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Call Now 1800 747 700
First, not all Structural Insulated Panels are the same! There are numerous types of panels on the market, those surfaced with OSB (Oriented Strand Board), surfaced directly with Fibre Cement or those surfaced to one face with Weathertex.
OSB (Oriented Strand Board) is a reconstituted timber board similar to particleboard. Panels fabricated from OSB are strong and easily worked with traditional carpentry tools, homes built with these panels are high performing, and panel for panel they are competitively priced. However like any particleboard they don’t like water!
Fibre Cement is a well known building product. Currently used throughout the industry, directly as a cladding material, eave linings, internal for wet area linings and now to surface SipForm panels both internally and externally. Fibre Cement is resilient to water, fire, wood borers and to termites.
Weathertex made from reconstituted timber pulp with no added glues and available in a wide range of finishes that come pre-primed and ready for immediate painting. Weathertex is resilient to water and rated up to BAL 19 for use in bushfire prone areas.
We check out what's involved in achieving the same rendered look with the two main types of panel available in our market. With this simple overview of what is involved in the construction methods when using each panel system, we can gauge a number of time and cost implications to any build.
After panel installation the whole exterior to the building needs to be wrapped in a weather barrier to repel any water. Steel top hat sections or battens installed, the outer cladding is applied, joints are taped and flush sealed and finish applied. Internally, the panels are lined with plasterboard, joints are taped and flush sealed and the finish applied.
Important Note:
If moderate to heavy rains are forecast, panel tops must be covered with plastic and securely fixed.
After the panels are installed, external and internal joints are taped and flush sealed and the selected finish applied. If using Weathertex externally, the paint finish is simply just applied.
Important Note:
If moderate to heavy rains are forecast, you can just go home!
When using SipForm, the benefits speak for themselves. You save time during the build, save money, plus you have little issue with rain during the build and recovery after flooding.
Large monolithic structures visually present as fairly heavy. Architects or designers often counter this effect by cladding the upper level of the building with a lighter weight cladding, one that is often of a differing hue or texture to the lower floor.
This treatment provides a number of benefits when working with SipForm’s Cementitious Panels. The often dominant visual volume of the structure is reduced and the upper floor can be clad with a low maintenance material. Lines where flashing may be pronounced in the finish are remedied and cladding can be applied again without installation of a water repellent barrier
As the Fibre Cement used in our SipForm wall panels is a non-porous material there is no requirement for a water repellent barrier to wrap the exterior of the building, external joints are simply sealed. Top hat sections or battens are installed and the upper floor cladding is applied.
Important Note:
If moderate to heavy rains are forecast, again you can just go home!
