I want to enclose my New York timberframe home with polyurethane panels. The prices of polyurethane sips is more than I want to spend. I am considering using panels made by Ray-Core, http://www.raycore.com/ , which do not have any skins such as OSB, or drywall. I know that studs will conduct some cold, but I like the idea of having something substantial to nail and screw. The Ray-Core panels I can install myself without a crane, another plus for me. The Ray-Core roof panels have 2 x 6 douglas fir studs acting as purlins. Has anyone out there have any experience using this system or opinions vs using sips?

How much less do they cost? It's hard to believe they'd be less. Are you factoring everything in? I mean with sips, you can have all the chases precut, and sips are designed pre-engineered to reduce labor and increase speed. It looks like the two would have comparable materials, the raycore may even look a little more expensive with all the studs. There definitely seems to be more wood products in the raycore. Hmm, hopefully some with experience will chime in. How long is a foam like SIP Polyurethane good for? Is the raycore a similar urethane? I've heard that the R-value starts out high, but then drops down after a little while to a slightly lower value. Meaning it's not going to stay quite at that highest rated r value. I started a topic on Sips awhile back. I'll have to look for it and review some of the info we came up with.

I was quoted $3.45 sq ft for the 2 x 4, R26 panels and $4.98 sq ft for the 2 x 6, R42 panels. Panels are 8, 9, 10, & 12 ft long. Shipping is $500 to $1100 from Idaho. These are the contractor builder prices. The foil on both sides is supposed to minimize reductions in R value. You can router channels for wiring and refill the foam and foil tape, but I plan to do a electrical raceway built into the baseboard. Labor is probably more but my time, since I am retired, doesn't really add up too fast. Crane cost for the sips is eliminated.

I looked at this product as well a couple of years ago.. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the green light from the building officials as the product is not registered in Ontario.

Have you seen my post on REMOTE wall? It's a super easy system, fun to work with, especially when when working solo. The 4x8 foam panels are light, the 2x4 curtain wall can be built either 16 oc or 24oc and it goes up quite fast. My rough costing came out to just over $3/sqft for R34 wall (+ 3.5" airspace, which allows the foil to do it's thing). That is using foil faced polyiso panels and standard SPF studs.

I checked out the remote wall system as you suggested and I am considering using the system. The area we will be building at is about 7000 heating degree days. I need R21 as a minimum in the walls and R42 in the roof. What are your heating degree days up there in your location in Canada? Is the goal to try to have 1/3 of the R value on the inside of the vapor barrier?

hi JPD, I haven't run HDD #'s but I know that min code for walls is R24 or R25 if obtaining gov grants.
Cavity insulation is optional.