| Wouldn't a house built out of panels all joined | | | | to a footplate and so that adjoining panels can be |
| together fall over like a pack of cards when the | | | | fitted together using s spline, or a strip of SIP |
| chips are down? Well, no. Houses built out of this | | | | designed to fit into the recess. |
| materials have to comply to certain building | | | | The beauty of this material is that it is uniform |
| regulations and have been tested. Depending on | | | | and easy to construct, not beyond the skills of a |
| where the house is to be built, there are certain | | | | carpenter working on stick houses (which are the |
| specifications - if the house is going in an area | | | | normal house style with a wooden frame with |
| exposed to high wind or is prone to earthquake. | | | | insulation). The main structure can be very quick |
| What were talking about here is a house, single or | | | | to assemble. A crane is used for lifting the larger |
| two-family dwelling or townhouse constructed | | | | panels into position and for the roof panels. The |
| mainly from structural insulated panels, or SIPs, | | | | panels cover the roof area also, and the roofing |
| for short. Firstly, these panels are manufactured | | | | material is battened onto it. It should only take a |
| by gluing wafer-board to either side of a sheet of | | | | few days for a house to be ready for exterior |
| polystyrene. One ends up with a product that is | | | | cladding and interior drywalls. One great benefit is |
| typically 115 or 165mm thick and makes for very | | | | the great thermal and acoustic insulation |
| good sound and thermal insulation. | | | | properties. It rates higher than the normal |
| The wafer-board is also known as oriented strand | | | | wooden frame house. Also ducting for air is highly |
| board (OSB for short), and is typically made up of | | | | recommended because the wall system is quite |
| 95% wood slivers that are positioned in certain | | | | airtight so fresh air is needed from outside via the |
| ways to give the board strength and a 5% | | | | ducts. Another point is that a well designed and |
| combination of wax and resin to bond it all | | | | constructed panel home can make the rest of |
| together. This process makes for a very sturdy | | | | the fit-out job easier by providing an even |
| building product. These panels, when made up for | | | | surface to attach wallboard and exterior cladding |
| a house, have the openings for windows and | | | | to directly. So for an alternative to the traditional |
| doors cut from them, and are cut to size by the | | | | stick home this new popular building method is |
| supplier. They are designed to be fastened to a | | | | worth a look. Have a look at my blog for more |
| concrete footing. The foam in the middle of the | | | | info. |
| panel is recessed so that the panel can be fitted | | | | |