Jelly
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| 10/26/2007 12:44 PM |
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Anybody have any real world experience? How do SIPS houses perform in hurricanes?
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cmkavala
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Posts:859
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| 10/26/2007 1:55 PM |
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Jelly;
YES, a competitor of mine in south Florida had a direct hit from hurricane Charley on a couple of their SIPs homes and survived with only a cracked window
LINK
We had a Steel SIPs home under construction that endured 3 hits in the crossfire of Charley, Frances and Jean, where the nearby Sanford International airport clocked winds in excess of 115 mph.
LINK
at that time only the house shell was up with no windows in yet, the storm was so intense we were not able to get back to finish the shell for 3 weeks due to downed power lines. The shell sustained no damage, with other conventional structures in the neighborhood losing their roofs
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Chris Kavala
chris@southernsips.com
1-877-321-SIPS |
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drogers
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Posts:68
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| 10/26/2007 2:06 PM |
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| During Charlie a SIP home went through with minimal cosmetic damage. The home is in Port Charlotte, FL . There was an article in one of the local papers at the time. |
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seaglade
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Posts:29
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| 10/26/2007 3:56 PM |
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Lost my home to a Hurricane a few years ago, after a couple of years of research, I built a small cottage with ACTech Panels made by Alternative Construction Company, these panels have a Florida Building Code number for using the panels for both walls and roof, it is rated for 146 MPH winds. Hope I never have to find out if it can handle it, but believe it stands a better chance then stick built.
I wanted to build a house that if it did get wet inside, I could go in with a garden hose and rinse it out. So I painted the interior steel walls/roof with paint instead of using drywall, then I used Hardie Board sheets to make the bath/closet walls, and Hardie trim board around all the windows/door.
I highly recommend ACTech panels, great product. |
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cmkavala
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Posts:859
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| 10/26/2007 4:00 PM |
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Seaglade;
ACTech is great structurally, but I did not care for the 3" thick roof panels it looks a little too thin |
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Chris Kavala
chris@southernsips.com
1-877-321-SIPS |
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seaglade
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Posts:29
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| 10/26/2007 6:00 PM |
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That thin look is deceiving, my ACTech 3 inch thick roof panel are strong enough and it does not look flimsy either. Having researched every kind of SIP panels available, fiber cement, OSB, alumuimn, steel and the different kind of foams, this panel worked best for me. I am a first time owner builder and I made some mistakes while building but picking out the best SIP panel was not one of them. |
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cmkavala
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Posts:859
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| 10/27/2007 9:45 AM |
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Seaglade;
I was not knocking the panels structural integrity, I have seen the panel first hand and they had bid several of my projects.
I am just saying that from an aesthetic point of view I didn't care for the 3" , I like at least 6" of roof edge reveal |
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Chris Kavala
chris@southernsips.com
1-877-321-SIPS |
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Jelly
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Posts:291
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| 10/29/2007 12:06 PM |
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| thanks all for the replies - sounds like SIPS do pretty well in a storm. |
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Donaldson
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Posts:92
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| 11/05/2007 6:05 PM |
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Jelly,
Hi, I am the owner of the two story house in Sanford FL taht went through Charlie when it was just a shell. not only did it hold up well but I hadn't put any type of roofing on yet and the seems didn't leak. After living in the house for two years now I am amazed at how quiet it is as well. I can look out side and see my trees bending over backward in the wind and yet I don't hear a thing inside! With ten foot ceilings downstairs and 14 foot open gable ceilings up stairs I average about 4.5 cents per square foot for A/C or heat. |
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Jelly
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Posts:291
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| 11/12/2007 1:07 PM |
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| Hi Donaldson, is that a steel SIPs house or OSB? |
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Donaldson
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Posts:92
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| 11/13/2007 9:12 PM |
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| Jelly it is steel sip house, |
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Jelly
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Posts:291
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| 11/14/2007 3:07 AM |
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seaglade - you said you're a first time owner-builder (I will be too) and that you made a few mistakes - it would be great to hear what those mistakes were so we could learn from them. If you're willing to share it would be appreciated. So were ACTech panels DIY friendly?
Something I wonder about, and I don't know if anyone is looking at this thread anymore so maybe it's not a good place to ask it, but how would steel SIPS fare in a situation like what happened in New Orleans?
Here is the scenario - the house survives the hurricane winds but sits in flood waters that go three feet up the wall for two weeks. The water *will* get inside the panels. Once the EPS is soaked what happens? Does it just dry out, or does it need to be replaced? |
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cmkavala
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Posts:859
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| 11/14/2007 6:11 AM |
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Jelly;
the galvalume steel SIPs would fare much better in flooding , they do not support mold growth, once water recede you would need to gut interior drywall from waterline down |
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Chris Kavala
chris@southernsips.com
1-877-321-SIPS |
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seaglade
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Posts:29
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| 11/14/2007 8:04 AM |
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The scenario you mentioned about standing flood waters like in New Orleans, is exactly why I decided to build with the ACTech panel (steel and PU). If my house survives the hurricane winds I wanted to be able to go in and hose it out, the steel and PU will dry out, in a stick built house you will have to cut out and replace the wood/inslulation/drywall to get rid of the mold. I also used 4x8 sheets of Hardie Board for enclosing my bath and closet instead of wood, used Hardie trim board for around my doors/windows on the interior and exterior.
One of the mistakes I made is not building on piers with a SIP floor, instead I built a 6 foot tall stem wall packed it with dirt and poured a concrete slab on top of it. There are houses in Mississippi that are being built using ACTech panels on piers since Katrina.
I did not have the ablility or resources to build the cottage myself so I had ProSteel out of Georgia who's parent company Alternative Construction Company makes the ACTech panel come down to Florida and build it for me. After watching it go up I would say if you have some construction/building skills it would be DIY friendly.
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mcinfantry
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Posts:9
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| 11/16/2007 12:22 AM |
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| im building 5400sf under roof w/actech in biloxi, ms and its beachfront. its a 4 man crew. not bad and i like them. |
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