2.03.2018
SIP panels began to be used in construction relatively recently - several decades ago. What are SIP panels and why have they already gained a reputation among reliable building materials? Construction customers continue to have questions about SIP panels: how durable are they?; How long will a house last from them?; Is it possible to build a house from SIP panels yourself?; What is the service life of such a house?
Reviews of houses made of sip panels
[rek_custom1]
Sergey, Nizhnekamsk
“Very warm, comfortable, big house. Ease of construction. 3 years ago I decided to build my own country house. Choosing the material for my “palace” took a lot of time. I took information from many sources, including reviews on the Internet about the construction of houses from modern materials, studied the video and made a decision in favor of Russip panels.
I consider the only drawback of such a house to be insufficient sound insulation.”
Roman, Elabuga
“I'm quite happy with my home. I don't see any drawbacks yet. Construction went quickly, high-quality work, reasonable cost, qualified workers. True, I didn’t calculate the cost quite correctly and it ended up being more expensive, but that’s only my fault. The house has been standing for more than a year, I have no complaints about the quality. All my friends who have already been to my house really like it.”
Natalya, Moscow
“I would like to write about the work and their work. Before deciding to build a house from sip panels, I dug through a lot of information from the Internet. In the end, I settled on this “wonderful team of professionals.” I started communicating with them through correspondence. Here’s my final opinion: a disregard for both work and clients, I didn’t notice a single advantage.”
Yuri, Murmansk (video available)
“Building your own home is always a big problem. Even if you have great financial resources.
Therefore, it is better to trust a professional company, especially if you yourself have nothing to do with construction.
The main thing is to find a reliable and qualified company .
Plus: attentive and polite attitude of employees towards each client, the opportunity to receive useful wishes, high-quality work at every stage, a very short construction period . Minus: I didn’t notice.”
John, Moscow
“The big mistake most people make is to build houses from foam concrete. This material is only suitable for heat, and its load-bearing capacity is poor. Eventually:
- many cracks;
- high hygroscopicity;
- There is a large air leak, which makes it almost impossible to completely heat it.
The stove immediately goes out and takes a long time to blow out. A house made of Russip panels is designed by specialists, taking into account all the nuances regarding ventilation.”
Philip, Kazan
“In recent years, it has become very fashionable to build houses from sip panels using Canadian technology. Personally, I am attracted only by the reasonable price. However, reviews on the Internet are very mixed, which is very alarming. I’ll try to study this topic more carefully and advise you.”
Elena, Elabuga
“The whole truth about building a house from sip panels is in the fairy tale “The Three Little Pigs”
Mikhail, Moscow
“I learned about the consequences of the hurricane in the USA. All buildings were destroyed, except those assembled from sip panels, including the roofs of buildings, the rafter system and the frame utility block.”
Maria, Zelenodolsk
“I really liked:
- insurance;
- fast and high-quality work by real professionals;
- Moreover, if you need to move, you can quickly and cheaply build and live happily ever after.
Very convenient for today’s mobile lifestyle.”
What ensures the strength of SIP panels?
SIP panels owe their strength primarily to expanded polystyrene, a substance that acts as the “filling” of construction sandwich panels. This is an inorganic material with good thermal conductivity and moisture resistance. That is, it is not afraid of regular flooding and heavy rains. Expanded polystyrene is not afraid of large temperature changes. As laboratory tests have shown, it does not lose its properties either at 80 degrees of heat or at 180 degrees of cold.
At the same time, it is completely uninteresting to microorganisms, which happily undermine walls made of natural materials.
OSB boards, between which polystyrene foam is placed, are also ready to give a worthy rebuff to the negative influence. They are made using a special glue, which not only holds the chips together, but also protects against the penetration of mold or any bacteria that could cause destructive processes, such as rotting.
Saving
[rek_custom2] Gennady, Serpukhov
“Great budget option . The main thing is to properly organize air exchange . Unfortunately, many people underestimate the need for air flow and the presence of an exhaust hood, like – it will do, so there’s no need to lose heat.
If you regularly open doors and windows, you can achieve a normal amount of fresh air flow into the room.”
Sergey, Moscow region
Tenant
“I have a brick house in the village, most of which is a thermos. I go there very rarely, so I insulated it from the inside. There was a problem of constant fogging of windows and too high humidity. Because of this, I installed exhaust ventilation. A year ago, I built another house nearby from sip panels - no problems .”
Vadim, Vladimir region
“In 2010, we started building a house for our parents. Before this, we couldn’t decide on the choice of material for our future home for a very long time. In the end, we settled on a sip panel design. First, we sold the garage and apartment and purchased a plot of land we liked with a ready-made foundation. We ordered an individual project and a power frame. It took the three of us exactly 12 days to assemble it.
The roof was installed in one day using a crane, as we were limited in time. This was at the end of summer, and in the fall we moved into a new house. Before the arrival, we easily heated it (including the basement) with ordinary electric heaters. Now we live like in a fairy tale: we have left the annoying and expensive housing and communal services. There are no mice in our house because there is no free space for them.”
Construction team
[rek_custom3]
Personal experience
“From 2009 to 2013, we purchased panels from the VIK company, now we buy them in Vladimir. They also bought the equipment for gluing the panels here - it turned out much cheaper.”
Anton, Moscow
“I would like to talk about environmental friendliness. Many doubt it, since sip panels are glued with various toxic resins. During the finishing process (especially with wood), bare panels are not left. And before this, the room is sheathed with a special vapor barrier. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the environmental friendliness of such a house. It’s better to think about what material to buy furniture for your home from, since most often it is made from harmful materials.”
So what exactly are the advantages and disadvantages of houses made of sip panels? In order to clearly understand the existing reality and justify the problem that has arisen, let’s take a look at the forum with impartial and opposing opinions regarding the use of sip panels.
Vladimir, Moscow region
“At first I built a house from brick, and a few years later from foam concrete. This is my third home, which simply delighted me. Even in the coldest winter, I walk around the house in a negligee. I have no drafts at all, not even blowing from the sockets. The air temperature is the same throughout the house. Before building this house, I went to Europe, where houses like this have been standing for half a century and are just like new. Finishing a house from the inside is generally a sheer pleasure: all surfaces are parallel and even. The house was built in a matter of days, the main thing is to find a reliable company.”
Alexey, Vologda region
“This is my first experience building a house. Previously, I spent a long time studying the features and characteristics of sip panels and mastered an unfamiliar technology. As a result, I live in a warm and beautiful house. In addition, the construction of the building took the shortest possible time and was very inexpensive. When building such a house, it is almost impossible to make serious mistakes, which are often found in the construction of block or brick buildings. The room is a thermos.”
Maxim, Vladimir
“At my work, such buildings are called “Vakhta-40.” They were brought 30 years ago. Some of them have been standing quietly since their installation; a few years ago they were finished with brick. The rest were transported from place to place several times, with complete disassembly. Now there are absolutely no complaints about them, except for creaking. The windows remain the same, but the doors are different.”
Construction crew foreman, Orel
[rek_custom4]
Personal experience
“We were hired to build a C-panel house for the first time. Previously, we only erected frame buildings and I was worried. However, in reality everything turned out to be even easier than usual. The panels are very easy to install , like a glove, without any tolerances or distortions. We used conventional fastenings, although we had doubts at first, but everything held very firmly. It’s a big plus that the material is very light and we completed our work in a very short time, which allowed us to start a new order earlier than planned.”
Oleg, Kazan
“If construction from sip panels was truly inexpensive, this fact would outweigh all the disadvantages. However, in reality everything is completely different. Moreover, such a house requires expensive exterior finishing . As a result, the cost is more than a log house. The only plus is the speed of construction.”
Pavel, Krasnodar
“Do you know what the only advantage of such a house is? Very fast assembly . That's all! It is clear that this is beneficial only to the seller and workers, but not to the future owner. Remember how at one time everyone installed pipes made of metal-plastic? Very “reliable and fast” that any child can assemble with their own hands. So where are they now? Deflated? Such structures simply burst and begin to leak - they break right before our eyes. The same goes for houses made of sip panels. Perhaps they are only good as a summer cottage , where you rarely come.”
Svetlana, Mogilev
“I don’t believe any of the merits of such houses. Firstly, no one knows about the environmental friendliness of this material: some praise it, but more people scold it. It is necessary to insulate the walls from the living space using film or other material that is not harmful to human health and does not allow air to pass through; a screed and a suspended ceiling are required for the floor . Do not forget about ventilation, since such a house does not “breathe”. If you want to install a fireplace, how will you light it? The room instantly heats up.”
Vladimir, St. Petersburg
“I’m surprised at people talking about such houses who have never lived in them. You have to live for yourself and feel all the advantages and disadvantages. I am writing for those who want to save on fuel .”
Alexey, Moscow region
“I fundamentally disagree with you. In order to talk about the quality of the material, it is not at all necessary to live in such a house. It is enough to have the necessary knowledge and be able to analyze, as well as learn from the mistakes of others. I didn't live there, but worked. During the hot season, you can die from the heat there, so installing air conditioning is mandatory. Of course, such a room perfectly retains both heat and coolness , but only if there are external devices.”
Nikolay, Saratov
“It is very important that the construction of these houses does not require qualified personnel . Five stupid Tajiks can easily assemble it in a few days. It is clear that this is beneficial only for businessmen. The foundation can be installed in a matter of hours.”
Oleg, Kyiv
“There can be no clear answer here. The cost of constructing buildings made of timber and sip panels is almost the same. It all depends on the desired configuration. Of course, timber is a more environmentally friendly material, but it must be treated with harmful compounds. If this is not done, the building will lose its original appearance. High-quality timber is very expensive. Sip panels are free of such problems. Let's move on: assembly . You can assemble (if you have the hands and experience) a fairy-tale tower from timber. It is impossible to assemble a building made of sip panels crookedly, since the kits are manufactured at the factory. Plus, it will end up being much warmer. For example, I assembled a house for myself on my own. It turned out very profitable .”
Natalya, Kirov
“Construction using this technology has recently become very popular. Three of my friends are doing this right now. As a rule, such houses have a quite respectable appearance . There are a lot of both bad and good reviews about this technology . But if there are positive ones, then everything is more or less in order. I think only those who constantly doubt something speak poorly. After all, this is unusual construction for our country.”
Technical characteristics of SIP panels
A SIP panel consists of several layers: two oriented strand boards and insulation (expanded polystyrene) sandwiched between them. Despite the simplicity and availability of materials, such panels have unique characteristics.
- Thermal conductivity is the most important point in the construction of any housing. The thermal conductivity coefficient of expanded polystyrene is on average 0.04 W/(m K), which is significantly less than that of stone, wood and brick. Thus, a wall made of this material 10 cm thick in terms of thermal conductivity corresponds to a wooden wall 30 cm thick or a brick wall 170 cm thick. This property of the panels also greatly reduces energy costs, since heating costs owners on average 7 times cheaper than in the case of houses made of wood or brick.
- Physical and mechanical stability. The durability of SIP panels is explained by the fact that they are able to withstand heavy loads: for example, a 2x1 m panel with a thickness of 170 mm does not collapse under pressure of 2 tons. The characteristics of the material comply with all construction standards to a large extent. The reason for this stability is that gluing elements with different properties leads to the formation of a single material that is many times stronger than its constituent parts.
- Weight. A standard panel weighs about 55 kg, which eliminates the need to use heavy special equipment in construction. Light weight is one of the main advantages of SIP panels, as it greatly simplifies the process of building a house, reducing its duration.
Conclusion
Thus, construction from sip panels is a very charged topic, in which both its opponents and supporters participate. Real passions are raging around her. One should not ignore the fact that more often interest in this issue is fueled artificially. Many people think that businessmen who promote sip panels to the Russian market most often use “black” methods.
To correctly understand what this technology is, reviews from the Internet will not be enough. Perfect option :
- go to a hardware store;
- talk to experienced workers;
- draw your own conclusion about the correctness of this or that opinion.
Advantages of SIP technology
High energy saving parameters
They turn out to be one of the main advantages, especially useful in a wide range of harsh Russian climatic zones. According to the developers, in winter, when the heating is turned off, the temperature inside a closed room with enclosing structures made of SIP panels decreases by only 3-50C per day. In the case of such thermal efficiency of a structure, it is quite economically justifiable to install an electric heating system. The thermal inertia of the walls also protects against elevated temperatures. Their effective thermal insulation prevents the interior from heating up in the summer heat, thereby reducing the energy consumption used to operate air conditioners.
Important! Most manufacturers forget to mention that the indicated high level of energy saving in SIP houses is guaranteed only at fairly “mild” winter temperatures outside – down to -200C. In addition, the premises must have minimal air exchange (with a forced ventilation system, a recuperator is required) and energy-saving windows and doors.
High construction speed and ease of erection
These parameters in SIP technology are practically mutually exclusive. The efficiency of construction of the structure is achieved by involving a professional team in combination with a well-designed, preferably standard, house design. But under the condition of independent construction, even with accurate calculations and assistants, various delays are inevitable. Although, if a detailed plan is taken as a basis, then its implementation will not cause any particular difficulties even for inexperienced craftsmen.
Light weight of the structure
Makes it possible to use cheaper shallow-depth strip, pile or column foundations. This significantly reduces the overall construction cost. The relatively light weight of a standard panel allows you to do without the use of lifting construction equipment.
Strength and seismic resistance of the structure
There are two main methods of installing the walls of a house using SIP technology: framed and frameless (using splines or dowels). In both cases, the result is a rigid spatial structure that meets the requirements of domestic standards, in particular SNiP 31-02-2001 “Single-apartment residential houses”.
Accuracy of preliminary calculations
When building a house from piece building materials (bricks, foam blocks, etc.), scrap waste accounts for 10-15% of the total amount. They place an additional financial burden on the shoulders of the developer. If preference is given to SIP panels, and especially those used according to a standard project, the costs of purchasing additional building materials (for which unaccounted overexpenditure is possible) are reduced to a minimum. They mainly concern fasteners (screws, screws, nails), as well as lumber (beams, beams for the frame and rafter system).
Decorative and protective finishing
The outer layers of SIP panels are OSB boards. Both inside and outside, houses using SIP technologies can be finished with almost any decorative materials. For example, regular or structural paint, siding or cladding with ceramic tiles, porcelain stoneware, decorative brick, natural or synthetic stone, etc. In addition, such structures practically do not shrink (depending on the type of soil, they may be subject to minimal shrinkage processes), therefore, their decorative finishing can begin immediately after covering the box with a roof.
