Oaky, here goes my first posting.
My husband and I have just returned from a fairly remote out island in the Bahamas.   We have cleared out lot and are trying to get our house plans finalized.   The main problem we are facing is that almost everyone we have spoke to says how important it is to be on site during construction.   This is next to impossible for us.    We met with a couple of builders while we were there.   They build mostly with concrete blocks or wood frame.  There is a cement truck on the island but no pump!   We are thinking we may have to go with a type of prefab/kit house.   We have been emailing back and forth with "carolinacottages.net".   Anyone out there have had any dealings with them?  Also have spoke with Chris from Marquis Construction who ended up helping on a sip house on the same island when the owner ran into difficulties.   So, what is the general concensus.   go with what the locals know, try a prefab/kit house or wait til we can be on site.    Unfortunately we do have a limited budget.    We need to build on stilts/piling and have met with some people who have used pavilion/pod style homes with really nice results.   They are wood framed.   Another question, the steel sip's  - are they prone to rust or does the siding/stucco elimiate that - what about the floors?    Sorry, if these seem like stupid questions.   All feed back will be greatly appreciated.

You're question is incredibly niave. You imply SIPs construction is the equivalent of "a house in a box" Educate yourself by visiting the incredibly informative website, www.insulspan.com. Then optimize your security and value by going to the ThermaSAVE website; the best choice. Thier panels are made of fiber cement board and possess the following, certified, incredible properties:
Hurricane Proof- have been certified to withstand 200 mph winds. That's the equivalent of a Cat 5 Hurricane
Earthquake Proof.- have been certified to withstand a 5 on the seismic simulator. That's stronger than any earthquake ever
recorded.
Fire Proof- they hold the absolute highest fire rating
Soundproof
Bug Proof- no termites or carpenter ants
Vermin Proof- no mice or rats
Mold Proof- no mold or mildew
Job completion in approximately 1/3 the time of conventional construction.
Approximately equal materials cost to conventional construction
Greatly reduced labor costs
Oh, and by the way, a ThermaSAVE home will reduce energy costs between 50% and 75% depending on the design!

Call the factory and get a quote for having a factory trained technician accompany your order and supervise the construction of your vacation home.

Hope this helps

Jeff

And your response was incredibly arrogant. And, BTW, it's spelled 'naive'.


No, I believe that she was also considering a kit.

I just love the way that you insult a poster, then go on to push someone's product. Class, I tell ya. Real Class.

Jeff;

there is nothing man made that is "proof" of anything, ""resistive" is the correct terminology

Cat Is.

I never worked with a customer that told me they had an unlimited budget. The panels we use are galvalume steel skins and are the same as high quality steel roofing used worldwide near salt water with out any covering.
Having experienced the Cat Island culture personally, I certainly would not engage in a cost plus basis contract with anyone unless you have unlimited funds.
A pre cut package makes the most sense with an experienced crew to put it up, the locals are wonderful people, but as you know, live a low stress life and are not highly motivated to get a job done quickly. There are limited resources on the Island so whomever does your job better come prepared

Didn't mean to insult anyone.  I was just trying to direct the poster to what I thought were extremely good sites in a sea of average to poor sites. I don't have a dog in the fight but am fascinated by the industry and why everyone isn't building with a SIPs product.

I probably should have reread it before I hit send. I stand corrected.

Wow, we wonder why SIPs encounter resistance...have we become to arrogant? Too assumptive? Too knowledgeable for our own good? I'd recommend SIPs for that area too, and ideally a simple floor plan that is easy to assemble. Ideally take a video of a home being assembled with SIPs from the company you want to buy them from and use that as your instructive video for the local people who will be assembling your home, it works with us all the time. NO one wants to look dumb. A video eliminates a lot of fear and concerns.

Good luck.

We're planning to build (assemble) over 600 condos in the Honduras soon. We plan to simply build a small SIPs plant there, and fabricate our SIPs there too. I can't wait to go! SIPs are right for all the right reasons.

Also, if possible, consider SIPs that are polyurethane foam vs. EPS...reason is that you get about double the R value in the same thickness.