SIPS had a huge failure in dozens of houses in Juneau. The resulting investigation showed rotting roof decks. The expensive resolution was to deck over the SIPS with an external roof deck and separate the roof deck from the SIPS with a ventilated air space. Seems to kind of prove it a poor design for wet coastal climates and maybe others. You quickly lose any advantage when you have to build another structure around the SIPS. Also any future remodeling as new wiring (think computers) will be costly or impossible. Plumbing ditto. Take care. Doug
Doug, Do you know if those were PUR SIPs or XPS SIPs, I am aware of problems with XPS SIPs having moisture issue but I am not aware of PUR having those issues?
Sounds like an absolute failure of the roof installer to not plan for and install a drainage gap to begin with. Could have used Dorken Delta Trella for metal roofs or used any number of weather barriers with simple furring strips to avoid the whole fiasco in a wet environment like that...
@@earthzero7 The problem is that there's no such thing as a perfect seal, etc., especially when building multiple houses in a development. All it takes is for someone doing that job on the crew to have an "off" day, and any moisture that gets inside the SIPs is then going to have to have a drying mechanism sufficient to get it out. There typically isn't one, just like in Juneau. Build them again today with the same dependencies and there would inevitably be some of the same results. I am further south on the West Coast and I would never use them in that application. Predictability and speed are nice, but not if there's a good chance that an over-roof or other mods will be needed to address failures down the road.
Another advantage: materials aren't stored on-site for very long; where I grew up, construction sites often were "visited" in the night, and lumber, tools, etc, would go missing. To be able to get walls up in a day, means it's easier quicker to secure the new building, which reduces the "window of opportunity" for loss. A small structure can be erected & roofed in 2-3 days. Add a 4th day for doors & windows, and you can have a weather tight, lockable structure in less than a week. Obviously, mileage may vary...
How well do SIPs houses fair in cold, or very wet climates? I think I may have read something on it actually causing problems in cities like Ketchikan.
Pretty scary. The one thing that can 100% be guaranteed is that things will not always be done correctly in a predicted environment at the jobsite. This system requires perfection. Good luck in the real world. As they found out at the housing development in Juneau to their chagrin the real world raised its ugly head at a huge cost to homeowners when the roofs failed because of poor installation. They knew what they should have done they just did not accomplish it. Any building system has to have leeway designed in or it will come up short with reality. Also in a real world there will be remodels in the future. This would be almost impossible with the SIPS system at any kind of reasonable cost. Another factor is the elevated cost of wiring, plumbing and HVAC installation in a SIPS house. An additional wall has to be built to house these necessary accruements whenever they occur. A considerable cost in time and money above traditional methods. I have not even mentioned the problem of shipping damage in both cost and time loss. In today's world that damage is inevitable to some degree. Perfection is a long long way from achievable in traditional construction. Expecting it in a recent technology is not sane. In Alaska where a lot of construction is in rural area with restricted expertise this is asking for catastrophe. Any system has to include engineering to account for these variables. This one does not. I would think the system might be more amendable to being done entirely in the factory as a modular home and shipped out complete. Doug
Hi. A question - why you use plywood in layers, but not osp3-4? Plain plywood has many shortcomings. And why you do not join on a framework from a bar? And why you do not cut the panel on narrower panels. so stability is higher.
Just heard that I can go ahead with my sips build. Can't wait. Great video man.
Short, clear and very informative video about SIPs
SIPS had a huge failure in dozens of houses in Juneau. The resulting investigation showed rotting roof decks. The expensive resolution was to deck over the SIPS with an external roof deck and separate the roof deck from the SIPS with a ventilated air space. Seems to kind of prove it a poor design for wet coastal climates and maybe others. You quickly lose any advantage when you have to build another structure around the SIPS. Also any future remodeling as new wiring (think computers) will be costly or impossible. Plumbing ditto. Take care. Doug
Doug, Do you know if those were PUR SIPs or XPS SIPs, I am aware of problems with XPS SIPs having moisture issue but I am not aware of PUR having those issues?
Sounds like an absolute failure of the roof installer to not plan for and install a drainage gap to begin with. Could have used Dorken Delta Trella for metal roofs or used any number of weather barriers with simple furring strips to avoid the whole fiasco in a wet environment like that...
@@earthzero7 The problem is that there's no such thing as a perfect seal, etc., especially when building multiple houses in a development. All it takes is for someone doing that job on the crew to have an "off" day, and any moisture that gets inside the SIPs is then going to have to have a drying mechanism sufficient to get it out. There typically isn't one, just like in Juneau. Build them again today with the same dependencies and there would inevitably be some of the same results. I am further south on the West Coast and I would never use them in that application. Predictability and speed are nice, but not if there's a good chance that an over-roof or other mods will be needed to address failures down the road.
Another advantage: materials aren't stored on-site for very long; where I grew up, construction sites often were "visited" in the night, and lumber, tools, etc, would go missing. To be able to get walls up in a day, means it's easier quicker to secure the new building, which reduces the "window of opportunity" for loss. A small structure can be erected & roofed in 2-3 days. Add a 4th day for doors & windows, and you can have a weather tight, lockable structure in less than a week. Obviously, mileage may vary...
How well do SIPs houses fair in cold, or very wet climates? I think I may have read something on it actually causing problems in cities like Ketchikan.
Pretty scary. The one thing that can 100% be guaranteed is that things will not always be done correctly in a predicted environment at the jobsite. This system requires perfection. Good luck in the real world. As they found out at the housing development in Juneau to their chagrin the real world raised its ugly head at a huge cost to homeowners when the roofs failed because of poor installation. They knew what they should have done they just did not accomplish it. Any building system has to have leeway designed in or it will come up short with reality. Also in a real world there will be remodels in the future. This would be almost impossible with the SIPS system at any kind of reasonable cost. Another factor is the elevated cost of wiring, plumbing and HVAC installation in a SIPS house. An additional wall has to be built to house these necessary accruements whenever they occur. A considerable cost in time and money above traditional methods. I have not even mentioned the problem of shipping damage in both cost and time loss. In today's world that damage is inevitable to some degree. Perfection is a long long way from achievable in traditional construction. Expecting it in a recent technology is not sane. In Alaska where a lot of construction is in rural area with restricted expertise this is asking for catastrophe. Any system has to include engineering to account for these variables. This one does not. I would think the system might be more amendable to being done entirely in the factory as a modular home and shipped out complete. Doug
Douglas Thompson if you look closely they had box cut out. I've seen these put up with an added bone of 2x4 and more insulation.
Thank you. Raphael
Hi. A question - why you use plywood in layers, but not osp3-4? Plain plywood has many shortcomings.
And why you do not join on a framework from a bar? And why you do not cut the panel on narrower panels. so stability is higher.
Can you use brick for the exterior finish?
Now that they are log sided they look awesome. I didnt know they were sip houses. (My neighbors)
These look like very high quality panels. I would like to do my SIP home in Idaho the same way with polyurethane foam cores and plywood skins.
bet those walls are fucked up LMAO