I'm new on here, and figured this was a good place to get info on our planned house. We are building on 7 acres in upstate SC, and it will be our eventual retirement home. I've designed a main floor of 1200 square feet for our everyday living, but it will have a full walk-out basement, as well as bonus space upstairs. The design is nearly finalized, but i haven't decided on the actual structure yet. As designed, it is 2X6 walls, but I'm entertaining the idea of SIP's or ICF. I will be doing most of the construction myself, depending on time and money factors. So far, I'm planning a Superior Wall basement, but haven't ruled out ICF. I think I would be comfortable working with SIP's, and it will make it easier and faster for a small crew to erect the walls. I'm not as sure I would  tackle ICF. My biggest concern with either method would be wiring on the external walls. I know it can be done, and even know how to do it to a cetain extent, but I have a feeling that changes are going to come along as the build progresses, and both these methods are less forgiving than stick. I've heard that there are potential problems with termites tunneling through the foam on ICF to get to wood- any comments? I look forward to learning a lot on this forum, and sharing my project.
J

The termite icf question has been discusseed many times on the ICF forum, do a search before making a decision.

As to electrical changes making you believe you want to stay conventional, I also suggest you do some more homework on ALL of the available systems so you purchase what works for you.

You're in the early stages so take your time to evaluate each method of construction, and determine which you can do, which you need help with, and which has to be done by contractors so your decision is based on your needs. Just remember to compare each system to the same point, such as an ICF bld compared to the SIPs installed compared to wood sheathed, tyvek covered, insulated, ready to side.

Jdebree;

we just shipped a steel SIP home to an owner/builder in Taylors, SC .....no termite issues with steel SIPs

I'll have to get more info on steel SIP's (I've heard of them, but that's about it). My termite concern was termites tunneling up through the subterranean foam of ICF's. I know in some areas, you actually have to stop the foam (how?) at the soil surface for a certain distance. That's code, not somebody's say-so. Since our house will be a walk-out basement, I'm a lot less worried about termites from a concrete foundation. Most of the house would be out of reach, or the mud tubes would be obvious. Can a DIY'er work with steel SIP'S? When we first started planning, our FL home was worth $300K, and we were just going to have a house built (cash). When it dropped to $225, I planned on having a shell built, and finishing it myself (I have the skills and tools). Now, we'd be lucky to get $175K, which is about our threshold for having enough money to build, if I do almost ALL of it myself. If it drops much more, are plans are shot, and we'll probably sell the land, and either buy a completed house (with a mortgage) or stay in FL. But I have to keep trying....

jdbree;

I feel your pain on the equity!

we have had several DIYers  successfiully do the panels themselves, we have also done "shell only" and the owners finish out themselves

jdbree,

Check back through some of the existing posts in the SIPs forum.  Chris Kavala (and others) have posted pictures and descriptions of SIPs with applied firring strips to which the drywall is then attached.  That creates a void where he runs the electric.  It looks like a fairly forgiving approach.  My first reaction was that it would be more expensive in material and labor than using a cable race behind the molding.  But Chris pointed out that the void also helps reduce sound transmission:  I was sold because that is one of my requirements.

Good luck,
Larry

Furring out SIPS sure makes it much easier on the electrician.  You can use either wood 2x4's or steel hat channels to fur out the SIPS.

The firring strips make good sense on the inside. What about the outside of a steel SIP? How do you attach siding? I'm planning HardiPlank. Do you fir the outside as well, or? Seems like the walls would start to get pretty thick. At 1200 square feet, I'm trying to not give up too much interior space, and I'm trying to keep the outside dimensions in multiples of 2' to be efficient with building materials. Chris- I'll PM you later for more detailed info on steel SIP's.

all wall coverings are screw attachment ---------and approved for .....hardi, vinyl,  wire stucco lath

forget the 2ft. increments, it rarely works out and panels are 45-1/2" anyway

jdebree,

ACTech   uses interior furring strips for wire chase as well

Seaglade;

are you concerned about your panel warranty now that ACTech is going out of business?

Can someone confirm whether AC Tech is going out of business?  I have not seen anything in writing.

all indications are they are on the way out - stock dropped this year from $8. share to 12 cents , RED Chip stock reporting services indicate they are no longer a viable company and cite income this year is only $500,000. vs. $1.5 mil in expenses, they are not paying their loans. sec filings show CEO paid himself $500,000. in salary.
It appears the rats are getting off the ship!

 I hope the SEC throws that ^(%&^$^#&^&^* CEO in JAIL......!!

I have been think a while on building a green home and I have many superficial ideas like reusing water from showers for the toilet and using that recycled denim insulation to insulate my house and just simple ideas like that. I would like to learn more about using solar energy, recycled structural building products, and finishing products like flooring and counter tops ect… Sorry if some of this has already been asked I am new to these forums and ideas thank you for your patients and suggestions.

I think I just saw and article in ICF builder about adding electrical in a finished ICF house, did any one else? Similar to termites,I discovered carpenter ants in my ICF garage wall, on the inside. I did some checking and I believe they came to the garage because of the 4 yds of mulch I put on that side of the garage. They say that carpenter ants make a home where moisture is present and I just pressure washed the inside of the garage, ICF walls covered with corrugated sheet metal. I figured the water couldn't’t hurt and I have done it before. It was pretty easy to vacuum them and fix the EPS and I put poison bait out for them, just think if it was wood framing, they would have ruined the wood and they would be difficult to get.

Hi Brad,

I like your corrugated metal paneling.  Where did you get it?  Do you know the guage?  How wide/deep are the corrugations?  Panel size?

Bruce

Metal sales (national company) has the corrugated panels in two foot increments. It is available in a couple gauges, mine is light, but enough. I used "aluminum" colored silicon to seal it to the floor. For heavy stuff like the can crusher and bike rack I used aluminum diamond plate so as not to dent the paneling.

I am going to throw out some possibilities.

 

A lot of your cost savings come from simplified design and leaving stuff out.  You also need to think long and hard about simplifying and  optimizing the build for a small crew.

First, it is cheapest to build a rectangle.   Think 28X40 or 32X40.   4 straight 8’ tall walls.    Skip the bonus space in the second floor.  This eliminates a stairway and makes the floorplan work easier.    This also allows you to use trusses for the roof which saves more money.   3 people can put up a 28-32 ft truss with some effort without a crane.  If you use a scissor truss, it gives you a  vaulted ceiling without adding much more money.  I like  5/12 pitch roofs which gives you a 2.5/ 12 ceiling pitch.  This gives you an 11 ½ ft high center ceiling in a 32 ft wide house  Specifying an 4-7” energy heal allows more room and insulation in the ceiling.   Make sure the house has 2 ft overhangs all around and orient the long axis of the house to face south.

5/12 pitch is plenty for a roof to have good water shedding, but is easily walkable and you can roof it without roofing jacks.  Don’t screw up a good roof with shed dormers, and other decorative crap.  Just makes roofing harder and gives you more places for the roof to leak

The second thing this does is make all the load bearing for the roof on the outside walls and simplifies floorplans as there are no interior load bearing walls.

 There are only 2 of you, so a single bathroom is fine.  Make the bathroom and kitchen back up to each other so you minimize plumbing.  This can save a fair amount of money and you can get by with one plumbing vent stack= less penetrations in the roof 

Eliminate hallways if possible, they are wasted space.

Use good ceiling fans.

Use casement windows.  They seal better and you get twice the open area of a double hung for ventilation

Spend the money you save on window upgrades, a solar water heater, and better insulation.

 

In the basement, if you are using ICF, pour 9’  walls.    This does not add much cost.  Bring the stone level with the top of the footings, put down a vapor barrier, add 2” XPS and pour on top of that.  Now you have an insulated basement with a net of 8’7” headroom and no thermal gap at the footing.   This works as a shop or can be finished off as living space.  You can run ductwork and still net a ~8’ ceiling in the basement.

 

The last thing is if you are building it yourself, it will go slower so account for that.  The subfloor and sheathing will get wet so use zip panels for wall and roof sheathing and use Advantech for the flooring.  They seem to hold up better to weather them most plywood and OSB.

 

Good Luck ,

Have fun

 

Eric Anderson