stress skin panels

[Lumpy102]

Has anyone done any research on stress skin panel construction for a garage? Just spit-balling here but it sounds like a great idea, order your walls, pour the foundation, wait for the concrete to cure and stand the walls up. Of course there's wiring and exterior/interior finishing, but it sounds like a good idea, pre-insulated and OSB inside and out. Wonder what the catch is? I'll have to do some research myself to see if its an acceptable building method here in Ontario

 

[tomroblee]

I spent considerable time looking into Structural Insulated Panels (the more common name in my part of the country) several years ago when I was considering building a house, then again when I was considering building a large garage/shop.

I ended up with conventional construction for my house and a pole barn for my garage. The main problems I found with SIPS was the cost and the inability to find local workers who had any experience with them.

 

[Red05GT]

We built a couple of spec houses and our own home using SIPS. Great system but have
not priced the panels in a few years. With current price of OSB and price of foam products, price of panels will be rather high at this point in time. Our paneles came with
horizontal and vertical wire chases. Unless there is a panel supplier close to you, a cheaper option might be 2 x 6 stud walls.

 

[zuk123]

From watching the shows, and reading the trades, the SIPs have more design time upfront (you need to figure every detail out) but get you dried in quicker.

If time on site is an issue, SIPs can make the project fly.

The other benefit of SIPs is superior air sealing.

Those are not particular concerns for a garage though (usually).

zuk

 

[Lumpy102]

It might be an exercise in futility but I was wondering if we could build quicker, and easier to heat, with the panels, haven't got a clue as to whether anyone local (SW Ontario) does the panels. Was just sittin, sippin a rum, and thinkin. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Voi]

Here is a recent thread on SIPs.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174526

I think they were also discussed in a recent thread on insulating cathedral ceilings but I couldn't find that one.

 

[sharkytm]

My parent's house and my father's shop are 100% SIPS construction. 30x60x15 shop, and 4200 sqft geodesic dome with angled-roof wings. SIPS are awesome if the workers know what they are doing. The dome went up in 8 hours, with a crew of 8 guys and a crane. The shop walls went up in 6 hours, but the roof has conventional scissor trusses, which took a lot of time to install.

Notes from my experiences:
SIPS floors are very springy, and your feet don't tire from walking on them.
The ceilings need a lot of support, and you need to install joists inside the SIPS panels. My mother's roofs on the wings were both replaced recently thanks to snow load causing them to sag and hold water. Luckily, he insurance covered it under snow damage, but it would have been $50K+ if they hadn't. The new panels have 2x10 joists in them, and should be much much more ridgid.
VERY VERY quiet
VERY air tight
Cheap to heat, as there's a ton of built-in, 100% sealed insulation
Very little damage if they get wet, the OSB is waterproof and the foam won't absorb anything.
Running wiring needs to be done carefully, and with good planning.
Seal your openings for wires if the walls aren't going to be finished (as in the shop). Somewhere in the wall, there's an 8' Blacksnake... ask me how I know. He's sealed in there now, skeletonized.

 

[sophijo]

A national builder I worked for some years ago had a couple subs worth. There was a problem with expansion/contraction differential between outer and inner skins....some warped as I recall...worth checking it out. I personally like the prefab framing panels........panelized.

 

[trainer]

It might be an exercise in futility but I was wondering if we could build quicker, and easier to heat, with the panels, haven't got a clue as to whether anyone local (SW Ontario) does the panels. Was just sittin, sippin a rum, and thinkin. Thanks for the replies.

Vicwest makes them and is headquartered in the GTA.
http://vicwest.com/
I'm sure they could steer you to a contractor.

I looked at them for a project last year, but the local building inspector wasnt sure if he could accept them for the firewall requirements that we had to meet.

 

[Nowater]

My shop is built out of structural insulated panels. I spoke to one of the principals of the company and he said that during testing, the system was subjected to 210 mph winds-I live in Florida-and at that intensity, the wall panels bend in about an inch at the junction of the roof.

This type of construction is very airtight. Even with a ten foot garage door, I can easily air condition. The air can attempt to blow in the door, but there is no place for it to exit. It gets hot here. Air conditioning is important.