My wife, father, and I toured a timber frame company's operations yesterday not from here. They built timber frames for homes all over the country, but they're stationed right in my back yard so to speak. Their campus has a full model home, office, design suite, and guest house all timber framed for people to tour as well as their CNC operations as well as their sister company that builds the SIPs for not only their homes but for companies all across the globe. It was really impressive. I've read up on SIPs in the past and have spoken to reps about them at building shows before, but I felt this tour was really insightful, and being in their buildings on a blustery single digit day (all of their buildings are SIP timber framed) and noticing how tight they were (and warm) really let me feel how impressive these things are. Like all building technology, I know there are pros and cons, but has anyone here built a home or know someone who has that used SIPs? Any thoughts? Would you recommend them over conventional framing?
I've also looked at similar builds and had similar thoughts. The only three things that would be a concern to me a) potential vapors from the foam b) (fresh) air exchange, since they are built so tight-some builders use a fresh air exchanger. c) any potential complexities from future remodels or additions.
Tight is fine as long as you have a good Air exchanger. We build a lot of houses that are spray foamed and are extremely tight. As for SIP homes, our building inspector told me to stay away from it but never did give me a reason why. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah, the off gassing is a big concern of mine. The air exchanger isn't a huge concern as I want to build pretty tight regardless of what construction/insulation method we go with so an air exchanger was most likely in the mix. I hate air infiltration after living and battling it in this home for the last 8 years. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
