Well the walls are up on our house that we are constructing in Ontario, Canada. We went with blank panels and it could not have been easier. This is our third house building project, the first was stick frame and the second was strawbale with post & beam. Out of the three SIP's in my opinion is a no brainer. Yes there are some things one needs to consider differently but overall it's been a rewarding experience. I was able to put up about 1/3 of the walls by myself. Total SIPs construction time was 3 days - these is obviously a lot of prep work before getting to this!

What worked for me:

1) Building a fairly simple house with uncomplicated roof lines. It's a craftsman style bungalow 1810sq ft with only a small gable in the roof.

2) Vendor was easy to work with and the SIPs came in excellent condition

3) Paid extra for a good foundation crew and they were within 1/8" tolerance. Foundation was 58'x32'.

4) For custom cutting, used circular saw with a guide to get straight cuts. Cut both sides and then used a tree trimming saw to cut the last 3-4" of insulation. The saw worked really well due to the length and slimness of the blade.

5) Decided to go with a truss roof with cellulose insulation


What didn't work for me:

1) The third party carrier brought a 63ft truck for SIPs that took up less than 20ft stacked together! He refused to come up the drive that is approx. 500-600 ft with a slight curve to it. So we had to move all the SIPs on the top of my pickup's roof rack and then offload them again...what a workout. Considering I am able to get me 40ft RV down it backwards and forwards, personally they brought the wrong truck or wrong driver.

2) The adhesive ran like an oiled snake, couldn't get it to slow down once it got warm. I likely wasted a bunch because even with the pressure off, it still would come flowing out. Decided to keep it in a cooler place and it got better.

I would say this is a great building method and if one is comfortable with basic carpentry and has house building experience, it is simple. For those less experienced, just the frame up of the flooring, rim joists, subfloor may be a challenge in itself.

Next is to continue with building process and get the subs in to finish the rough-in. Hopefully the energy efficiencies come to fruition.