Is it worth building sip panels. Houses made of SIP panels - the advantages and disadvantages of this technology

When studying the history of urban planning throughout the "maturation" of mankind, one can observe interesting changes in the preference for materials for the construction of buildings. At first, these were buildings made of reeds and branches coated with clay, then wooden architecture appeared, which was replaced by stone buildings, then by the 21st century people came up with a large selection of building materials that correspond to modern concepts of comfort and safety.

Houses made of SIP panels that have come to us from Canada are very popular today.

History of SIP panels

People are so arranged that they are constantly looking for the opportunity to surround themselves with the maximum comfort at the lowest cost. Since bulky and expensive materials were no longer suitable for contractors, manufacturers began to look for an alternative to them. The first were Frank Wright and Elden Doe, who invented sandwich panels, which were based on sheets of plywood with thermal insulation between them.

Only after Dow used expanded polystyrene as a heater, mass construction of SIP panels began, which gained the greatest popularity in Canada, hence the name of the technology for building houses from this material. This was in the early 60s of the 20th century. To date, manufacturers have improved both the panels themselves and their assembly so much that by buying a ready-made house kit from SIP panels from the factory, even a beginner will be able to build his own house.

As practice shows, nowadays houses using Canadian technology are being erected all over the world, and this is due to the qualities that they are endowed with:

• unique composition;
• mode of production;
• installation features;
• building erection speed.

On modern market you can find SIP panels, the price of which depends only on the place of production of materials for them. Today, you will not surprise anyone that outdoor slabs are made in one country, thermal insulation in another, and SIP panels are assembled in a third, but it is still cheaper than transporting finished products from distant Canada.

Therefore, many companies have appeared on the European and domestic markets that manufacture SIP panels using the same technology at their localities. Feedback from residents (pros and cons, above all) living in such houses means more to them than any advertisement. It is the cheapness of the material and the high quality of the finished buildings that made them so popular among the population.

Panel composition

As a rule, houses made of SIP panels serve their owners for a long time, have an attractive appearance and are distinguished by reliability. This is due to the quality of the materials from which they are made:

It is important to know: when checking the panels, it was found that with a thickness of 22.4 cm they provide a heat transfer resistance of 5.2 W / m ℃, while for a brick wall with a thickness of 40 cm it is only 2 W / m ℃.

Considering that construction from SIP panels is several times cheaper, and the quality and external attractiveness of the building itself is not inferior to similar brick houses, it is understandable why many consumers opt for Canadian technology. This is just such an option when you can create maximum comfort at an affordable price.

Advantages of SIP panels

Since technologies do not stand still, but are constantly developing, it is possible that soon houses with walls made of SIP panels will be found more often than from brick or foam concrete. This is due to the benefits they provide:

• The most important plus in these panels is their thermal insulation. If we take as a basis the value of the wall resistance to heat transfer, equal to 3 W / m ° C, then the thickness of the SIP panels will be 16.4 cm, while:
  • timber - 52 cm;
  • foam concrete - 60 cm;
  • expanded clay concrete - 101 cm;
  • bricks - 230 cm;
  • concrete - 450 cm.

It is important to know: this ability to preserve heat inside the house can significantly save energy when it is heated.

If you believe the information, SIP panels (reviews of residents, the pros and cons of this technology, etc.) are still unmatched in terms of price, quality and reliability. Since manufacturers are looking for ways to make them even cheaper every time without changing the technical characteristics for the worse, there is hope that soon Canadian houses will begin to lead in the number of new buildings.

Disadvantages of SIP panels

For more than 50 years, houses have been built around the world using Canadian technology, so we can safely say that it is time-tested. To find flaws in the SIP panel, you need to try very hard, because most often complaints are due to the fault of negligent sellers or inattentive buyers. For example:

• Everyone knows that this material is absolutely safe for human life and environmentally friendly, but not everyone knows that this applies only to panels of the "E0" category. There are so-called utility SIP panels, the price of which is much lower, but they are marked with the "E3" sign and are not suitable for the construction of houses, especially for permanent residence in them. Instead of safe expanded polystyrene they are insulated with ordinary foam. It is good to assemble ancillary buildings from such panels, for example, a firewood shed. The problem is that this "fake", as unknowing consumers call it, produces harmful substances under the influence of heat, but this does not mean that it is impossible to build utility rooms from it, where a person's stay is minimal.

It is important to know: if you want to build a house from SIP panels for permanent residence, you need to look through their certificates not only for quality, but also for safety before buying materials, and examine them visually, since foam is easy to distinguish from expanded polystyrene. In an extreme case, you can give them for examination and, based on its result, decide whether or not to buy a product from a given manufacturer.

• If you look for the disadvantages of houses made of SIP panels, then one of the most alarming is the one that such a structure, if desired, can be destroyed and penetrated inside.
• In the event of violations in the technology, the installation of SIP panels will be unreliable, and their integrity is easy to violate. At the joints, gaps will appear, which will have to be additionally strengthened and insulated. You should follow the instructions from the manufacturers clearly or hire a team of professionals.
• One of the advantages of the technology is the tightness that forms the effect of a thermos. But this is at the same time considered a disadvantage of such material as SIP panels. The disadvantages here are that if you do not conduct ventilation in the house, then soon you will be able to observe the effect wet walls, for which fungus and mold "come".
• A prerequisite for installing walls made of SIP panels is to protect the joints with a bar or polyurethane foam in order to avoid moisture penetration into the thermal insulation.

As a rule, the technology itself has no drawbacks, unless the manufacturers of SIP panels are cunning and, for the sake of economy, do not use cheap materials or the installation rules have not been violated. Otherwise, it is an excellent building material.

Features of the foundation for houses from SIP panels

As a rule, a house starts with a foundation, and any type of it is suitable for panel houses using Canadian technology. Most often used:

It is important to know: when deciding on the foundation for a "Canadian" house, you need to rely on indicators such as the composition of the soil, the weight of the structure and the type of heating and ventilation.

Connection nodes

The assembly of SIP panels should be carried out with careful monitoring of the reliability of the connections of each part of the structure. The main nodes for connecting buildings made of sandwich panels are:

• Places of joining of floor panels with the base.
• Wall corner joints.
• Joints connecting walls, floors and roofs.
• Nodes connecting the roof with SIP panels.

Important to know: everything assembly work by joining the panels, they must be fixed with self-tapping screws and fixed with mounting foam.

Finishing the house outside

Whatever attractive shape and the layout was not a house made of SIP panels, outwardly it looks completely unattractive. To provide it not only with a presentable look, but also to protect it from bad weather or mechanical damage, finishing work should be carried out. For houses assembled using Canadian technology, the following types of facade work are suitable:

It is important to know: decorative plaster and natural stone can give enough inexpensive house SIP panels are incredibly attractive, but it must be borne in mind that these materials require professional skills in their installation and are expensive.

Interior decoration

A house assembled using Canadian technology can be given elegance on the outside and coziness on the inside. Walls made of SIP panels are an excellent material for interior decoration, which consists of the following stages:

• Wall decoration, for which you can use completely different materials: from tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, to PVC panels, wallpaper and drywall in other rooms. The material must be selected based on the state of the room, for example, when high humidity the best solution will be the use of plastic, and for additional wall insulation - decorative plaster or cork wallpaper.
• Ceiling decoration does not need additional leveling, so you can immediately start decorating it. It can be stretch ceiling or plasterboard finishing. To reduce the cost of interior work, many consumers use expanded polystyrene tiles, which are both inexpensive and look impressive.
• Everyone chooses the floor covering according to his taste and wallet. It can be tile or linoleum, laminate, parquet or underfloor heating system.

It is important to know: when choosing materials for interior finishing work, you need to focus not so much on their cost as on safety. Some attractive-looking materials change their properties under conditions of temperature fluctuations, which should be known before purchasing them.

Manufacturers

Today you can find both one-story houses made of SIP panels, as well as two and three-story mansions. This suggests that the technology, which has been popular all over the world for more than 50 years, has begun to "take root" in the domestic construction market.

This is due to the fact that the possibility of producing ready-made sandwich panels locally has significantly reduced the cost of the material, and the consumer now has only one task: to figure out which manufacturer can be trusted. The most popular domestic firms are:

• The Hotwell company, which has won the hearts of customers not only with its discounts and promotions, but also with high-quality goods, which are made both according to standards and to order. This allows the consumer to independently decide what size SIP panels should be for his house.
• The Bauen House plant is famous not only for the quality of its products, but also for the high price, which is not surprising, because materials from Germany are used here for the production of SIP panels.
• The firm "Build Together" also uses German components in its technologies, but its distinctive quality is work without intermediaries, which significantly reduces the cost of panels.

This is not a complete list of domestic manufacturers who guarantee the quality of their goods, but even with the most positive feedback from customers, it is worth asking to show the certificates for the quality and safety of their SIP panels.

Sometimes inexperienced customers become victims of unscrupulous manufacturers who, in order to reduce the cost of the process of manufacturing SIP panels, use deliberately low-quality materials or glue. This leads to the fact that, at first glance strong house after a winter or two, it literally begins to crumble. To avoid this, you need to carefully study all product documents, and not just ask about their availability.

If the choice fell on Chinese companies, then you need to be prepared that in their SIP panels, flammable polystyrene foam is used as a heater. Perhaps the house of them was not destined to be on fire, but no one knows for sure. The cheap material ignites quickly and, when burned, releases harmful human body smoke, while real expanded polystyrene is difficult to ignite, and when it ignites, it quickly goes out.

When choosing SIP panels for assembling at home, you need to study the company, find out how many years it has been on the market, what materials it uses and on what equipment it produces products.

Projects of houses from vulture panels

Number of projects 307

One of the wishes for the future home is that the house should be built inexpensively and with high quality. However, in last years to these requirements is added another important requirement - that the house is built quickly. And it is dictated not only by the constantly increasing pace of life, but also by the present day: people cannot spend a year or two building and decorating a house. Often, after the sale of an apartment, you need to quickly build a house and move into it. And the stretching of construction over time is associated, as a rule, with additional costs, in particular for the rental of housing. The technology of building houses from SIP panels helps to avoid all these problems.

Walls, interfloor floors, and the roof are assembled from panels, like a constructor

Advantages and disadvantages of houses from SIP panels

To prepare this material, we turned not only to market experts, but also talked with the owners of houses built from SIP panels, as well as with visitors who are just considering this technology. Polls at the exhibition show that approximately every tenth person comes to the Low-Rise Country exhibition precisely for a house built from SIP panels.

This approach will allow us to identify the benefits and debunk the myths that have already formed around the SIP panels.

The advantages of SIP technology

When it comes to choosing a construction technology, first of all, the advantages of a particular construction method are assessed in order to understand how much they can outweigh the disadvantages.

1. Affordable price / speed of construction

According to various estimates, the price of a house made of SIP panels is three times lower than that of a brick. And 10-15% more expensive than a similar frame house subject to the assembly of the house at the construction site.

When ordering a house from SIP panels, it is easier to control material consumption and the work of builders. It is more difficult for unscrupulous builders to cheat prices.

A cottage built from self-supporting insulated panels at the exhibition "Low-rise country"

As one owner of a house made of SIP panels said: “The speed of building the house allowed me to change an apartment for a house without attracting additional funds, according to the principle“ I sold one, bought another ””.

2. Low thermal conductivity

And indeed it is. Calculation of heat loss one-storey house 10 × 10 m with a wall (insulation) thickness of 150 mm, at an indoor temperature of plus 18 degrees, and outside - minus 25 shows that for a CIP expanded polystyrene filler, this value is 3.91 kW / h, mineral wool - 4.3 kW / h, coniferous timber - 9.21 kW / h, log frame - 12.27 kW / h, foam concrete - 16.74 kW / h, brick - 27.45 kW / h.

3. Correct geometry of the walls

And this means that the finishing work of such walls will be as simple as possible, since the walls in the house made of SIP panels are even.

4. Finishing work can be started immediately after the construction of the house

SIP panels have no shrinkage. This allows you to start finishing the house immediately after its construction. And move into the house as soon as possible - one to three months after construction.

5. Lifetime savings on heating

As those who live in such houses say: "Having a house made of SIP panels, we think, is it worth it to conduct gas?"

Thermal imaging surveys of high-quality self-supporting insulated wire (SIP) houses show that the main heat loss in a house can only be through windows or an entrance door.

Special attention should be paid to the quality of the design and installation of ventilation. If these works are done poorly, then just ventilation will become the main source of heat loss, plus, the installation will not be able to provide the specified microclimate inside the house.

6. Year-round construction of a house

A house from SIP panels can be erected at any time of the year. However, it is desirable that during the construction of the house there was no precipitation - both rain and snow. Both already erected walls and panels that have not yet been used should be sheltered from precipitation.

7. Lightness of SIP panels / ease of installation / risks of errors during construction are minimal

Lightness affects the ease of installation: you do not need to order an additional crane for loading / unloading, installation / laying of SIP panels. Plates are installed manually. A standard board with dimensions of 2500 × 1250 × 174 mm weighs about 50 kg.

It should be noted that a set of SIP panels for a house of 170 sq. m will weigh about 15 tons, and a brick for the same house - 60 tons. This means that you can save on the transportation of material and on the foundation - it may not be so solid. A shallow strip foundation is quite suitable.

Toronto house project: built using SIP technology by

Ease of installation lies in the fact that SIP panels are easy to cut into the desired pieces and give the desired shape.

A house built from SIP panels has a minimum number of connections, so the risks of errors during the construction process are minimal.

8. Fire safety

To reduce the fire hazard of expanded polystyrene, flame retardants are added during its manufacture. The resulting material is called self-extinguishing polystyrene foam and is indicated by a number of Russian manufacturers with an additional letter "C" at the end. In SIP panels, GOST is allowed to use only PSB-S (self-extinguishing).

9. The house does not need to be additionally insulated from the outside

On top of the OSB (oriented particle boards) you can put a windproof film and siding, which can be attached directly to the OSB without additional lathing... Or you can simply paint the OSB with a good paint, before nailing the strips onto the joints of the panels for additional protection.

In our catalog, you can find the most popular construction companies specializing in construction of houses from SIP panels, among the houses presented at the exhibition Low-rise Country.

Disadvantages of SIP technology - real and mythical

Now let's move on to the myths that, despite the youth of the technology, have already formed around the houses made of SIP panels.

In addition to the real shortcomings of houses made of vulture panels, present in any technology, some myths are attributed to the houses.

This topic is the most sensitive, especially for those who are now in the process of choosing a technology for their future home.

Video description

In this issue, we will analyze in detail the common mistakes when building a house from a vulture panel. A sip house is the same frame house, but inside with a wooden skeleton, inside which panels are laid. What should be the frame of the house itself? How to find out the moisture content of the material? About all this: in the next video?

1. SIP panels are eaten by rodents

It is not known exactly where this statement came from, but there is absolutely no doubt that a sane mouse will not eat expanded polystyrene.

Another question is that mice can make moves in insulation and arrange nests for themselves there - in theory, this is really possible. But at the same time, it must be borne in mind that if the house is built correctly, then in order to get to the insulation, you must first gnaw through 5-10 cm of boards or timber, and if there is a crate on them (as it should be according to technology, if protection from mice is mounted), then rather in total, the mice will go to arrange their own housing in another place.

As a result, here it is necessary to clearly understand that mice do not necessarily have to run in flocks to the SIP house, if one appears in the district. These animals have lived for hundreds of years in both wooden and stone houses - they appear where they can find something to eat, and nothing more.

2. It takes a lot of money to build a house at once

Usually construction country house lasts one or two seasons. House 150 sq. m from SIP panels can be assembled in two weeks. In this case, all the money for the construction will need to be paid immediately.

The disadvantage of high-speed construction is that all payments will have to be made within 2-4 weeks

Some home owners jokingly say that "they did not have time to enjoy the construction process."

On our website you can see the most popular projects houses from SIP panels from construction companies presented at the exhibition of houses Low-rise Country.

3. A house made of SIP panels burns out very quickly / emits harmful substances during combustion / poorly known level of environmental friendliness

Another of the most common myths, which are considered to be the main disadvantages of houses from SIP panels, is its flammability and flammability.

Immediately, we note that SIP panels made in accordance with certified technology do not pose a threat to buildings in terms of fire hazard.

Harmful impurities usually give off panels that are made with violations. To avoid this, you should buy quality panels, necessarily certified, as well as with the prefix green or eco in the name.

Firefighters say that houses built with SIP panels burn in much the same way as other houses, including brick ones. The main reason is that floors, furniture and textiles are the first to catch fire in a fire. And if laminate, linoleum is laid on the floor in the house, and the furniture is made of chipboard, then when they burn, they emit harmful substances. And in this case, unfortunately, the material from which the house is made is of less importance. The walls may not be burning.

SIP panels burn badly - self-burning no more than 4 seconds. They self-extinguish.

Video description

What are the manufacturers of sip panels hiding? Ecology in the vulture house. What is she really like? Are SIP house manufacturers cheating on us? See the answers to all questions in this video:

"If the CIP is not burned, it does not burn." This is confirmed by the owners, who wanted to get rid of the remains of garbage after the construction of the house, trying to burn them.

For additional protection against fire, inside the house, the walls can be sheathed with fire-resistant plasterboard, and outside with fiber cement panels that do not burn, since they do not contain combustible elements.

4. OSB boards contain harmful phenols in resin binder

It should be noted that there are different categories OSB boards and the phenol content in them is strictly regulated. So, it should be remembered that OSB-3 is best used for outdoor work, and OSB-2 is recommended for interior decoration.

5. Styrofoam is harmful

Expanded polystyrene is covered with OSB panels and does not openly come into contact with indoor areas at home.

6. The house does not breathe, does not allow air and moisture to pass through

It is known that up to 40% of the heat loss in a house occurs due to the fact that the walls are breathing. Thus, the fact that the walls do not allow air and moisture to pass through is both a plus (the house does not allow cold to pass from the street and does not release heat from the house), and a minus of the house (dampness and fungus may form).

And this problem is easily solved. In a house made of SIP panels, in order to breathe well and so that the house does not lose heat, supply and exhaust ventilation with a recuperator should be installed.

Ventilation in a house from SIP panels is an obligatory component of SIP technology at home

The advantage of ventilation with a recuperator is that such a system not only renews the air, but also returns to the house up to 90% of the heat that could have gone through the chimney.

7. A house made of SIP panels is very fragile and fragile

Very often you can hear that “my house is my fortress”, and a house made of SIP panels cannot satisfy this condition.

However, these are only speculative conclusions. Tests of SIP panels have shown that they can withstand a longitudinal load (horizontal) up to 10 tons per meter and about 2 tons with a lateral load (vertical). And this suggests that you can build two-storey house from SIP panels, and the house easily resists snow loads on the roof and ceilings, and no strong winds are afraid of such a house.

An example of what a country house looks like from vulture panels 10 years later

8. The house is shrinking

So say those who observe, after a while, in their houses built from SIP panels, the skew of the house. However, experts say that this is possible only if half-baked wood was used for the vertical posts of the house. You should use well-dried wood, otherwise repairing imperfections will be very time consuming and costly on a budget.

9. Open way of installation of communications

It is impossible to lay wiring inside the SIP panels, since this violates the integrity of the SIP panels, which means that this is a violation of the technology for building a house. Violating the integrity of the SIP panel, the owner loses the home warranty. You should be aware that, in particular, electrical wiring must be carried out only outside in special boxes or sewn into walls under drywall.

Electrical wiring and other engineering communications, in a panel SIP house, are laid only in an open way

10. Poor soundproofing

Sound insulation in a house made of SIP panels is the same as in a traditional frame, due to approximately the same density of expanded polystyrene and mineral wool. And people living in a frame house are very pleased with the sound insulation in their houses.

11. Hanging something on the wall is a problem

This is not true. Even kitchen cabinets can be easily hung on the walls made of SIP panels. Two 3.5x40mm screws screwed into a 12mm OSB panel are able to withstand a force of 230 kg.

Video description

What is included in the turnkey price? How much does a separate warm circuit cost? How much does engineering in a sip house cost? See the answers to all questions in this video:

Buy SIP house or not

Each construction technology and any building material has its own advantages and disadvantages. As a result, the final decision must be made based on the specific situation - the budget allocated for the construction, personal preferences, the climate in the region and other factors. One thing is for sure - if a certain technology is chosen for the construction of a house, then it must be observed in order to guarantee a high-quality result.

Technology is rarely perfect. You can only avoid unnecessary problems by having information. When building a dwelling, it is necessary to work out in advance all the realities of risks and threats, shortcomings from SIP panels, to comprehensively assess the situation, as well as a system of deliberate preventive measures that will give an opportunity to potential problems.

SIP panels are a building material, endowed with excellent performance properties, have a long service life, and allow you to build houses quickly. But, unfortunately, the Canadian construction technology has a number of disadvantages.

This abbreviation translates to insulated structural panel.

Russian version (KTP) - structural and heat-insulating wall panel.

It is used in the construction of country houses, cottages and other small buildings for both commercial and private use.

Its design is quite simple. It consists of a foamed polymer material with thermal insulation properties, which is glued between the cladding elements under a certain pressure.

The production technology has been improved annually. Today, OSB-3 is considered the most advanced and high quality. Expanded polystyrene is used as a heat-insulating material.

There are no cardinal changes in the panels. But thanks to the use of modernized and new high-precision equipment in production, it was possible to make them of better quality panel ones.

The result of this approach on the part of the manufacturer is the creation of structures of any complexity and shape in short terms with increased strength and aesthetic appearance.

This construction technique is used with great success in Western countries such as the USA, Canada, Sweden, Germany and others. “Canadian technology” is widely used on the territory of our country.

The main disadvantages of Canadian technology

Most defects appear when the construction process is violated. Not every professional team of builders knows it perfectly, moreover, how to handle SIP panels in principle, not to mention those people who are trying to build a structure with their own hands.

Each joint of the structure needs an exact fit: the structure is erected according to the principle of assembling a designer, therefore it requires accuracy, appropriateness and correct location of each individual plate. Only then the disadvantages of the panel construction will appear much less frequently and to a lesser extent.

Flammability

Flammability is among the main drawbacks of the material. If we compare it with an array of, then it has a higher combustibility coefficient, not to mention stronger ones: concrete or brick building materials.

But as practice shows, correct wiring and compliance with basic safety rules significantly reduce the risk of such a fire.

The disadvantages of a house made of SIP panels on combustibility issues are not terrible if the electrical wiring is correctly installed in it, the required number of switches and sockets are installed, there is no overload in the network, the surfaces of the walls are treated with antipyrine.

Expanded polystyrene tends to ignite, but not at all like wood. The hazard class of the material may not reflect the picture in reality:

• Sandwich plates are many times lighter wooden board or logs
• Synthetic of this type is 75% air
• The most powerful argument: typical PSB-25 expanded polystyrene is capable of catching fire when the temperature rises more than 2 times

When SIP panels burn, no toxic substances are emitted:

• Styrene is the main poisonous component, and when ignited, it is emitted in small quantities and in low concentration. It has a pungent odor so you can immediately smell it.
• The situation is a little worse with foul gas. It is not endowed with a smell, even if the tree does not completely burn out, its leak is inevitable.
• The stories that SIP panels easily and quickly catch fire are no more than an exaggeration. If this happens, then the panels are fake.

The material that is produced at leading enterprises has a certificate of quality; it cannot be set on fire with a match or a cigarette butt. Moreover, if a burning burner is directed at it, then it ignites it not very well.

It follows from this that you need to buy quality products from trusted suppliers.

Rodents

Replenished a number of disadvantages of houses from SIP panels, reviews of some owners and about such a phenomenon as pests and rodents. They do not carry any substantive grounds. Rodents are capable of damaging only that which is located inside.

The panel itself is simply not of interest to them. It is not comfortable for them, since it is not a food base. The same applies to ants, termites and other pests. The sockets in the panel cannot be made for them; soft and warm surfaces are more comfortable.

Environmental friendliness

In all likelihood, many construction companies on the territory of our country, SIP panels remain not a very original technology. The realization that they are not made up of natural materials causes controversial views. For the purpose of reinsurance, they react to SIP material with apprehension.

The same cannot be said about other countries. For example, in the United States, the SIP standard is considered quite safe.

Not only private small houses are erected from it, they are widely used in administrative buildings or social security buildings.

The fictional interpretation of low environmental friendliness is all that non-compliance with technology in production.

High-quality material for a Canadian house has a special distinctive feature- the emission of formaldehyde is less than that of chipboard.

Approximately 80% of the total number of European houses is insulated with polystyrene. Most modern research: the material is chemically neutral, does not affect or harm the respiratory organs and human skin.

Durability

Most of our fellow citizens today consider real estate as a way of investing. Therefore, they prefer construction from traditional rather than sandwich slabs. In their opinion, there are too many disadvantages of houses from SIP panels and the reviews of residents living in them also do not give reason to consider them strong, reliable and durable.

If we consider real estate from the side of investments, then undoubtedly brick buildings are more expensive, especially when sold. As for durability:

• The operational life of SIP construction is about 50 ÷ 150 years.
• In reality, these estimates are approximate, because a lot also depends on the area of ​​development, influence external factors, temperature regimes, aggressive environment, compliance with technology
• There are episodes when houses of a similar plan, with appropriate care, serve for several centuries.

Is it worth building a SIP house

The biggest nuisance that can expect a consumer who has chosen this material for the construction of his home is poor quality. Most people are primarily concerned about the strength of the structure and its durability, but the quality, for some reason, fades into the background, if not to the last plan.

Homemade panels are usually poorly glued or made with fragile polystyrene foam. Accordingly, such a house will be an order of magnitude less than that of industrial products.

It is extremely dangerous to use such panels in construction. Although there are a lot of warning materials written about this. But the flow of low-quality products to the building materials markets does not dry out, but on the contrary.

And most consumers are captivated by the cheapness of this handicraft. Here, at the most opportune time, the generally accepted requirements of any buyer can help to show the accompanying documentation: a quality certificate or, if the purchase occurs from a manufacturer, a production one. Any refusal speaks for itself. There is no more proven and sure way yet.

Even attempts to tear off the casing will not be able to show how high-quality product is offered to you. Gaps in expanded polystyrene also occur in the handicraft glued plate, if it is of poor quality.

In addition, such a check will only be selective. But after all, a single low-quality SIP plate can lead to the destruction of the structure. Therefore, there are bad reviews of residents of houses from SIP panels, the disadvantages of low-quality products, which they felt from personal experience.

If the product is of high quality, manufactured in advanced production, then the seller or manufacturer himself will show you a quality certificate and also a certificate of conformity of the product.

The authenticity of the document can be easily verified. But their absence should alert you and before buying it is good to think about whether you made the right choice.

Technology errors

Most often, two types of base are used for buildings made of SIP slabs - shallow tape or pile. In principle, both of them completely solve the problem of support reliability using the Canadian construction technology.

During construction light construction a concrete-pile foundation (just below the freezing depth), then it should be erected in accordance with the TISE-requirements (with a certain expansion of the piles in the lower part), a large grillage (the distance between the grillage itself and the ground surface). These technological requirements must be met without fail.

But on the territory of our country they are neglected and the foundation of bored piles is used, and there is no talk of expansion at all, and sometimes the grillage is practically absent, the house practically lies on the ground. Why can this cause problems?

A powerful grillage is made of reinforced concrete, its role is to prevent uneven settlement of piles under the load of the whole house. It must also control and, if necessary, compensate for the uneven pushing out of the piles from the ground by the soil heaving forces.

Why are such foundations made? It's just that some people like to do what is harmful.

An example of this is the following: beautifully cut polyurethane foam that seeps out of the joints looks harmonious and neat.

But many do not even know that this simply cannot be done until the outer cladding of the structure is started.

Polyurethane foam tends to deteriorate under the influence of UV, and early pruning brings this process closer. Here are the main disadvantages of SIP houses through the fault of the owners or builders themselves.

The best foundation for such structures is screw. The pile blades are immersed to the same depth at which the columnar expansion should be located.

The pile works on the principle of an anchor, ensuring the stability of the support if it is screwed into the ground below the freezing depth.

About lumber

Apply timber on construction sites from the connected boards for SIP panels it is impossible. Otherwise, the risk of formation of cracks from this will only increase.

The outer walls are assembled from this material. They come out straight, even and strikingly warm. The walls from the inside are also erected from them, and partitions can be built anyway from what, but in most cases the same SIP plates are used for them.

Using SIP as main material attic floors and zero (floors) is justified by their excellent thermal insulation. Zero does not require further roughing, any floor covering (carpet, parquet, laminate, etc.) is laid directly on the slabs.

What is a SIP-panel house?

SIP technology came from Canada and the United States, where such houses have been built for more than 80 years. Sometimes they are called wireframe, but not in their pure form. The frame in this technology is formed during assembly, and not in advance, as in a classic frame house. The main element of the house is the self-supporting insulated wire panels themselves, which are quickly installed and joined to each other using a bar. This greatly reduces the assembly time compared to a classic frame house. SIP houses, without additional help, withstand the weight of walls, partitions, roofs plus transverse loads in the form strong wind and even tornadoes, if they happen in your area.

How does the sip panel work?

It is glued from two pressed OSB-3 boards and expanded polystyrene between them. Such a pie can withstand 500-600 kilograms of weight per "square", it keeps warm well and is easy to use. The material is relatively easy to make, so when buying, you need to carefully monitor the markings and accompanying documents - stamping of low-grade material in Russia is in full swing.

This is how a good SIP panel looks like.

A bad sip-panel easily exfoliates, in it OSB can be easily torn off from expanded polystyrene without much effort. As a heater in such handicraft slabs, PSB-15 expanded polystyrene can be used instead of PSB-25. Often foam is used instead of expanded polystyrene (outwardly indistinguishable). Due to their low density, such slabs are fragile. It is dangerous to build from such material, but it is good that they can be simply distinguished. Such panels have large granules, like the protective substrates from a new TV.

The SIP-house is being designed, calculations are being prepared, the shape of the panels and their size are determined by the loads on the walls and floors. After that, all the components are manufactured at the plant. The house turns out to be light. A box for housing of 200-250 "squares" can be brought to the site with one truck. The foundation can be used lightweight - pile or narrow shallow tape. The assembly takes 3-4 weeks. Then you can do the finishing.

Advantages of SIP-houses - it is built quickly, keeps heat in the house no worse than a thermos, does not require the cost of a reliable monolithic foundation - it is enough to screw the piles into the ground. The average cost of a house made of SIP-panels in Crimea is 12-15 thousand rubles per square meter. Price per box with foundation and roof.

We like the technology for its availability and speed of construction. But when building a house from SIP panels, you need to know everything, and not just what sales managers are happy to talk about, handing over brochures and leaflets to potential customers. The technology has disadvantages that become apparent over time. It is better to know about them in advance in order to take into account the obligatory expenses in the estimate. Otherwise, living in such a house is uncomfortable. The decision should be made reasonably, and not in the euphoria of an imminent move.

Soundproofing

When you touch the SIP plate live, you understand that all the tales about the ability to extinguish sound, absorb up to 70 dB and make life inside quiet and comfortable have nothing to do with reality. If you hit the slab with your palm or a wooden mallet, the sound will be like a drum - sharp and booming. If you are building in a busy place or by the road, you will have to think ten times.

There is nothing to absorb sound in a self-supporting insulated wire house- especially low frequencies - the panel starts to work like a drum membrane. In practice, without enhanced sound insulation, the sound of a Kamaz engine can be heard for 3-4 streets. It happens that it is not yet visible, but it is already audible. If a dog barks in the yard, it seems that it is barking right under the ear. If someone flushed the toilet, sneezed or slammed the door on the second floor, all this will be heard on the first floor. This happens because SIP walls are very light and even short-wave high frequencies can make them resonate and relay sound to the room. What can we say about low sounds that pass through such material without noticing it.

You have to save yourself with additional sound insulating materials... It is necessary to create a multi-layer structure in order to increase the viscosity of the wall, because it cannot be made monolithic in any way. And yet, if only the walls are trimmed with sound-insulating materials, there will be no effect. Floors also resonate and conduct sounds well. It is necessary to process them too - the rough floor, the insulator, the final floor. All this is money.

We are using Tecolit. A heavy monolithic rod absorbs sound waves, and the density difference (wood chips, concrete, insulation) finally locks out all sounds inside the structure. It is not for nothing that Tecolit is used to make protective fences along the railway tracks - they easily drown out the sound of the Sapsan flying past.

Environmental friendliness

A frequent question of the security of houses made of SIP panels is whether it is possible to stay for a long time in a room surrounded on all sides by expanded polystyrene - the main filler in the technology. In this regard, all polystyrene scary stories are the lot of insecure competitors. Styrofoam is not dangerous. The Japanese build whole houses from it, without any additional cladding. Just don't buy SIP panels in a nearby garage where some local handyman is pressing them out of cheap styrofoam. homemade... All the concentrations of styrene that the material gives off are so scanty that they cannot be compared even with the amount of car exhaust that we have to inhale. The harmful gas styrene is released at temperatures above 90 degrees Celsius, which happens only in one case - in case of a fire, but read on about that.

You should not be afraid of polystyrene foam in the slabs

Expanded polystyrene is located between two oriented strand board (OSB or OSB). When OSB-3 (moisture-proof) boards are made, wood veneer is used, and formaldehyde resins are used as bonding materials - melamine-formaldehyde or urea-formaldehyde. Their concentration is from 12 to 14% of the OSB mass. All of them are toxic and continuously emit formaldehyde and methanol into the air. In a room that is completely sheathed with such material, the concentration of poisons is high, but no one notices this, because the influence of harmless polystyrene foam is measured.

In Germany, the USA and Canada, OSB is being built everywhere. But we would not compare the control of production in these countries and in Russia, where half of the plates are of unknown, most often Chinese, origin. If the stove gets permission for residential construction abroad, these certificates cannot be closely compared with any local production near Voronezh. It is not for nothing that in Finland, the largest manufacturer of OSB boards, this material is only exported, and is prohibited in internal construction.

The marking for imported and Russian plates is the same - E1 and E2, only in Europe the formaldehyde content is considered the norm in the production of 8 mg per 100 grams of dry mixture (class E1) or 15 mg per 100 grams (E2). In Russia it is 10 and 30 mg, respectively. E2 is generally not recommended by GOST for the construction of residential premises. Add to this the control over compliance with these classes in Russia, where certificates are issued in offices, without looking at production.

Formaldehyde, when pressed at high temperatures, eats into the wood fibers. It stands out from the slabs constantly for 14 years. Evaporation rate depends on environmental conditions. To reduce the amount of harmful fumes, make sure that the cookers are not new. 6 months after production, the evaporation of toxins is reduced by 50%. Do not allow high humidity, this also promotes evaporation.

It is important to know that the hotter it is outside, the more active the evaporation is. For Crimea, where, due to the warm winter and hot summer, it is wet or hot, plates impregnated with formaldehyde resins are not the best option. We use fixed chip and cement blocks and a monolithic core. All these materials, even with active combustion, do not emit any harmful substances.

In Canada and the United States, houses are built according to clear instructions. The rules for storing materials, transportation rules, and optimal humidity have been prescribed. In Russia, this technology was simplified for understanding the consumer, leaving only a low price. Nobody says that it is necessary to build such houses carefully, that every miscalculation will respond in a few years and will cost money. Insufficient fasteners, brittle black self-tapping screws, cheap wood for connecting beams - all these seem to be trifles, but these things negate all the advantages of SIP houses.