SIPs below Ground: Comfort Where It's Least Expected PATH Case Study

Click here to visit the PATH website.  PDF Click here for a larger view. After nearly 40 years in construction, Curt Stendel now specializes in supplying and installing SIPs. He founded Panelworks Plus in 2001 and averages 25 to 30 projects per year, primarily in custom residential. Panels on each home cost about $50,000, while the homes usually market for about $350,000. The Project: Vacation cabin on Lake Minnetonka in Orono, Minn. This 1,400-square-foot, three-story home includes a walkout basement and a partial third floor for a master bedroom. Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are used for the entire structure, including the basement. Client Gerald Walsh wants a well-insulated basement in his vacation cabin so that he can comfortably use it as a living room. The local building inspector likes conventional foundations. He's never seen below-grade SIPs and isn't inclined to grant a permit for them. Why Stendel switched to SIPs: "Projects just go much faster when using SIPs. And when you can get in and out faster, a number of things happen: The customer is happier; it's easier to collect the money; and you are providing them a good service with a shorter construction time." "When a building inspector refuses to give a permit for a technology like below-grade SIPs, you have to be ready to dig in," says Curt Stendel, president of Panelworks Plus (St. Francis, Minn.). "Persistence got the cabin finished on time. In this case, it was the determination of the homebuyer, who was also the general contractor, that finally convinced the inspector to give below-grade SIPs a try. Despite the objections of the Orono building inspector, Walsh felt that he should be able to put in a SIPs system that was engineered at the price he was willing to pay, rather than accept a lower quality, less insulated alternative. "And he had done his homework. After a great deal of research, Walsh settled on SIPs from Extreme Panel Technologies of Cottonwood, Minnesota, and he wanted to use them on the entire house. Extreme Panels, with whom I work exclusively, referred Walsh to me."   1 | 2 | 3 | 4  NEXT