - the EPS is an ideal nesting environment for ants, mice, and squirrels. I understand some panels are now treated with nasty stuff.
Doing it again, I would order T-111 on the outside, to delay the need for exterior treatment for a few years. One big advantage for us was we were able to delay selection of fenestration until the house was sealed in - found the perfect windows (12 over 12 true divided light - $50 each), then chainsawed the rough openings to fit. (Gypsum does a job on chainsaw blades!)
Also, I would not use SIPs on the roof, unless I had access to a crane.
Sal's Dad
----- Original Message -----
Does anyone have any opinions, good or bad, or general advice about using structural insulated panels (sips) to frame up a house? The ones I have been reading about have 3 or 3 1/2" polyurethane foam bonded to 7/16" osb on each side.
Google could probably find the winter temps for Fort Worth. We turned the heat on a total of 5 days this past winter. Interior temp was never below 66°. I just looked at the thermostat. The heat pump has been on 2 hours and 12 minutes the last 30 days. We use 5.5" wall and
8" ceiling panels.--Andy Asberry--
------Texas-----
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