Re: structurally integrated panels
From: Kay Argyle (kay.argyleutah.edu)
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 09:10:20 -0800 (PST)
>    1. Do I understand correctly when you say it was the contractor's
>    problem in installing the upstairs decks and not the architects design?
The
>    design wasn't difficult to implement?

I suspect the causes of the drainage problem were independent of the
construction being stud or SIP, but, once water was seeping into places it
shouldn't have, stud construction might not have been as damaged as the SIPs
were.

Some of the problem is due to design. The gutter installer predicted we
would have trouble with water drainage off the decks - which has been
particularly true of the decks with short overhangs, facing north or east
(there've been multiple attempts to improve the drainage, even before the
ripping-off-the-wall fix).  The south-facing decks have longer overhangs and
don't have as much water missing the gutter and running down the stucco -
outside, let alone inside. 

On the other hand, the contractor did many things better as they progressed
from the first to the last units.  Our deck, built about a third of the way
through construction, had the most severe leakage into the end wall, but
several of the first decks built also have leakage at their top end, which
later decks, including ours, don't (seem to) have. The decks with long
overhangs were about the last built, and have the fewest problems.

>    2. Given the sound transmission characteristics of SIPs, was it simply
>    a matter of dollars that dictated the use of standard (albeit offset)
stick
>    walls for the walls separating units? Or, do I overestimate their
ability to
>    attenuate sound?

Cost may well have been a factor.  The summer before I joined, the group
made quite a number of changes to decrease the size of the construction loan
needed (apparently initial efforts at getting a loan were unsuccessful).  

Since the common house and workshop are the largest buildings, one would
think that SIPs would have made more sense for them than for the townhouses
- longer straight stretches of wall making better use of the large panels.
Yet they are entirely stud construction, as is the one detached house - the
last three buildings built. I've wondered if that is significant.  This
project was the first time the contractor had worked with SIPs, and they
weren't entirely enthused with the experience.  As I pointed out, however,
our design didn't make best use of some of SIPs' potential advantages.

Kay

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