Hello Listmates

I am in the middle of building an almost 4800 square foot house in MN with 8inch SIPs. Many people express concerns about what to do if they want to make a change in their SIP house because of the panelized construction. I would like to tell you what happened to our house that may allay concerns.

The second story of our house is smaller than the main level, so there are parts of the main level that have roof, and parts that have another level on top. Somehow the main story walls that were to have a roof over them were made 18 inches too high. This was not caught until a section of roof over the main level was installed and the crew realized something was wrong when the roof line was higher than the windows on the second story. I got a call from the contractor that perhaps the second story windows would all have to be raised to accomodate this unexpectedly higher roof (not a good option since the windows would be too high to be egress windows). Of course this was a friday and everyone went home for the weekend. When I went to the house I realized that the walls in question were all 18 inches too high. I called my SIPs rep on Saturday (who answered right away even though he was at his cabin) with my heart in my throat, scared about what our options would be. He calmly assured me that the wall panels could be cut down, even though this situation had never come up for them before (I sure hated to be the first!).

On Monday the section of roof that was installed was removed in 2 pieces and set aside to be reinstalled a few days later. On Wednesday the SIPs installer and SIPs rep were at the site cutting down the walls that were too high. By Thursday the top plates were in place,there were new panels above the window openings that had been quickly made and shipped by the factory to the site, and the alterations were complete. I was so impressed with how precise they were able to make the panel alterations. I was worried about the integrity of the panels after the alterations but with the precise cuts and the mastic to seal and join the panels in place, I am confident that the tightness of the envelope is intact.

Being a member of the human race myself, I know that mistakes are made. What impressed me so much with this experience was the immediate response from our SIPs company. I am not sure what scrambling went on behind the scene, but everyone from the factory personnel to my SIPs rep and SIPs installer were speedy and very professional. I cannot say enough about how impressed I am with their service and skills.

I hope this lets everyone know that changes can be made in their SIPs house while keeping the energy efficiency of the system intact.

Thanks for making your way through the lengthy submission.

Ellen

Ms. Johnson,
Your situation is somewhat unusual, but not unique. Changes are made to SIP homes in the field all the time.
We cut most of our panels in the field, in fact. And we have made changes even after the framing is completed.
Though moving a window 6 inches to accomodate a bedside view did cause some serious grumbling for my crew. Overall, I have found SIPS to be far more forgiving, and accomodating, than one would think.

Ms. Johnson,
Glad it all worked out well for you. Really.

Interesting you did not mention anything about finger pointing between the panel supplier and the GC.
It's been my experience in the past that the customer must sign off on the plans before production/fabrication begins.

Could you tell us your location and the name of the panel brand?

I'm getting panel bids at this time for my house and would like to make a good decision

We came upon an offer to buy previously constructed SIP panels that weren't ever assembled into a building. They were built from OSB manufactured in 2007, and we got enough for the project for $1,000, because the fellow who owned them needed the warehouse space

It took a lot of work, because they weren't sized for my structure. We built foam/OSB splines from some 4" panels because there weren't any splines in the warehouse, and also took a couple of 12" panels to use for "architectural details". We had to put triangular tops on some wall panels for the gable ends, and used a grinder to adjust the edges of some panels that were too wide for our sills.

So you can pretty much treat the panels like any other building product that is cuttable and joinable, as opposed to concrete. We used a Backhoe sometimes to adjust a panel into a spline it wasn't quite meant for, with no bad results so far.

Listmates,

I realize I misspoke when I gave the name of the panel company I used.  PanelworksPlus is the name of the company of our rep, but the company that builds the panels is Extreme Panel out of Cottonwood. MN.  Sorry for my lapse.  Too many sleepless nights worrying about the details of building our house.......

Ellen