Good to see a healthy debate here on SIP’s. We looked at both options for our custom residence in the Pacific Northwest and the vendor who does the SIP’s panels being local and the cost being
relatively similar between traditional and SIP’s we opted for SIP’s for the environmental impact, the
structural integrity, etc. You both bring up good points on either side of the argument…. No one option
is without its flaws but our contractor is so far promising quicker framing times than 2 months and ours
is a 3,000 sq. ft. project…

Mike has a few good points about SIPs. They can be adjusted on site, but not easily. Also, if you’re doing a more custom project, SIPs may be slower rather than faster. We’re wrapping up a 2,000 s.f. SIPs project and the framing took about 2 months – twice as long as stick framing. Much of this was due to custom beams, posts and other miscellaneous structural components that took time to fabricate and install. If we were to replicate the project, this time would be reduced, but most custom projects are rarely replicated.

Having said that, SIPs and wood framing are two completely different systems. It’s nearly impossible to frame a stick built wall as energy efficient as SIPs even if you stagger the studs. It might be a little unfair to compare the two in terms of cost because of this. While our SIPs experience was slower than expected, we did a blower door test on the house before the windows and doors were foam sealed (before drywall) and saw an ACH of 2.79 – which is incredible. Code built homes are usually between 6 – 10 ACH and older homes are easily near 15 ACH.

As for framing labor, the house went up pretty quickly (5 or 6 labor weeks with a three person crew) so I feel like we did a pretty good job there. Might SIPs have been a little quicker? Maybe, but probably not enough to matter.