Problems With Sip Roofs

The first signs of problems with the roofs in juneau occurred when workers walking on the roof noticed soft spots.

Problems with sip roofs.

Nabil taha has over 27 years of structural engineering experience. Prior to opening his own engineering firm in oregon in 1997 he was a professor of engineering at northern montana state university and at oregon institute of technology. Issues with structural insulated panels sip dr. Build for the future with extreme s structural insulated panels sips the high thermal values and strength properties of extreme s sips are highly beneficial for roof construction.

Most sip problems have occurred in cool damp climates. Matt melton lives in central washington state in a 3 year old house with a roof made of structural insulated panels sips that are 12 1 4 inches thick. Don t freak out if you don t have any signs of problems. Kiesecker offers the following.

Only sips surrounded by a fire rated product like drywall can stand up well in fires. The ridges caused by the expansion of sip roof panels may be an aesthetic blemish but it does not affect the performance of the roofing or the sip roof panels. Insulated sip roof panels and wall panels raycore s structural insulated roof panels and insulated wall panels sips are not a sandwich panel sip that consists of two sheets of osb glued to a solid foam core. However working with structural insulated panels does have its challenges especially for first time users.

Several assemblies that prevent shingle ridging are described in the builder s guide to structural insulated panels sips. There was a big cluster of failures in juneau alaska. To help shed some light on common problem areas we asked frank kiesecker of sips manufacturer ach foam technologies in denver to provide key tips and do s and don ts when working with the technology. Ray core sips are far superior eliminating all the problems associated with traditional sandwich panel sips.

Problems with fire safety and structural insulated panels sips con struct ed with osb composite structural siding panels and plywood do not have adequate fire per for mance ratings. Warm moisture laden air exfiltrates at gaps in the sip joints and migrates upwards within the joint toward the roof ridges depositing moisture at the upper cooler exterior surfaces along the way. The pattern of damage in the sip roofs investigated was concentrated at the panel seams towards the ridges of roof assemblies.