Hey Chris,
It's good to see you active on this forum. As you know I've been building with metal clad SIPS for 23 years, both residential and commercial. I have used aluminum clad, steel clad and OSB sips. I've only seen one case of the skin delaminating from the foam and that was a new company that is now out of business.

Although we disagree somewhat between aluminum and steel skins I think we both agree that metal skins are light years ahead of OSB. You've pretty much covered most of the reasons but the feature I like best is the incredible strength and span abilities of metal over the wood products. As to break metal connections I use mostly standard steel framing track bought at local drywall suppliers.

Hey Dan, Happy New Year!

yes we are in agreement about the light years.

we use the steel stracks too in 20ft. lengths, but flip-flop between 18 ga. steel or .063 extruded aluminum tracks that are available up to 40ft., depending on the market price.

 Right now aluminum is less, it is also painted white and more user friendly, being cuttable with a carbide/miter saw.

We are using the painted aluminum channels for an upcoming build in New Orleans where the skins on the walls and roof are the finished siding and roofing.

I think the other poster complaining about the expense was refrencing, the angled channels and they had not found a good source, but them being a DIYer with a one time purchase do not have the buying power or resouces that you and I have

Standard steel framing track normally has much shorter legs than the 2 inch legs spec'd on the track in my drawings. But I know you can order it that way through the drywall supplier.

If there are standard angles/pitches that you can get with the extruded alu track then one could use them in the design stage to dramatically reduce cost. That's one of those things you learn after the first project :)

Anyhow, I do have some places where I would like to use panel scraps on the interior in a non load bearing capacity to create built-ins, mostly a bar in the kitchen as well as shelving and desks in the office. That seems like a good place to use standard steel framing track with the short legs - what do you seasoned professionals think?

I just bought the land for a small house. My project is in Minneapolis, MN. I need to find a builder to build this as I cannot general a project like this myself. I have some contacts for OSB builders. How can I find a metal SIP builder in MN?

If the roof panel is also the eave with a 24" overhang, how is a thermal break done for a metal SIP without weakening the panel?

Mark K

Mark K,

Adding a  thermal break (saw cut) to a metal SIP will weaken it to a degree. One should then add reinforcing such a soffit framing to strengthen the assembly.

That is a nice detail.  I have a few questions about it.  What is the gauge of components that are shown in the heavy black lines?  Are they site bent or what?  There is what looks like a saw kerf cut in the roof panel right above the wall.  What is the purpose of that?

 

Thanks,

Bruce

Bruce,

18ga min. shop fabricated. The continuous saw cut is a thermal break. It stops the cold migrating along the bottom panel skin to the interior of the home.

Jeff

Thanks for the reply. Are there any metal panel homes/builders in my area? Minneapolis, MN

Bruce,

They are a very rare breed. None that I know of in or even near your area. I would contact gefcollc.com
maybe they know a way to get metal panels to you for a resonable price. The reason I suggest them is they sell a polyiso foam core metal panel which has an R7.5 per inch thickness. This core material performs really well in a climate like yours and one would not need a very thick panel to meet your insulation needs.