FOUNDATION SOLUTION FOR SIP PANEL BUILDS

What is a SIP panel construction?

SIP stands for Structural Insulated Panels and they are becoming increasingly popular in construction.

In this article we will discuss:

• What a SIP panel is
• How SIP Panels are manufactured and put together
• The advantages and disadvantages of SIP buildings
• Why Stop Digging Ground Screws are perfect for SIP Panel buildings

Structural insulated panels (SIP’s) are sheets of fabricated timber filled with a foam which acts as thermal and sound insulation. These panels are fabricated in a factory to suit a specific building design. SIP’s are used for both external and internal walls and are mainly used due to their minimal impact on the environment in comparison to traditional brick and block, whilst also significantly reducing labour time on site. The illustration below is an example of what a SIP panel consists of.

How are they manufactured and put together?

Stage 1

The building must be designed like any other building would. The usual site investigation takes place to verify that the ground is suitable for SIP’s. The building is then designed according to the client’s requests, taking into consideration the number of rooms, how many floors and what type of services such as ventilation and heating are required.

Stage 2

The final design is then passed onto the factory for manufacture. Once all the panels have been fabricated, they will go through a quality check to ensure they are all cut to size and are in strict accordance with the design.

Stage 3

The panels are delivered, offloaded, placed into position and fixed together. The final part on site is securing doors and windows and checking everything is watertight, then installing all the necessary services such as gas, electric and water supply.

Advantages of SIP’s 

• Structural insulated panels have minimal limits as to what type of building they can be used in.
• The advantage of SIP’s is that they can be made in factories before being delivered to site. This dramatically decreases the labour costs and time spent on site during the construction phase.
• The other main advantage of SIP’s is being environmentally friendly. SIP’s are mostly timber which is a renewable resource and is much easier to source in comparison to traditional bricks and blocks.
• SIP’s are great at retaining heat within the building in the winter months and deflecting the heat in the summer months. They are cut to very high precision resulting in good air tightness and much lower u-values overall compared to traditional brick and block.
• SIP’s are proven to be very strong against extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes and very high winds.

Disadvantages of SIP’s

• Everything is pre-cut, from door cut-outs to wiring holes, meaning if there were any minor amendments to the shape of the building, the panels would be unusable as you cannot properly fill holes in SIP panels.
• As SIP’s are very airtight, it is important that adequate ventilation travels throughout the whole building. The more complex and detailed the building services and design are, the harder it will be to pinpoint a fault in the building in the future.
• SIP’s aren’t moisture resistant therefore they must be treated by an extra layer to ensure they have adequate protection against moisture especially in areas such as bathrooms or external walls which are exposed to higher levels of moisture.

Image provided by Simply SIPS

Why Stop Digging ground screws are perfect for SIP buildings?

Our ground screws are the perfect foundation solution for SIP buildings, for what reasons?

1. Environmentally friendly

Many people will choose a SIP construction as they are much more environmentally friendly than the traditional brick and block construction but if you are putting the building on a concrete base then this defeats the purpose. Stop Digging ground screws are environmentally friendly and there no concrete and cement is used.

2. Can be installed for difficult ground solutions

The beauty of Stop Digging ground screws is they can be installed on sloped or uneven ground, near tree roots and other difficult areas

3. Saves time, hassle and money

Compared to digging foundations and creating a concrete base, Stop Digging ground screws are much quicker to install, saving you time. There is no mess which saves you hassle, and it normally works out cheaper too. We also offer a 25-year guarantee on our screws

If you are considering having a SIP extension or building, then get in touch with Stop Digging UK to get a quote on our ground screws for the foundation solution.

Image by Simply SIPS

Call 020 39703979, we work across the United Kingdom

If you would like an approximate quotation on what your project might cost, use our online calculator which you can find here

Ground screws are known by many names including but not limited to: ground screw, ground anchor, screw pile, ground pins, earth screw, screw anchor, helical piles, earth anchor, ground screw anchors