about to move house and have space in garden to build a moderate size (still in negotiations with better half as to actual size) workshop / bike store / kit store. nothing fancy, one door, one window, pent roof, few power points etc

been looking at looking at potentially building it in SIPS panels. although more expensive than block work or timber frame, the speed and ease of build (doing it myself) and inherent insulation to stop kit getting damp appeals.

has anyone got any experience of building this way and any pro’s / cons? how easy & quick actually is it? in terms of foundations would you use concrete pillars as with decking or a raft foundation? can you attach shelving / racking into the SIPS or does it not handle point loads well?

cheers

ben

how easy & quick actually is it?

I’ve worked on quite a few SIP houses, but not built with it myself.

Decent builder with bang on founds = easy
Shoddy builder with shoddy prep = nightmare..

Seems to sum it up with the ones I’ve seen.

How much quicker will it really go up? Still needs roofing, cladding, door etc.
I think a timber kit is more versatile and handier when it comes to shelving/racking, and is unlikely to take much longer to build in reality.

The roof will be sips also I’m presuming. I’d skin it all with a decent breathable then you will need to choose your cladding. For the roof id go for an epdm, firestone do a nice diy kit available widely. If going for a raft found spec the panels so they lap slightly over the outer edge to avoid splash issues then clad below, this all hides unsightly concrete faces of the raft. If pouring yourself sort your sub base to be a quality found then use a simple 100mm of self levelling concrete, won’t be cheap but will be very easy to lay solo. Don’t know what your diy credentials are like but I can offer many a pointer if you like.

I did my shed in sips panels and it was really very simple and easy to do.
If I can work out how to upload photos I’ll post some later.

unless you’re heating the space, I don’t think the insulation will make any difference – the building will be unoccupied long enough in winter for it to reach the mean outdoor temperature anyway. The insulation will flatten the peaks and troughs a little (maybe by 1C) but that’s all. If you want to avoid it being damp, just make sure there’s plenty of ventilation

Mini screw piles, timber ring beam, SIP panel floor on top etc. SIP panel walls with vertical timber boarding on the outside.
Be prepared for it to work out pricer than you anticipated though. Speed of build is the big advantage.

Even my 24 year old daughter says that this forum is crap for photos.

thanks for the replies so far. yes, initial research seem that it will be more expensive than building in block or timber frame, but possibly only 10% so (or am i kidding myself?). it’s the ease of build, speed and additional insulation that appeals

yes will be looking at some form of tick over or passive heating and appropriate ventilation – any suggestions on this. initial thoughts for heating were some form of economy 7 storage heater and then possibly a workshop stove for when i’m working in there in winter. not event looked at ventilation yet, what would i need?

@rockhopper – why do you suggest post and ring beam rather than some form of insulated slab?

@wrightyson – have you built with sips yourself then? my building experience is limited other than labouring for my dad on the couple of houses he’s bulit and domestice diy (will be leaning heavily on father)

@sargey – any tips or pointers you have (and photos) would be great, thanks

Sips floor will require it to be suspended, which will require it to be raised off the ground which will involve steps in to which isn’t ideal for a shed, think mower in mower out.
As for have I built with sips? I helped my bro in law with the roof on his, but also whilst there showed him how to square it up etc etc as building is what I do. I put proper sips panels on real sheds as a day job 😉

Just for simplicity plus it gets the wooden SIP panel floor off the ground keeping it dry and avoiding rot.
If you do an insulated slab then you need to dig out, concrete etc which is loads of work. Plus if you’ve got trees around it could be an issue.

I tick over heat both the shed and summer house/pub side of my garden building with two of these bar heaters,
Bar heater
The summer house/pub side then has a panel heater in there for when we are actually using it.

unless you’re heating the space, I don’t think the insulation will make any difference – the building will be unoccupied long enough in winter for it to reach the mean outdoor temperature anyway. The insulation will flatten the peaks and troughs a little (maybe by 1C) but that’s all.

Our workshop maintains a pretty constant 9-10C all winter. It gets solar loading through the Veluxes and a bit of occasional fan heating if I’m in there; but basically stays pretty constant.

did it have astroturf?

Bobz75 bumps old thread then a few days later posts link to business…..