EPS PLYWOOD STRUCTURAL INSULATED PANEL

PLYWOOD EPS SIP structural insulated panel is an excellent thermal performance construction board (alternative to OSB version) laminated to the plywood skin surfaces with an extremely strong and durable one-part urethane adhesive. Board insulates and builds the walls in one simple application. In fact, it is a cheaper solution than buying both constituent parts. The SIP PLY building system means that panels are easy and quick to use especially when insulating floors. Plywood skin is easy and simple to apply to any floor joists. Used primarily for their strength, they are rated by their exposure capability and the grade of veneer used on the face and back.
EPS SIP PLY sheets range comes in thicknesses from 37mm up to 112mm. When compared to OSB SIP a sheet of plywood might be 5 to 7 plies thick, a sheet of OSB is made from as many as 50 strand layers packed and compressed into the same thickness. Moreover, Plywood SIP panels can be used for finish work while OSB PIR is not used for finished surfaces because it cannot handle paint or stain the way that hardwood plywood can. However Plywood SIP is the more expensive option to build with than OSB SIP. When used beneath flooring as a substrate, SIP made of plywood is generally considered the better material. PLYWOOD SIP skin has shown that it can last 50 or more years in an installation. OSB SIP and Plywood SIP offer similar performance in terms of strength and functionality, though Plywood SIP is about 7% stronger. Once fixed, boards are ready for finishing such as brick slips, Cedral fibre cement boards, Hardiebacker cladding or Rockpanel. Those type of SIP board has grown massively in popularity – with demand only increasing due to recognition of the superior quality builds they result in. Given that this method has been around for 20 years in British buildings. When compared to brick and block construction, which requires insulation to be fitted between cavities during the build process and needs more complex and costly solutions to achieve similar U-values to that of a SIPs build, the benefits of SIPs far outweigh traditional construction.

PROS OF BUILDING WITH PLY SIPS

• Increased usable space.
• Eco-friendly method of construction.
• 80% less waste on site.
• Reduced cold bridging.
• Panels are precision engineered offsite.
• Superior airtight values.
• Building with SIPs is not subject to fine weather.
• The system will always provide a larger area comparatively, than can be achieved when using traditional build methods due to the thinner construction components.

CONS OF BUILDING WITH PLY SIPS

• Lead time of around 8 weeks is required.
• SIP’s require experience.

EPS PLYWOOD STRUCTURAL INSULATED PANEL THICKNESSES ǀ COST

EPS plywood SIP panels comes square edge and are available in 6 thicknesses to suit your requirements:
37mm ǀ 42mm ǀ 52mm ǀ 62mm ǀ 87mm ǀ 112mm
There are many factors to consider when comparing traditional construction with SIPs and while on the face of it traditional materials may appear to be more cost effective than the market leading structural insulated panels; overall project costs cannot be accurately compared like for like. If you are looking for the boarding cost per m2 you should be looking for £32.22 per m2 and £ 92.80 per sheet (as of 2022). This is based on the most popular 112mm thick SIP board. Just like brick and block, extra insulation can be added to a SIP’s build to improve thermal performance. However, please note the first 100mm of insulation is where the energy savings are really significant.

SIP PLYWOOD APPLICATIONS

SIP plywood board is a uniquely versatile material being suitable for a wide range of applications. It can be used in a variety of roof, wall and floor applications, which makes it a great solution for a range of constructions. It has also been used in office fit-outs, self builds for many years. It turns out that they are an indispensable product for the construction of small sheds in any UK back garden.

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