Are SIPs as strong as conventional framing?
While both SIPs and stick framing came be engineered to meet most design load requirements, SIPs are inherently much stronger. SIPs are an engineered building component and as such, have been required to go through rigorous and on-going destructive structural testing in a certified laboratory. Building codes require that SIPs are subjected to axial testing, transverse testing, and racking shear testing. According to internal testing, SIPs are more than twice as strong in the axial test, are approximately 40% stronger in the transverse test, and about 50% stronger in the racking test. Also, anecdotally, SIPs perform very well in natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes.
