post and beam construction with SIPs

[jsmall]

Hi everyone, have been absent for a long time but I do have a good excuse. After living "in exile" for 15 long years I have finally made the move from Maryland back to Maine. Just rolled in 2 days ago in fact - Hooray!:-D

To my question then - I am looking at existing homes for sale up here and it's still pretty pricey. I'm thinking that I could get a better (for me) home by buying a piece of land and hiring the foundation and frame/weathertightening (ie sheathing/siding/roofing/windows) done and doing the inside work. I love the post and beam architecture and I have found a company close by that will erect the post and beam frame with all wood joinery and make it weather tight for a reasonable price. However they use these structural insulated panels (SIPS) for the exterior walls. I am wondering if any of you electrical and plumbing types have had any experience with these SIPs. It seems like it might be difficult to run pipes and wiring through these. I guess it is more of an issue with electrical/cable/phone wires since plumbing goes through mostly interior walls. Anyone ever worked with these?

Thanks, and let me just say that Maine ROCKS! So glad to be back!!!!

[mdshunk]

They're a treat to wire up. You need to plan, plan, plan what's going where on the SIP walls. There isn't much "fishing" after the fact in SIPS, unless you use Wiremold. Many SIPS have vertical and horizontal wiring paths every so often, but after the sheetrock's up, you're done using them.

[jsmall]

Plan, plan, plan you say. I figured as much. The SIPs are supposed to be very energy efficient (a big consideration up here) but I wonder if it's worth the hassle when you could spend a little more and do conventional framing for the exterior. Food for thought. Thanks mdshunk.

[mdshunk]

Plan, plan, plan you say. I figured as much. The SIPs are supposed to be very energy efficient (a big consideration up here) but I wonder if it's worth the hassle when you could spend a little more and do conventional framing for the exterior. Food for thought. Thanks mdshunk.
Yes, they are very efficient. I'm not sure if they're so much more that it would make the initial hassle worth the energy savings. I guess that's partly personal preference and partly a little number crunching. In Maine, I'd think that putting a little effort into energy efficient construction, even if it is less convenient for the mechanicals, might pay off. That's just my gut feeling.