Why I did not build with SIPs.

I got the estimate back for the SIPs yesterday.  I expected it to be in the 3,000 to 5,000 range.  I opened the email and saw $9,200!!!! =O

This morning I called another company, they where nice enough to give me some numbers so I could ball park the cost.  This time it came to about $7,000 with a 6 to 8 week delivery time.  (Edit this second estimated ending up being $9,500)

I did up a spread sheet to estimate how much a stick build would cost.  I included sheathing, framing, insulation, vapor barrier and a large cushion. My estimate is $3500.

I love spreadsheets.

I've been using one to track my expenses so I just added a few numbers for the siding and windows to get my "dry in" price.  With SIPs I would be around $19,000, stick build $15,500.  Add on plumbing, electrical, cabinets and it starts to add up.  Granted I'll have more time to look for bargains which would help.

Done and done

Crossed a couple of long standing items off the list today.  I installed the flashing for the front bay window and welded on the last 4 anchors.  Moving into the home stretch for the floor :-)

The SIPs will not be ready for a couple of weeks and I'm running out of things to do so I've decide that I'm going to head out on the bike for a week.  Vancouver island is the leading candidate.  This is my list of what is left to do:
Seal gaps
Typar on bay window
Secure plumbing
Paint new welds
Insulation
Vapor barrier
Deck sheathing

Delay on account of SIPs

I spoke with the SIPs company last Friday.  I was told the earliest I would be able to get the SIPs is the first week of September.  It took the wind out of my sails.  I didn't order them sooner because I wanted to floor mostly done so I could make sure my model matched what I had built.  Good thing too because the house is 1" shorter then it should be.

I also spoke with a company that provides wool insulation last week and still have not heard back from them.  I guess I'm going with fiberglass.

I spent the last few days mostly relaxing with family but I did finish all the flashing on the bottom of the trailer.  I also wrapped each of the outriggers in typar (like tyvek).

With the outrigger upside down

 And on it's side

The wasps have been really bad and the spray has not done it's job.  I tried to buy a wasp trap today but all the stores where sold out so I bodged together one.  I'll let you know if it works.

Expenses to date $5,761

Flashing, no not that kind!

My roommate, who is being very generous with this time, gave me a hand putting the flashing on the bottom of the floor.  It was messy, hot and tedious.  Even when we got into a rhythm it took about an hour to apply each strip, luckily there where only 4 to do.  We only applied construction adhesive done the side that overlapped the previous piece.  We then screw the flashing at each joist in two places.  The overlap is 6" on a 24" wide flashing.

After take a break I came back and finished dry fitting the sewage plumbing.  I then notched out the joists where the pipe would pass thru and placed everything.  The slope is about 1/4" per foot.  Everything looks like it will work.  I had to cut a hole in the plywood to make room for the shower trap.  I'll be adding about 4" of insulation under it to keep it from freezing in the winter.

Expenses to date $5,571

SIPs

Having remeasured the trailer and tweaking the model I spent the morning exporting views so I could send the designs off to the company that will be making the SIPs for me.  After sending them off I started playing with the window sizes a little.  I'm trying to go with a size that is "stock" so hopefully it will be cheaper.

And on the 7th day

Rest day!  Well mostly.  After the rain ended the tarps had puddles of water where they sagged between the joists.  I pulled them off and found a little bit of water had leaked thru so I let them air dry for the day.  I also remeasured the floor so I can change my Sketch Up drawing to match reality.  I late afternoon rain shower had me scrambling to make a tent structure to cover the trailer.

All squared up

After pulling all the screws my roommate came out and helped me square up the frame.  The strap in the picture is tightened which in turn shortens the long diagonal.  The final result after everything was screwed back down... drum roll please ... 288 1/4" to 288 3/8" or withing 2/16".  Woo hoo, it only took 5 hours to fix.

In the afternoon I shortened the left rear and right front outriggers and moved the anchor holds on the right rear.  The adjustment ended up changing the dimensions by 1/4 to 1/2".

The past few days have all been sunny and 32 to 35C and this evening was no exception.  I glanced at the weather forecast and saw it might rain, I was tired from the long days but I still tarped everything over.  The next morning it rained buckets for about 30 minutes, moral of the story, always check the forecast.

Expenses to date $5,545