We are building our simple SIPS house this summer. 32'x44' on a slab on grade foundation. The electrical contractor our GC NORMALLY uses is adamant that SIPS are a nightmare. He says we need to count on double the cost timewise and that the electrical will be severely limited. He says we should fur the walls all the way around but this seems very expensive. Our panel manufacturer has 1 1/2" chases at 16" and 45" horizontaly and 4' on center vertical. How do you get wire runs "around" exterior doors as these would cut through both the 16" and 45" chases? The same issue will present for some windows Also How many "home runs" can you run through ONE 1 1/2" chase? I think our big challenge will come in the "front" of the house which has a cathedral ceiling so there is no way to run wire through the ceiling. This part of the house will have a "great room" and a den/guest room so I'm thinking we might only need 3 home runs? The utility room/electrical panel is in the back part of the house. The back half of the house should be a lot easier since there will be interior walls and a standard ceiling to work with. Lastly what about wiring in ceiling panels for things like track lighting and a ceiling fan? We are supposed to do the final redline on our panels so they can be constructed and our electrician has us freaked out. Our panel manufacturer said they can precut boxes if we designate the locations but should they also run chases over or under window/door locations where needed?? I'm sure this ground has all been plowed before but our electrician is being really really negative. This is a really really small simple house.

Just get another electrician who has had more SIPS experience. It isn't worth it to put up with someone whose flexibility is so limited and it will cost you money and features in the long run. Once they get invested in how "difficult" it will be, they are nearly irredeemable.

I kind of agree with the E.C. - if you have SIP walls on a slab with no basement or crawl space, how is he supposed to wire the exterior walls, especially with a cathedral ceiling?

Your choices are get an electrican who is very experienced with wiring OSB SIP houses or have the panel manufacturer leave out the chase holes in the panel (which should save you money) and fur out the interior side of your SIPs and surface wire your electrical. Your building inspector may also be resistant to the concept of concealed wiring inside of SIPs too.

use furring strips to eliminate fishing wires and provide ease of future accessability

Posted By BillAK on 31 May 2012 02:25 AM
. How do you get wire runs "around" exterior doors as these would cut through both the 16" and 45" chases? The same issue will present for some windows

it is a royal pain in the rear>
delete the cost of the chases and add furring strips, they are not expensive
if you ever need to access wire buried in the wall it will become a major project, simply fur-out the walls and improve the STC rating at the same time

Bill, Don't let the negativity get you down. These are issues that can be solved. Here are a couple thoughts for you. First of all, if you can't get your electrical guy on board, find someone who is more flexible. A positive attitude is necessary for this project.Second, read "Building with structural insulated panels" by Michael Morley, and also "Builders guide to structural insulated panels" by Joseph Lstiburek" And then sit down with your electrical guy and come up with a plan BEFORE you start construction.And hopefully before you order your panels. My panel guy added chases in a few spots,and I don't even think he charged me extra or if he did it was minimal. You can make additional chases yourself too. I ran some conduit under my slab for a couple of difficult runs and it worked out very nice,(I should have done one or two more of those). There should be no reason you can't run wire through your ceiling panels (I did). Finally, Youtube has some pretty cool videos on wiring panels,watch as many as you can find.This stuff is not that difficult, it can be a little tricky but like anything, planning and forethought will go a long way. By the way, I did everything I wanted to do. The limitations are few.

Bill, We just finished a 3 story 7500 house. It was ICF in the half basement, 1st floor was ½ TJI over the basement and the other ½ was slab on grade. We also had a timber frame great room and kitchen with SIPS on the entire roof. Our electrician had never done a SIP house and he had no problem. Outside corners are no problem, just drill each outside panel at the chase height so you can pull the wire around and foam and plug the hole when you are all done. The doors are a little more problematic, either have the SIP manufacture put in another chase above the door if your wall height allows or make the door height 3 inches higher and fir it down so you have a chase above the door. If you are putting in any sconce lighting have the SIPS manufacture put in another chase at that level. You can also run conduit in the slab from one location to another, the commercial boys do it all the time. If the electrician won’t or can’t do the above find another one, life is too short to put up with that type of attitude.