Steel SIP panels in Rhode Island.

The panel package costs more than a lumber package. The finished wall usually costs less, because the panel replaces framing, insulation, sheathing and vapour barrier and cuts framing labour by roughly half, then the mechanical system shrinks by about 50%. We will price it both ways so you can see the whole picture rather than one line of it.

The hurricane panel is designed, tested and certified to withstand 185 mph including flying debris, to the Miami-Dade protocol, and carries Florida Product Approval and a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance. Both documents are on our resources page. Our guide to building on the New England coast covers wind, salt air and moisture.

The steel is galvanised and fully enclosed behind whatever cladding you choose. There is no organic material in the assembly for moisture or salt to attack, and nothing that feeds mold or mildew in a house that sits closed for months.

This is where panels earn their keep on the coast. The shell closes in days rather than weeks, and nothing in the assembly has to dry before the next trade can start.

A documented R-51 to R-61 envelope and a heating bill a quarter of the neighbours’ is an unusually concrete thing to put in a listing, and buyers in this market have learned to ask.

Yes. Matching an existing structure is a drawing problem, and the addition ends up better insulated than what it attaches to, which is usually the point.

No. Your own framer, in almost every case. Training runs under two hours for a crew that has framed before, and the only power tool required is a screw gun.