Not me perosnally but a while ago I read about one the Block winners from Season 1 using the SIP for his new house

http://www.formance.co.nz/explore/projects-we-love/ben-crawford-building-with-formance/

Seems like a cool product but would have to weigh up the gains vs the cost.

Makes sense to me. Interested to know cost difference with conventional 'nail sticks together' method. 

Also very interested in this. Was recently featured on Kiwi Living

https://kiwiliving.nz/new-zealand-homes/climate-house

a lot of christchurch based companies - have emailed formance with drawings (thanks for link) as they seem to be auckland based

There is a Huntly based one that Builtsmart uses - sorry not sure of the company name, have seen these walls, and the savings in floor space was amazing!

have also emailed http://www.litegreen.co.nz/ 

whats interesting about their SIP is the exterior and interior are basically pre-finished:

exterior is Magnesium Oxide / recycled timber compressed sheeting (seems similar to compressed fibre-cement board), interior is ply

so could be significant saving to be had if you dont have to worry about exterior cladding, or interior wall lining ...

How will it work - if in 10 years time you decide you need to install new cables/plumbing etc?

I'm sure some forethought can be put in to "future-proofing", but as none of us know the future, the best we can hope for is a good guess.

Fred99:

 

How will it work - if in 10 years time you decide you need to install new cables/plumbing etc?

 

I'm sure some forethought can be put in to "future-proofing", but as none of us know the future, the best we can hope for is a good guess.

 

there are 2 horizontal voids, around 50mm diameter, at 1200 and 250mm centres - ie. height of a wall switch and power outlet. cable is dragged through post-install. theres also a vertical void through the centre of each panel

plumbing is recommended to go through internal walls, which would be standard timber framed

if you missed a cable, or want to install a new cable later on, you would have to fish it through the voids. not impossible, but would be a pain

i guess you would be have to be fairly certain with your lighting / electrical / network plans as to avoid running cables later on

I have been looking at the options for building a SIPS house, the notion of speed of construction, warmth and strengths are superior to that that can be achieved through a traditional stick frame house.

I have spent many months reading through many forums and studies and firmly believe that SIPs are the way we should be building houses. The reality is that most house in NZ are built to code and our code is so out dated. I have been in many nice expensive houses that are cold, when this issued is raised by the owner all that happens is that they pump more heating into the house.

I am looking at using the Mgo Sips over the OSB Sips. OSB needs a building rap to keep the water out (without this you can get delamination of the board what will impact on the structural integrity of the panel) while the Mgo is resistant to water, mold and doesn’t burn, it just goes black. Have a look on youtube of some example of building being set on fire that are made of Mgo.

The Mgo board itself seems very strong. I have read that an 8 gsm screw (hope that this is the correct term as I am not a builder but an accountant) has a pull out rating of 80kg’s on a 12mm board or one demo was three cinder blocks hanging off one screw.

The Mgo panel also only needs a skim coat to get to a level 5 finish what means you can then paint straight on it so no more overly priced gib is required.

I see that Mgo was certified in the USA in 2003 for Sips construction.

I am looking at using a company here in Christchurch called Magroc to supply the product. I had a tour of the factory a couple of months ago so I could look at the panel, they seem very strong. You can take a hammer to it and it hardly left a mark.

Talking to them they mentioned that a 165mm panel was $125 per sqm plus install time by the builder. They also said that using the panel will cost around $500 per sqm for your floor, walls and roof if used as a complete home system. Talking to some of my developer/builder clients this price seems comparable to a traditional build cost.

If you get a chance have a look up the Kiwi living on demand as they had a SIPS house from Queenstown on the show a couple of months ago. It was filmed in June/July and it was 1 degree outside and 23 inside with no heating in the house apart from a normal oven for cooking and body heat.

It was interesting, rung a major weather board supplier here in NZ to get some information about attaching this type of cladding to a panel and I spoke with one of their engineers and he just said straight to me that we should be building house out of wood period …the building industry is so stuck in their ways here in NZ

One study I read out of the states compered the build time and costs between a stick frame house and a Sips house. Here in NZ we can’t compare $ as the panels are sold at a premium as they are relatively new to the NZ market (they have been around in the states since the 1930’s) but you can compare time and the labor time for the Sips was 50% lower for the builder and the Electrical work was 40% quicker. Also through detailed workings (Sips have a margin of error of 1mm) you can order your windows early and therefore have a sealed house in a week or so depending on the design.

From what I have read it is important that you plan the house out well as making changes on site or in the future are expensive.

Good luck with the build, I will follow this forum with interest as I believe that NZ needs to wake up to how poorly we build houses.

greenbone:

 

Fred99:

 

How will it work - if in 10 years time you decide you need to install new cables/plumbing etc?

 

I'm sure some forethought can be put in to "future-proofing", but as none of us know the future, the best we can hope for is a good guess.

 

 

 

 

there are 2 horizontal voids, around 50mm diameter, at 1200 and 250mm centres - ie. height of a wall switch and power outlet. cable is dragged through post-install. theres also a vertical void through the centre of each panel

 

plumbing is recommended to go through internal walls, which would be standard timber framed

 

 

 

if you missed a cable, or want to install a new cable later on, you would have to fish it through the voids. not impossible, but would be a pain

 

 

 

i guess you would be have to be fairly certain with your lighting / electrical / network plans as to avoid running cables later on

 

I came across this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6hE1-OOGyY which shows the void (and utilising) really well.

Given that the SIP boards appear to be a sandwich with polystyrene in the middle, what's the fire risk?

These types of system have been around for quite a few years. What I would be concerned with compared to a normal timber house, is future proofing it. With timber framing you can easily add new services, or knock out walls, or even re insulate. But with these other systems, that looks like it can be a lot harder. Also some seem to rely on adhesives. Do they off gas? How long do they last before the adhesives fail?

These days traditional timber framing is usually all prefabricated offsite, so is pretty quick to put up. Many houses framing are put up in a few days with timber. It is the cladding and finishing that take the time.

Is OSB like the old particle board, as it looks similar? That old particle board they used to use on floors in the 80's used to turn into wheat bix when it was wet for too long. 

You can just build the shell of the house as a SIPs house and use timber framing for the internals. This is what I am looking at doing on a couple of my walls as I have a couple of cavity sliding doors. If you are concerned about running services, I have been told that you build out the wall from the sip wall to create a cavity to run the services up if you need to and as for reinsulating you will never have to do this as it as the insulation will not slump like traditional insulation will over time or through installation error. I did read one study that said a 10mm gap in insulation in a house decreases the thermal efficiency of a house by 16%.

The notion of a SIPS house is to remove as much as possible thermal bridging of a house. Wood is good at doing this but a SIPS panel will outperform the bridging of a stick frame. A new house built to code will still have 5 to 6 natural air changes per hour while a SIPS house should be under one as the joins are all sealed and you have less joins that a stick frame house due to the size of the panels …here in NZ they can be up to 7 meters long with some of the manufactures (SIPS seem to be one of the main building materials for the passive house movement). You can seal the joins on a stick frame house through the use of products like Pro Clima that was featured on the block this year but it is only a rap and one pin hole or install error in the thermal envelope of the house will have a dramatic impact on the thermal performance of the house as heat will always head to the coldest point. The house on grand designs last week was a SIPS house and during the blower test you will see the impact on the thermal envelope when they had a small gap under a window.

I do not believe that gassing is an issue these days, it was in the 90’s but they have changed the adhesive that is used. I have tried to understand the science of the bonding of the panel but its beyond my comprehension as an accountant who did pass bursary chemistry but I know that most of the panel manufactures are offering 20 year warranties and the product I am looking at has code mark so my understanding of this is that the product is designed to last 50 years. I have read that the original SIPS houses in the states, from the 30’s still look the same today as when they were built.

I believe that OSB is a more engineered version of particle board hence why I am looking at the Mgo option as I share the same concerns about water.

A recent episode of Grand Designs NZ featured the use of OSB sheathed SIP's over an internal structure, with timber cladding. From memory the internal structure was a combination of concrete filled ICF, concrete panels and timber frame.  It screened a couple of weeks ago now and I can't remember many details sorry. Probably available to stream.

This was a high end build in a colder location.  The final result was stunning but you couldn't see the SIPs at all. 

MikeAqua:

 

A recent episode of Grand Designs NZ featured the use of OSB sheathed SIP's over an internal structure, with timber cladding. From memory the internal structure was a combination of concrete filled ICF, concrete panels and timber frame.  It screened a couple of weeks ago now and I can't remember many details sorry. Probably available to stream.

 

This was a high end build in a colder location.  The final result was stunning but you couldn't see the SIPs at all. 

 

https://kiwiliving.nz/new-zealand-homes/climate-house

Built by the 'social entrepreneur' Michael Sly

There was an article that I read in a magazine (Maybe North & South?) where the costs for electricity were encouraging - no heating required in the house.