Looking for recommendations and experiences of anyone that has worked with panelized I-joist floors. I am currently a distributor for an EPS wall panel manufacturer in Canada, and also work closely with Superior Wall foundations. I am looking into having the floors panelized in Canada and shipped to the US for some future projects. It only takes about 4 hours to set basement panels , and about 36 total man hours to set all the exterior wall panels, first and second floor. If the crane that is setting the basement could just set the steel and start lifting floor panels in place, the total elapsed time could be much reduced. The manufacturer that would build the panels is in Ontario and does this locally but has never shipped into the Phila. area.
I know the biggest concern would be that the floor panels fit on the basement walls,but knowing the accuracy of Superior Wall and the wall panel manufacturer, I do not think this sould be a problem. Any & all opinions appreciated.
John
Nascor Building Systems of Pa.
Replies
Interesting idea. I've never seen it tried, but don't know why it wouldn't be possible. How does the manufacturer in Ontario splice the panels together? How do they ship them without damage? How do you jig something like that and keep it square? How long of a section can they build?
Maybe I'm asking more questions than answering. We've tried in the past to build floor truss systems, ship them, and then set them on the foundation in the correct setting order with a crane. But the framers don't seem to like it, and complain about every litle nit-picky detail that isn't the way they wanted it.
One of the problems inherent with pre-fabrication is that there isn't any margin for error. Get the stair opening in the wrong place, or write one digit down wrong and the thing is screwed up. You'd have to be pretty careful about mistakes.
Hopefully you'll get some more feedback................
Joan of Arc heard voices, too.