i don't recall seeing anything other than wooden kit houses going up. they have been popping up everywhere.
quicker and cleaner to construct as well. also timber is a renewable resource, bricks and blocks aint. so much nicer for the sub trades as well, no grinding and chasing out for cables and pipes, also easier for future modifications, especial if built off the ground.
There’s a big company in Scotland that manufactures SIPS panels. Lots of trees up there to make the OSB panels.
Well done chizel, good to see something positive on the forum. I just remembered where I saw “sips” before, it was on a Volvo God knows how many years ago. I think it was something like side impact protection system, but we used to think it was “sorry I’m probably sleeping “.
Ask the Ducati dealership in Winchester if it makes any difference if the building is made of block construction. Apparently a lot of hospitals are being constructed from SIPs.
yip Sam, I live in a forestry cottage (brick built. wtf?) and in the middle of a forest funnily enough. they couldn't grow em fast enough. you cant, well, couldn't get tradesmen in to do repairs as they are all/where flinging these kits up everywhere.
I love the idea of sips panels and if / when it comes to build my own house (prob when I retire) I will use a similar method. Insurance companies are a pain our current house is concrete built and some insurance companies won’t insure you and some mortgage lenders won’t lend which is a pain. I will be watching this with interest. Well done @chizel on the employment and hope it goes well
My house is timber framed. They make a lot of sense for DIY home builders. Having built the foundations I got a firm to erect the frame then I built the roof. It was 12 months later before I got round to bricking up the outside walls!
I went to look at two wooden framed houses in South London with a view to buying around 20 years ago, it was impossible to get a mortgage on one back then but maybe things have changed.
Excellent news on the job, it is they way we should be building for the future. I have been closely involved with a new factory build and all of the panels used to clad the factory and inside fire walls are pre-laminated with plastic coated, thin sheet metal either side then the kingspan foam core around 100mm thick. They work really well and means that factory is cool in summer and warm in winter. I'm sure the heating and cooling costs in these buildings you are now assembling will be low and very cost efficient to run. As the OP said, this is the principle the passivehaus design works on. Add in some big triple glazed windows and even the weak sun in the winter makes a big difference to keeping the building warm.
On all my online applications they only ask for if it's garaged not what the garage is constructed from. Only once have I ever been asked for it's construction materials and that was over the phone when I had internet issues. So it's interesting you bring this up, should I be concerned enough to read the T&C's as you'd think if the material of construction is an issue they'd be more prescribed in their questions?
this particular build has electric underfloor heating as its only heating as far as im aware. i was a bit dubious about this as it doesnt seem to efficient but having recently built a stable block where the kitchen and dining room relied solely on the same i was really surprised to find it worked well. it took a while to heat up as it was on a 100 mm screed but as the area was so well insulated and basically airtight save trickle vents, it was really toasty. this place should be even better as the heating is directly on a sip with 100mm insulation.
The only thing you should all take note of is......the insulation and how flammable it is. That was the problem at Grenfell, different types of insulation foam have different flammability....and yes they are all tested, but that's proved to be flawed.
Was doing a online quote yesterday and as you correctly stated it just says garaged, I thought that was strange so clicked the help icon next to the question, then it states by garage we mean of brick construction bla bla bla, just another get out clause for crafty insurance company's
I think the grenfell thing was more to do with the cladding and the air space between it and the insulation? Could be wrong though. . There is no air space in side these panels and the osb would have to be burned through before the insulation could take. I don't know 'the fire rating of osb but with plaster board over it, id imagine it would be pretty hard to set fire to it .
Yeah - not really a problem as you're not cladding a tower for a start !!! and my comment was more about generic metal panels like kingspan and others make. Personally I have never been a fan of metal faced insulation panels.
