Cheaper, “non-pretty” post and beam construction for SIP home?
Howdy all. Longtime lurker. I’m starting to sketch out some ideas for a home build here in VT, and have been attracted to a Post and Beam + SIP home, with service cavities on the inside.
The reason for this is twofold: speed and desire for clearspans. On speed, I live in a very hoity-toity area, and the costs for contractors here is just completely outrageous. ($300+ per sqft is the norm. Bottom rung guy swinging a hammer is billed out at $50/hour.) I’m pretty handy but have never built a full house. But I figure if I can get a shell up pretty quickly, I can handle a lot of the inside work myself or with much more reasonable subs that I’ve found over the years. What costs more in materials I will certainly save in labor. And I want the big open spaces of clear spans.
My wife does not like the post and beam look — “I’m just going to paint it all white as soon as I see it,” she says. So I really don’t want to pay for beautiful joinery and exposed wood etc etc if I don’t have to.
Are there better options? I was even thinking steel + SIPS might be a potential, but can’t find anything on it?
Broaden my mind Green Building Advisors!!
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Replies
Structural insulated panels (SIPs)
The whole point is that the panels are the structure so you have no frame no post no beams just panels.
Walta
Red,
Walter is right. A SIP home doesn't need any structure other than the SIPs.
That isn't necessarily the least expensive way to build, but it's certainly cheaper than post-and-beam plus SIPs.
Doing it yourself and want to get the shell up quick? My wife and I used eco panels out of North Carolina and stacked trusses on top of them. Certainly not cheap but their panels are all 4'x8' or 4'x9' and manageable with two people without a crane. No utility chase needed as they provide conduit and boxes to your spec. Everything is pre-cut and fit beautifully. My wife and I had all the wall panels of our 2600 sq ft farmhouse and 3 car garage up in a few days time. We payed substantially more for material than conventionally framing but since we pay ourselves $0/hr we made that up in labor. I think we also ended up with a tighter, higher quality envelope than had we tried to frame conventionally. We did some post and beam work as well but most of it is aesthetic. The majority of the wall structure is the SIPS.