SIP Construction Once Again

if you look closely you'll see 12 inch long 1/2 diameter,hardened 18/8 stainless steel lag bolts every foot. 

In reply to CJ :

I understand costs are a major consideration for HFH homes but By shopping directly at various sawmills you're likely to be shocked at the low price of Timbers. Especially for a single story building.  Since the walls will be SIP's essentially Timbers are trim, plus according to the building code  Timbers 6"x"6 ( actual not dimensional ) are exempt from grading requirements. So you can buy directly.   ( it's towards the back of the building codes, few inspectors are aware of it but look it up in your local library ). 
      You can quickly assemble  Timbers with large lag bolts. The trick is a big Milwaukee Hole Hawg  and custom made 3 step drill.  Counter-bore deep enough and you can put pegs in place to make it look like a real timber frame.   

In reply to frenchyd :

I'm happy to hear your opinion about fire resistance, but it is absolutely not what fire prevention specialists have found to be true. 
 

Don't forget... your house does NOT use SIPs as structural components. It's a timber frame. 
 

Regarding timber frames for Habitat for Humanity houses... that's a terrible idea. The skills are too specialized (and slow) to be done well with unskilled volunteers. 

In reply to frenchyd :

I also completely disagree about your assessment of the building code. 
 

All codes define an AHJ (Authority having Jurisdiction). Bottom line is that inspectors NEVER have to allow something they aren't confident about, and currently inspectors in the vast majority of the country would not have a comfort level with timber framing (or ungraded lumber) without engineering. It's not a thing any more. 

(I've only built about 6 timber frames, but I have built over 400 HfH houses. I'm very experienced at working with volunteer crews)

In reply to SV reX :

In the original UBC and it's later replacement it's specifically written  in the code.  PS the University of Wisconsin has a  strength grading standard of various woods used  used by engineers for structural calculations. 
      Since the code is the standard reference any building inspector only has to defer to that.   
Plus.  The SIP's meet structural requirements.  
 

Out of curiosity those six timberframes  you built how did you get them approved?  Were they prebuilt and you merely assembled them? Was it something  you built from scratch?  

In reply to frenchyd :

I'm not chasing that rabbit. The OP is asking about SIPs for a HfH house. 
 

The UBC was last published in 1997, and became obsolete nationwide in 2000.