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Did you do a sip floor on your block piers? Or timber floor with sips on top? Presumably if you used a SIP floor you used timbers as joiners rather than splines?
Interesting about the gripfill! I’m not a fan of gripfill but I’ll do some more digging.
Glad to hear you had a good experience, I assume you had help installing the panels? Mine are all just big standard 8x4s and I’ll be doing all the “manufacturing” myself. They’re f*cking heavy though so install will be a 2 man job for sure.
Noted about the design side, I think I’ve already got that firmed up but I will definitely make sure it’s finalised before starting in earnest!
ThePeginator-
Yes I used a SIPS floor. The manufacturer provided a frame that the panels slot into. I taped the joins and then laid a vapour barrier on top.
These are their photos, not mine. I can't seem to find any of my photos - not that I took very many.My father in law helped with lifting the panels into place. To be honest you could do it alone, but it is obviously easier with extra hands. I've seen videos on youtube of people using ratchet straps to help cinch panels together along walls.
Trunkie
What kind of base/foundation did you go for? Would you do it again
or different? (Realise this is pretty subjective based on location
etc)
Block piers. I did look at ground screws but they're expensive. Would use piers again as they're cheap and quick enough.
What did you join the panels with in terms of adhesive? Seen
everything from pu glue, foam, specialist sip mastics (in the
states). PU glue seems to be the go to in the UK? Obviously the
adhesive is crucial as it’s what really joins the panels and
provides the air sealing.
I used gripfill as recommended by the manufacturer. I used plenty of it so there was squeeze-out and the panels themselves are built with pretty good tolerances so everything slotted together tightly. I aluminium taped all the joints inside.
Have you had any problems? Either on install or long term? Seems the
general consensus is sips are great if done right but crap if done
badly.
No problems. the structure is only about 18 months old though so maybe time will tell.
Installation was really quick and easy - bar the size of some of the panels, particularly the roof ones and getting them through the house and lifting them onto the walls. I''d definitely use them again.
What would you do different, if anything?
Nothing really. For my particular design I created the main structure and then added a stud wall to the left and extended the roof to create a storage space along the depth of the building. I would consider creating the whole structure from SIPS if I was to do it again as it'd be slightly sturdier. However I'd lose some internal space due to the thickness of the walls and it would have cost a fair bit more. And I'd have struggled with access against the boundary fence.
This is unique to my use case though. I'd happily use SIPS again though for the speed and convenience.
Any tips?
Make 100% sure of your design as any changes on the fly are much harder than if you build with stud walls. You still need to consider panel sizes in the design to minimise wastage. The company I used (SimplySips) were really helpful and provided a lot of free advice and helped me tweak my design to make the most of their panel sizes.