Posted By fixsips on 21 Mar 2010 01:08 PM
The Dealer lies.......Does nothing

Posted By thermocoreps on 29 Mar 2010 09:14 AM
Here is the Story on Kevin's house.  We did manufacture panels for Kevin's house to his and his builders specs.  The panels were delivered on site without problems.  The panels were not installed by Thermocore's installers.  Kevin is suing the installers that he hired.  Kevins house is noisey because he lives 100 feet from Interstate 55.  The panels are not the source of his noise problems.  The bowing is in an area where the panels were altered after delivery.  We have had two crews inspect Kevin's house and we have made an offer to fix his bowing issue dispite the fact that Thermocore is not the source of the problem and the panels are without deffect.  His house is in no danger of falling down.  Kevin has refused to live up to the terms of our agreement of fixing the panels so we have not done any work.  Kevin has lived and continues to live in the house.  We have done and offered all that we can but have found Kevin intrest lies in forums and web sites rather than fixing his house.  Both crews that inspected Kevin's house came to the same conclusion.  His house is noisey because he lives 100 ft from Interstate 55 and his house is in no danger of falling down.  Anyone who has any question about Kevin's project can contact me @ 317-831-8888.  Ask for Pat

I happened upon this forum by accident.  After seeing the unfair treatment Thermocore has been receiving, I feel compelled to comment. 

Not sure what has happened with Mr. Kevin and his project, but I am sure we are not getting the entire picture here.

As a Thermocore customer, I have only positive things to say about my dealings with Pat and his company.  I built my home near in Danville, IN in 2001.  The project was not without it's challenges, but these were in part due to other issues, and in no way related to use of the panels.  Our home is by far the quietest, most energy efficient around.   Having been through the process once, I learned plenty and there are definite changes I will make the next time around, but will not hesitate to use Thermocore again.  It is a great product and company. 

I haven't spoken to Thermocore's owner Pat recently, but I can pretty much guess why he is no longer a member of SIPA.  If the attitude of the EPS guys posting here are any indication of the other members of SIPA, I would not want to be involved in an organization whose members spend their time denigrating other members rather than promoting the use of SIPs, regardless of the construction methods used.

Hang in there Pat!

Dear new member, you are right on the dot, we should help each other...not trashing each other, the market would gain from it....we all have something to learn from each other mistakes, or bad adventure .

It is a natural process in the learning process, if we respect thar...we will get better and better.......together.

Pierre Desjardins
450-546-9047
Banerpan Panels, Quebec

Woodchuck,

Thanks for the review of your own experiences with the Thermocore product. I have been watching this thread as well as the original one since I signed up . I am seriously considering them in our up coming Timber Frame project, fingers crossed . They were kind enough to take the time to entertain my request with rough sketches, gave me a thorough quote along with a quick CAD drawing. Having read every post on each thread, I never fully believed it was product failure as much as install. If their product were so unstable , I believe the power of the market would take care of their existence. Thanks for your reply.


All the Best,

Todd Z

I have to comment on this. I've watched it for months and am saddened by the discussion. Suppliers and end-users should have their say, but it should be conversation to address a problem, not to make a sales pitch nor to trash a product.

While we are members of SIPA and have used both EPS and PU panels, for many years we have used Thermocore panels in both timber frame enclosure and hybrid installations. Our personal home is enclosed with Thermocore panels and we would never hesitate to recommend them. We compete against companies that use EPS exclusively and often the price point is an issue. However, we explain the difference and make no apologies. We made a choice early on to use PU panels for our homes.

That said, I am confident that if we did have a problem...and it was a Thermocore problem...we could expect help it from the Thermocore team.

Ross,

I've just completed the structure of my winter camp using ESB SIPs for the walls and PU SIPs for the roof.  It isn't important to have the manufacturer install the panels, its is critical to follow the manufacturer's installation methods and procedures.  The panels come with a book and adjunct materials, like foam or mastic to seal/glue the panels together, tape for seams, screws to fasten corners and top plates properly, etc.  Different manufacturers have different methods and materials.

We had some trouble with the ESB SIPs not because of the manufacturer, but because they were 3 years old ( for the same reason they were REALLY priced well).  Additionally, the structural lumber used for sills and splines were of varying sizes, thick&thin lumber is what we call it here in WV, even tho it was planed at the mill.  The PU SIPS were delivered the day after they were built, and the whole roof went on in under 6 hours, while the walls took a couple of weeks.

I have had one negative experience with metal faced SIPs.  The roof is beautiful, copper faced panels with clerestory windows.  But I spent the night there when it thunderstormed every 30 minutes all night.  The panels resonated and every rain drop and hail stone was like being in a drum set.  The dogs who lived there full time for years were terrified and quivering.

So I'm hoping really hard that OSB / PU panels with metal roofing over 30 lb felt won't be as loud when storms hit - at 5500 feet in the SE Arizona mountains they do come around from time to time.

JR in WV