to best of my knowlege first sips in Tobago, 2 storys in Mountain/rainforest  3 miles from any real road, thru a river and up a 40 degree incline to building site owners thought it was heaven, I thought different!

Was there to teach untrained locals to erect picture below is day one - nearly 1/2 of balloon framed 2 story walls erected , during rainy season







Day 2 ..........prefer 2 scissor lifts , but must make due with what you can get






Moving up mountain side with lifts .............26ft long panels

Looks fun. What did they cover the inside and outside with?

Cool project! How did the materials get there - air freight, boat transport? Is there a Dietrich supplier on the island or did the joists have to be shipped in, too?

Cool project Chris K. Materials most likely came in one or two shipping containers. I've supervised and trained crews for 3 metal SIP houses in the islands. Two on Antigua and one on St. Marteens. Metal SIPs are an ideal building system for the islands.




Aird House Antigua '06

Posted By SimonD on 24 Jul 2010 07:32 PM
Cool project Chris K. Materials most likely came in one or two shipping containers. I've supervised and trained crews for 3 metal SIP houses in the islands. Two on Antigua and one on St. Marteens. Metal SIPs are an ideal building system for the islands

Simon;

they were shipped on 2 flat racks, other materials were sent via container, this allowed for sips to stay in their original shrink wrapped bundles (6-8 per bundle) for less damage

Posted By Jelly on 24 Jul 2010 02:05 PM
Cool project! How did the materials get there - air freight, boat transport? Is there a Dietrich supplier on the island or did the joists have to be shipped in, too?

Materials were supplied thru our affliate Sip Depot, all materials were shipped from port of Miami to Port of Spain Trinidad, after passing customs and paying VAT, shipped via flat bed trucks to Freight ferry to Port of Scarborough in Tobago, from that city to job site, unfortunately all deliveries got to port at 8PM, so made for long days, truck either had to be pushed or pulled with 4 x4 backhoe to top of mountain.

materials on island are limited, you better bring all with you,  on bright side by declaring home was a "kit" there was no import tax imposed

Posted By jonr on 24 Jul 2010 01:58 PM
Looks fun. What did they cover the inside and outside with?

jonr;

adventure yes, fun no......... if you mean skins they are 26 ga. white galvalume steel, if you mean final finish.... it will be lath/stucco outside,  inside will be drywall second floor with tropical wood accented walls, purple heart doors. First level will be left bare panels skins

It would seem that if the sip were designed specifically for stucco on the outside, they could use mesh or perforated/textured steel instead of sheet steel. This would save attaching lath and allow them to use less steel (because they know that the stucco will add some strength). Or call it a scip on one side and sip on the other. Perhaps not worth the manufacturer's effort though.

Mesh as an exterior skin wouldn't achieve the load distribution capabilities of a stressed skin panel.

Posted By jonr on 25 Jul 2010 10:07 AM
It would seem that if the sip were designed specifically for stucco on the outside, they could use mesh or perforated/textured steel instead of sheet steel. This would save you attaching lath and allow them to use less steel (because they know that the stucco will add some strength). Perhaps not worth the manufacturer's effort though.

sounds complicated for limited use

middle of day 4

That's some serious bracing going on - looks like 12 or 14 inch joists? But then again, a storm could whip up pretty quickly in those parts!

Posted By Jelly on 26 Jul 2010 08:08 PM
That's some serious bracing going on - looks like 12 or 14 inch joists? But then again, a storm could whip up pretty quickly in those parts!

exactly 14"- 14 ga. x 23 ft. trade ready.

Chris,
I don't see windows/door cutouts. Do you do these after the wall/roof installation?
What do you use to cut them?

Wes;

yes we cut out after entire shell is done and when windows/doors arrive on site, it allows the job to stay weathertight and secure.

a "panel saw" specific for metal panels is used

A circular saw with a steel-cutting blade can also be used, but it's the more ham-fisted method and takes a bit more effort to get a precise cut.

Jelly;

yes, a circular saw can be used, but you will also be picking the schrapnel out of your face & arms, the panel saw is much safer

Tell me about it! And goggles, mask, gloves, and earplugs make it harder to follow the line.

Chris,

I did this metal SIP house in Nevis. I think it was the first one. I love going to the islands to train and work along side the locals.

I have used this product and it does the job pretty good. The blade is well shrouded so the metal filings to fly up in one's face.