Houses made of SIP panels

Recommendation points

• What is SIP panel
• Characteristics of SIP panels
• Disadvantages of SIP panels
• The cost of a house from SIP

From the article you will learn about what SIP panels are and what advantages a house built from them gives. We will talk about how such panels are produced and what is the peculiarity of installing SIP houses. The article contains the technical characteristics of self-supporting insulated wire and the prices of houses from them.

SIP – structural insulating panel, other names: SIP – Structure Isolation Panel, KTP – structural and thermal insulation panel. Such a panel combines two functions – load-bearing and heat-insulating, strong and tough enough to carry the load from floors and ceilings, while meeting the insulation standards.

What is SIP panel

This type of building material originated in Canada. Its creation was due to the increased requirements for seismic resistance and wind resistance of buildings. Initially, frame houses served as the standard of resistance to a hurricane, but their strength turned out to be insufficient, and the engineers proposed an unexpected and simple solution..

In fact, SIP is a three-layer sandwich panel in which a 120-180 mm thick expanded polystyrene board is enclosed between two 12-16 mm OSB oriented strand board. This simple and at the same time unique solution was born in the course of testing various combinations of materials – basalt slab and plywood; polyurethane foam and chipboard, polyurethane foam and boards, as well as many other options.

SIP elements are produced in workshops by gluing layers with high-strength polyurethane glue. It should be noted that the filler itself (expanded polystyrene) is selected for high compressive strength – not less than 0.5 MPa. Its strength is comparable to some types of wood (linden, fir). The work of external OSB slabs can be compared with the work of reinforcement in concrete, mesh in a screed or fiberglass when puttying. They hold the compressive forces and absorb the surface tension forces generated by loading. This gives the panel an exceptional load-bearing capacity..

Characteristics of SIP panels

The combination of high-tech, non-natural materials produced a striking effect – the panel was stronger than a layer of softwood solid wood of the same thickness. At the same time, 1 m2 of SIP with a thickness of 174 mm weighs only about 20 kg.

For self-supporting insulated wire with a total thickness of 174 mm with OSB-3 of 12 mm and polyurethane foam PSB-S-25

Index	Unit rev.	amount	Norm	Note
Thermal resistance	K / W	4.03	3.13	The norm for the middle lane
Thermal conductivity	W / mK	0.039	0.08	The norm for the middle lane
Vapor permeability	Mg / (m h Pa)	0.013	–	–
Transverse load	kg / sq. m	640	300-400	Factory concrete slabs PKB
Longitudinal load	kg / running. m	up to 11,000 (up to 11 tons)	1500-4000	At times exceeds the norms
Deflection Ratio L / 360	kg / sq. m	340	450	For slab 174×3050 mm
Deflection Ratio L / 360	kg / sq. m	95	130	For plate 174×5490
Fire resistance	–	class III	For residential buildings class III	Holds fire for an hour

For different manufacturers, the difference will be insignificant, provided that each of them strictly adheres to the technology. The positive characteristics can also include:

1. Low weight of the finished panel – up to 100 kg. Allows you to mount walls without equipment.
2. Simple installation technology. One professional in the team is enough to properly assemble the house.
3. Cold bridges are excluded.
4. The box of the house is an almost monolithic seamless construction *. This gives high resistance to wind gusts and tremors.
5. Panels allow you to vary the interior of the house.
6. Despite the very low vapor permeability, the dew point phenomenon is excluded from the SIP, since the internal filling of the walls – expanded polystyrene – has no air pores and therefore excludes the formation of condensate drops.
7. High seismic resistance – tests have shown that a self-supporting insulated wire house can withstand an earthquake up to 8 points.
8. SIP house does not shrink.
9. A double OSB board allows you to attach the trim frames outside and inside.

* Joint seams are glued along the timber and have no less tensile strength than the main panel. When tested, cracks appear along the plane, but not at the joints.

Disadvantages of SIP panels

It may seem strange, but it turned out to be quite difficult to find flaws in this material. In this sense, it is reasonable to consider not the material itself, but constructions from it (at home). Disadvantages appear only from a certain viewing angle:

1. Lower load-bearing capacity than concrete frames.
2. Higher flammability than brick houses.

The main problem of SIP panels is the Russian reality – the desire to do everything with your own hands. As a result, handicraft industries appear, where there is no control over the environmental, fire and toxic safety of products. And certainly no one will vouch for its constructive reliability..

It is reasonable to organize such production only under your own responsibility and for your own needs, but the sale of such material may turn into liability for counterfeit products. The market is flooded with this kind of materials – they do not meet the standards, so they are cheap.

“Home” production saves on everything, especially OSB, by using cheap, unstable varieties. Also technical “phenolic” board can be used. Homemade self-supporting insulated wire (SIP), as a rule, has poor geometry and this negatively affects the accuracy of joining the plates and the strength of the box..

All of these factors undeservedly “spoil” the reputation of the SIP and suggest that it is better to build such a house together with a large company than to acquire it ready-made.

The cost of a house from SIP

The panels can be purchased individually and assembled by yourself. One panel 2500х1250х170 will cost $ 60, and 2800х1250х170 – $ 67. One square meter will cost about $ 20.

The most convenient option is to order a finished house with turnkey assembly. For example, a house 6.9×4.4 m (27 m²) includes the following:

1. All materials of the house itself and the roof.
2. Foundation, stairs, PVC windows and doors.
3. Power supply, interior and exterior decoration.
4. Siding to choose from, ebb.
5. Installation 100% turnkey.

Such a house will cost $ 7,000 or $ 260 per 1 m². Simply put, this is a miniature but cozy summer cottage, which will allow you to live in it in winter, if you connect electric heating. The approximate price for SIP houses ranges from $ 220 to $ 300 per 1 m².

Video instruction for the assembly of SIP houses

The mere mention of the fact that one material can replace two, immediately attracts the attention of a thrifty owner. In fact, building “one by one” and creating sandwich structures is slowly but inevitably becoming a thing of the past. The present and the future belongs to combined materials.