Wow Chris,
I am wondering what % of your 3581 last posts are as off topic as your last comment.
We understand you sell panels, We get that you have a vested interest but this is not the place.
Please check the title of this thread. It is asking questions about DIY SIPs. You have really gone out of your way on this thread. Please join in a positive way or knock it off.

Nolan

And for those who are truly interested in considering and learning more about the possibilities; I just found a nice PDF with weights of various large sheet goods up to 8'x24'. http://www.affiliatedresources.net/downloads/Dyna_Span.pdf

Posted By Mortarsprayer on 22 Dec 2013 12:33 AM
Wow Chris,
I am wondering what % of your 3581 last posts are as off topic as your last comment.
We understand you sell panels, We get that you have a vested interest but this is not the place.
Please check the title of this thread. It is asking questions about DIY SIPs. You have really gone out of your way on this thread. Please join in a positive way or knock it off.

Nolan

And for those who are truly interested in considering and learning more about the possibilities; I just found a nice PDF with weights of various large sheet goods up to 8'x24'. http://www.affiliatedresources.net/downloads/Dyna_Span.pdf

Mortarsprayer:

You really had to reach back for that 10 month old stale post

I find it difficult to put a positve spin on something that I feel as a SIP professional is reckless and dangerous for a do it yourselfer, you obviously have no clue what is takes to handle 8 x 24 sheets and is not a DIY'er project.
Fortunately many do not share your opinion, as besides contributing on these forums, I get countless email messages and personal phone calls from GBT forum readers, I take the time and effort to talk to them all and offer my expertise on a variety of subjects.

Chris is well respected and knowledgeable in the SIP industry. He also does a lot of charitable work overseas and here in the US, building SIP structures for those who are less fortunate. Chris is not alone in his warnings about DIY SIPs. Others have voiced their concerns about it. These "drive-by" posts from people with only 2 -5 posts is always questionable. Chris has provided valuable information in the numerous years and thousands of posts. Its Christmas so Merry Christmas to all!

Posted By Lbear on 21 Feb 2013 03:15 AM
Mixing concrete in a bucket is not the same as creating a SIP. It's apple and oranges. Ancient civilizations were mixing concrete and creating concrete and masonry structures thousands upon thousands of years ago. Concrete & masonry are basically a naturally occurring but man-made version of stone and rock.

A self-made SIP is like saying one can create their own GluLam beam or there own piece of OSB by laminating strands of wood and using some glue to hold them together. These are precision structural elements that require factory conditions, equipment, and precise construction.

Until IRC or IBC recognizes DIY garage made SIPs as viable structural elements in construction, I just don't see it being a valid choice in construction.


What I DO SEE happening here is that people will attempt a DIY SIP and it will fail, the structure will fail, or it will look like total garbage. This will then be posted into the media and it will give SIPs a bad name. So even legit and professional factory SIPs will suffer from the bad press because of DIY SIPs.

Do you realize how many people have built an airplane in their garage? 

We're talking about a sheet of foam with something glued on each side, slightly less complicated to make than a grilled cheese sandwich.

Posted By krom on 25 Dec 2013 10:37 AM

Do you realize how many people have built an airplane in their garage? 

We're talking about a sheet of foam with something glued on each side, slightly less complicated to make than a grilled cheese sandwich.

Are these "home made planes" allowed to be flown in US airspace and registered with the FAA to make sure they have oversight on safety? Would you put your wife and kids on such a "home made" plane and trust that it would not crash and kill them? When these planes do crash, who is responsible for the liability?

A SIP is not a complex space age structure but it is far more than just foam with, "something glue on each side." If a SIP is just a "grilled cheese sandwich" to you, then maybe you should be in the kitchen cooking and not building homes.

Nobody is stopping you from doing your own SIP. Just make sure you can pass code, inspections, and the home can be insured. When it comes to selling the home, you must give full disclosure that you built your home with some glue that you threw on the foam and then threw some wood on top of that.

There are tens of thousands of "home made planes" in the air, and I have flown in plenty of them.

A sip is nothing more than a hunk of foam with something glued to each side. Just like cheese, bread, and butter, but you don't have to cook it

For the life of me I cant understand how any reasonable intelligent person would think otherwise.

This isn't some top secret rocket science.

The safety of any construction is an engineering question. And I haven't seen any engineering data that indicates that sheets glued to foam in non-factory conditions has a higher or lower failure rate than say ICFs (filled onsite and subject to some serious hidden structural defects when not done right). Or some DIY selfer "throwing" OSB and gypsum on studs and attaching it with a few nails.

People guessing and then adamantly declaring "this is safe" or "this is unsafe" isn't a very interesting conversation.

What about blocks of foam with recesses pre-cut for studs and top / bottom plates so you can build them into standard framing?