A Perfect Fit: No Cuts, Rips or Errors
If you’ve never seen a Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) roof installed, it’s quite a spectacle. In our case the entire structural roof system was successfully installed in two days. The precision engineered panels were made in Greensburg, Pennsylvania and trucked 200 miles to Bragg Hill for installation. It is common that SIPs require slight modification or “field trimming” on site during the installation process. In our case, no trimming or cutting was required. Each panel was a perfect fit. This remarkable construction feat is a testament to the success in four key areas: 1) Exact plans and technical diagrams put together by our architect, Matthew Moger and his team, 2) Precision and manufacturing and engineering support by the SIP manufacturer SureTight, 3) Perfect construction technique and methodology by the MW Thompson team and, 4) great communication between the entire team. Time is money, this was a joy to experience.
The 36 panels, each 10 1/2 inches thick covered over 3,000 square feet of roof surface area. Many of the panels were rectangular in shape, but some were oddly shaped trapezoids, triangles and other strange geometric shapes. Like an IKEA bookshelf assembly, the entire assembly appeared easy (easy for me to say as I wasn’t on the roof managing these enormous SIPs dangling from a crane). Months of steady vertical fabrication of our three story home, often delayed by harsh winter weather preceded this event. It turns out that the structure’s physical measurements were so precise that the SIPs didn’t require any “field adjustments”.
Panel "BR4" flown and fixed into place by a 40 ton crane. Precision teamwork required.