I've been in the panel industry since 1991. SIPs with OSB have been the prevalant SIP for most of my years in the business. I've noticed that there is a company posting here that has steel facings for their SIPS and I've also come across a couple of companies that provide a cement skinned SIP. Could those who supply steel and concrete provide equivalent information to that which I'm supplying. I'm located in Northern California and we supply Premier SIPs.

Base cost for a 6 1/2 SIP wall panel with 7/16 OSB Skins and Polystyrene foam cores. - $ 4.25 per square foot - Weight for a 4 x 8 panel - 120 pounds - Provides an R-Factor of 23.

Base cost for a 8 1/4 SIP with 7/16 OSB Skins and Polystyrene foam cores. - $ 4.66 per square foot - Weight for a 4 x 8 panel - 128 pounds - Provides an R-Factor of 30.

Shipping is a huge factor these days. Our maufacturing locations are Phoenix, AZ and Fife, WA.  - Shipping runs $ 3.00 per mile. Shipping to Californina runs approximately $ 2,400.00 from
either location. We're hoping to start pressing panels in Dixon, CA which would cut shipping by 75%.

I'm very interested in knowing how the steel and concrete panels compare.  I'm sure the readers would be interested also.

Are the Steel and Concrete surfaces prefinished in the sense that do they have finished patterns that simply need to be painted ? That could be a huge advantage if so.

I hope the steel and concrete SIP floks will share their information.

The Panel Guy

TPG;

whats the up-charge, if any, for wire chases and "perform guard" termite resistant foam?

There aren't any. Wire chases are standard and so is the perform guard.

Those are 'raw' panels. Kinda like buying 2x4's. You want it custom cut to size, and lumber installed? It's going to cost you more.

So if I need a 17' - 6" panel it is more per sq. ft.?

What lumber installed?

Very possibly. It depends on the manufacturer.

Window & Door wraps, and any required structural lumber(headers, point loads etc.).

This is a problem that comes up over and over again. There is no consistent method of pricing. Each company has its own idea about what is 'standard'.
Panel Guy--Are your prices for precut panels or blanks?
As I understand it, almost all steel and PU panels are precut. Right?
When I first started using OSB SIPS I didn't even know you could get them precut. Not sure you could, back then.
So I have a crew that is well versed at field cutting and installation. Therefore, I buy only blanks, and add in the cost of precutting to my local labor costs. Which has been less than buying factory precuts, in the couple times I have had bids run for them. And an added advantage for us, if the client walks through the project and just has to have a door or window moved 2" and is willing to pay for the move, it is no problem.
By the way GaTom, if you look at those prices, the larger panels cost more per sq. ft. because of the OSB being more expensive in larger 'non-standard' sizing.

The panel Guy,

can you answer the question about how 17' - 6" panels are charged out would we be paying for an 18ft?
or better yet if I need 20' - 3" panel am I paying for a 24ft. ?

Your post says "base cost" what is not included in the "base cost"

Just got a quote from sure tight OSB:

4-1/2" panels are $4.50

and

6 -1/2" are $5.00

plus $3.20 mile delivery

And from Sips Team USA and average of $5.50 sq.ft. for 4-1/2" & 8-1/4" , plus trucking costs ? plus misc storage fee if not taken within 7 days

Hi Wes,

To kill two birds with one stone, I'll take a minute here to answer GeorgiaTom questions first. Most manufacturers & Distributors sell panels in 2 foot increments. So for a 17'6" panel you would be paying for an 18 foot long panel. Same with the 20'3" panel, you would pay for a 22 foot panel.

Standard Pricing - You are correct that there are no "standard prices". Each manufacturer or distributor has their own pricing matrix. I do post on my website, at ebuildingsystems.com square foot pricing for what we call an "RTI" (Ready to install) package. It provides for simple cost estimating for product sold in Californina and it is actually a good guage for SIPs from any manufacturer or distributor. I've seen pricing from most of my competitors and the end pricing result falls within my square foot cost estimates and are usually 10 to 15% (on the higher side) of where my square foot cost estimating is. My company moves considerably more product than most in California, which is why I can keep my pricing down.

The prices I posted were for blanks. I was hoping to see what blanks for steel and concrete panels ran. Fabrication is a whole different pricing matrix. From your statement, it sounds like you can only get steel or concrete panels with fabrication. I know little about steel and concrete SIPs which is why I worte my original post. I'd most interested if that is truely the case about having to buy steel and concrete fabricated as the only way you can purchase product.

I've ran my own fabrication shop since 1996. There are not many independent fabricators in the business. I'm one of the few in California. The manufacturers have been fabricating over the years with great reluctance. They want nothing more than to press skins on foam and move them out the door. Most manufacturers do offer fabrication only becasue they have to in order to move product. Premier loves my shop.

I've done pricing comparisons on projects we have field cut as compared to the costs out of the shop and our shop prices are way cheaper. Fabrication is a funny duck. Since the manufacturers don't really want to do fabrication, their prices tend to run high. Other companies that have tried their hand at fabrication figure out the ahrd way, that there really is no money in fabrication. It's kind of a lost leader. Your profits are in sales of SIPs and accessories. I do make a small profit, but whats more important to me is the control I have with the quality and scheduling.

Your last comment to GaTom about the larger panels costing more per square foot. Not the case with us. You can by a 4 ft. x 6 ft. panel at the same cost you can buy an 8 x 24 ft. panel.

TPG

Georgia Tom,

On your price from Sure Tight what did it include? cutting routing etc

Ralph

TPG;

I think there is a contradiction in your last post as according to my calculations a 20'-3" panel x 6.5"thk. is is costing $4.61 a square foot if it's cut out of a 22ft.

of course if you are using panel optimization you can also charge customers full price for the angled gable cuts and pocket the difference

It said ready to assemble

GATom,

Wow, if you can get a 6 1/2 inch ready to assemble panel for $ 5.00, that is one heck of a deal. Fabrication has a couple of different meanings depending on who
you are talking to. Fabrication should actuall be defined two ways - Cut & Scoop, where all the panels are cut to size with edges scopped and ready for you to
install the lumber pakage and what is called "Fully-Fabricated' or RTA (Ready to Assemble) or byour company "RTI" (Ready to Install), whether or not it's one of those
three the panel has the structural lumber installed into it and it is "ready to assemble". I make that point as I've seen other bids that state they are providing fabrication and
come to find out it's only a Cut & Scoop package. Unless a purchaser knows to ask the right questions, they end up getting a package that they believe is ready for installation only
just to find out that they have to install the lumber package into it.

I only stated that if you need a 20'3" panel you would pay for a 22 ft. long panel. If you want it to be actually cut to 20'3" then you would have to pay a fabrication charge of
$2.75 per lineal foot x 4 = $ 11.00 = $ 0.13 per square foot = $ 4.38 per square foot. You can't really use a square foot number for Cut & Scoop pricing as it is figured by the
lineal foot of cut. I think that should answer your question.

TPG

TPG;

My math is different

Cost of a 6-1/2” x  4’ x 20’-3” OSB SIP ( 81 sq. ft.)

Cost of panel =              $374.00

Cut to length charge  =  $ 11.00

Total ……………………….   $ 385.00 divided by   81 sq. ft. =  $4.75 per sq. ft.

 

 

 

TPG,

I don't mean this as a challenge, I'm honestly interested in how the two processes compare:

When you're fabricating in shop, what tooling do you use? 

Can you keep the same accuracy and quality of cut as is done on large automated saws at the vendor?

If not, how do you compensate on site?

Very respectfully,
Larry

Cost of a 6 1/2 x 4' x 20'3" (cost of panel actually based on a 4 x 22) - 88 sq. ft.

88 sq. ft. X $ 4.25 = $ 374.00
Fabrication charge to cut to 20'3" - $ 2.75 pre lineal foot x 4 feet = $ 11.00

Total cost - $ 385.00 divided by 88 sq. ft. = $ 4.375 per sq. ft.

Can't really use the 81 sq. ft. as a factor in this.

TPG;

That is the reality!
 
I don't need a 1'-9" drop and neither do you, so it ends up as waste that the customer pays  for.