How do you repair interior SIPS, backfilling the foam and the OSB?

We have several large dogs who have on occasion chewed through the drywall which I have repaired in the conventional manner.  Putting aside reasonable questions like why we would ever keep those animals, how would I repair a SIP wall?

-Doug

If you haven't already built this home, use Steel-Skinned SIPs. They won't be able to chew through that.
We had a client that asked that same question and it turned out to be the determining factor for his decision of Steel over OSB SIPs.
Otherwise if this an exisiting building, I have no idea.
Charles

Is there steel on the inside of the SIPs? I thought the steel was only on the outside as siding material, but if on the inside it would stop them at the steel.

But repair of SIPs is a real concern of mine.  Beside the dogs which are my personal concern, say there is some minor fire damage or bad human behavior in a student rental unit that breaches the inegrity of the skin and foam from the inside of the house, or some "creative" home modifications by a ham-handed handyman. 

Conventional stick construction has known repair methods. There must be methods to repair SIPs, but how?

Regards,
Doug

I am not sure what manufacturer of SIPs with which you may be speaking, however, I have seen a 2 by 4 shot at one hundred miles perhour that hardly dented a Steel Sip. By the way, the only SIPS we use have Steel Skins on both sides.

As far as minor fire damage, I would say that you're probably not going to have any problems structurally with your Steel SIPs. Keep in mind we are talking about "minor" damage, as in just interior finishing damage. Furthermore, foam will melt at high temperatures, and in that case, would need to be replaced just as Stick framing would need to be replaced.

Now, your question about handy-man work, and modifications. This is a problem and concern of many that are deciding what to use with construction. because there are not many that are familiar with SIPS, many are scared away. When it is possible, depending on the modifications, and maybe you could be more sspecific, it would be best to find handy man professionals that are familiar with SIPs. However if you can't Sites like this where I would come to find advice on making determinations on makeing modifications properly.

Charles
[email protected] I will have this e-mail forever if you chose a SIP system, and need some help or advice on how to modify or repair your SIP home.

I do not want to modify a house.  I need information to decide whether to go with SIPs or not.  I am looking at the lifecycle.  If ther is no way to restore minor breaching, short of removing and replacing the side of the house, I will not choose SIPs of any kind. 

I don't really care how strong your particular product is - stuff will always get damaged.

Now, if anyone knows how to repair SIPS breached from the inside, please do respond. If it is impossible, that is also useful to know.

If a fire were to melt the foam in your home, or if a truck were to drive into your home, the section damaged would need to be replaced, not the whole wall. Depending on actual circumstances, you could try and replace the SIPs with SIPs or just with Stud framing as you would with typical framing. I guess what I am getting at, is you could repair your prblems with SIPs as you would with any other framing. I could suggest repairs to be done based on those circumstances as many on this site could, but without being mire specific, I don't what other info I can privide.

Charles

Coil_nine

You would be hard pressed to get a dog to chew thru a steel faced panel on the inside.
As far as exterior breaches, I have not seen any jobs that had wall damage , but on two occasions saw large tree limbs fall on steel panel roofs the largest was about 1000 lbs.
But, still did not experience any large holes, puntures, etc. damage was minor.
If a hole, puncture or breach was made of any size to a wall, the damaged area could be simply cut out , picture framed with channel and then infilled with new panel.

It's been along time since I have visited this forum.
It's too bad there are still people p===ing on other people's systems instead of helping answer questions.
To answer the repair question; if the damage is a small area you can cut out the damage and simply glue new
foam and OSB in place. I recommend using a polyurethane spray foam (like Great Stuff) as the adhesive. It
will glue the pieces and take up any gaps created when fitting the pieces together.
You must hold the repair in place with scrap wood screwed to the panel surface while the foam cures.

Bob H

Good point, Bob H.
A simple question leads to a lot of huckstering.
Doug, I cannot visualize a dog chewing thru drywall with an OSB SIP behind it. And if he does figure it out, he'll have a lot harder time chewing thru the OSB. And if he does, shoot the SOB before he decides to chew on small humans.

hi coil_nine

this is a very simple fix. i have had to do this many times because of inserting ph style hold downs. all that you have to do is remove the damaged osb, insert a 2x along the perimiter of your cut, cut a new piece of osb and nail it on, and then drill a hole and fill whatever gap you may have left with expanding spray foam. if you have fire damage and an larger area over 16'' you may want to frame that area, cut new osb, nail it off, and fill the gap with spray foam.

gabe

Thank you for the replies about repairing SIPs. I can visualize the process, and although I hope I never have the opportunity, it is good to know I can have it done and keep the structural integrity without replacing whole panels. The skin is the structure.

As to huckstering, guess who I will never, ever do business with, warn people away from, and will not recommend the product even with OSB splinters under my fingers? I had recently found out about steel clad panels and they seemed like a good idea with some drawbacks. I am now extremely wary about any steel clad panels. Anytime a product is pushed that hard, there is a 500 pound "gotcha" waiting to getcha. I don't know what it is, and I don't want to be the person to find out. Sorta like aluminum wiring.

Finally the dogs - they are Siberian Huskies, incredibly gentle to people but they find it amusing to chew through things. The term for the behavior is "dissecting", and they have a high drive for it. We regularly allow them to dissect stuffed toys and empty cardboard boxes to distract them from other objects, like furniture, socks, shoes, and walls. Still, they are easier than children and less destructive than college students.

Thanks again,
Doug

Doug,

I do not sell any products.  Since I retired teaching in the School of Architecture at Auburn University, I donate most of my services to worthy and/or interesting projects. 

Since I am familar with several alternative building technologies and products, I wonder which steel SIPS raised your suspicion.  If you are hesitant to name the company on this forum, please e-mail me at alton (at) auburn (dot) edu.  I am just curious, nothing more.  Maybe we can share experiences about products.