If your skills are solid and you have patience you can jig your way around a job site making all the cuts and decisions necessary to building a great home. Every cut can be facilitated by creating templates and jigs to ensure good angles and straight cuts. The panels are relatively easy for a couple of guys to manhandle around the site.

The complexity of the plan should not disuade you either. Get a draftsman or architect to make the home SIP's friendly, which for the most part means getting the walls as close to 4' increments as you can to save on materials. Use good quality caulk where applicable, use a good sill sealer and have a blast. Building a home with SIP's might just get you into the business full time.

I would never build any other way. It is the only way someone of my limited skills and ability can make a living...

David,
For a 1st time project, I would not recommend onsite cutting. There is a lot more to it than just cutting holes in a panel. There are loads and headers to also be considered. Go with a prefabbed product.

Foundation? If the ground is fairly dry, and there are no water issues, they work just fine.

Isogroup,

Thanks for a very interesting site.  That's some productivity -- two masonry homes per year per construction worker. 

Very respectfully,
Larry

Appreciate the input. Greg says go ahead and cut your own, Jc says pre cut. Back to square one :) I think I am capable of doing it myself and look forward to the challenge. I will get 3 quotes for pre cut and compare it to DIY. If the price is not to much higher perhaps that would be the way to go. Any idea how much more I might be looking at % wise??. As for the sip foundation I will have a walk out basement and I am on a high lot so water should not be an issue. If going with the 8in sip walls should I go thicker for the foundation. I have to bring my car for repairs in Thunder Bay (Ontario) in a couple of weeks. There is an company there working with Thermopan. I am going to see if I can donate my time with them for the day and let my girlfriend go shopping. Whether I shop with her or not it seems to cost me the same. LOL. I am sure the owner/foreman could use some free help and a Timmy's (canadian code for coffee). Cheers.

Dave

Dave,

I've had clients with little carpentry experience and have never seen a SIP in their life, do an on site fab. I do highly recommend that you purchase an RTI (Ready to Install) package, as a first time user, but with a good set of shop drawings (a complete set showing all the lumber, lumber sizing, special details, ect.) and support from the company selling you the materials and shop drawings and if you do have good skills, you could do this. In our neck of the woods a Cut & Scoop package runs $ 0.70 per square foot. You can have that work done and then install the lumber package on site. You should still request a complete set of shops. The lumber install into the package, runs $ 0.75 per square foot. Prices are different in every region. That should give you a guide line. Site fab verses shop fab. It's about time savings and tooling up. If you're going to do this again, purchasing a few tools to make it easier would be an investment. If time isn't important, go for the site fab.

The panel Guy