Imagine being asleep in the bedroom of your SIP home when suddenly, at two a.m., you’re abruptly wakened by a horrific, loud noise outside! It sounds as if a speeding train is running straight through your home. Then suddenly, before you even have time to blink, your house is lifted, shifted, and slammed to the ground in one big heaving event.

After checking to make sure that you’re okay, you rush downstairs to see what’s just happened. Your refrigerator is still upright, with everything safely inside. Your dishes even stayed in the kitchen cupboard. For such a huge catastrophe, there’s relatively little interior damage and you begin to wonder if what you think just happened really happened.

Now imagine you go outside to survey the site. Your home, despite now sitting on top of your car, is pretty well intact, with very little structural damage. Only two of your windows are shattered, and a few of your roof shingles are loose. As you look around, you quickly begin to notice by the debris and upturned trailers that your neighbors didn’t fare quite as well.

This may resemble a scene straight from the “Wizard of Oz,” but it’s almost exactly what happened to Matt and Kim Chesley on November 10, 2002, when a F2 tornado ravaged Portland, Tennessee. The Chesleys had researched a lot of products before building their two-story home in Sumner County, Tennessee.

After seeing their church constructed with SIPs, they were so impressed, they decided to use SIPs on their own home. The house, completed about five years ago, is a two-story home, designed in traditional architecture. After moving into their new SIP home, they were immediately thankful for their lower energy bills, while increasing their living space by over 250%.

SIPs also provided the Chesleys with a quieter, stronger, more durable home. Until November 10th the Chesleys had no idea how durable and strong. The Chesley’s SIP house had been buffeted by F2 tornado winds, that were later confirmed by the National Weather Service to be anywhere between 113–157 miles an hour in the immediate vicinity of the house.

The SIP house held strongly together. So strong in fact, that the house stood up to the damaging winds, while the cement block foundation failed. Very little damage could be detected to the house itself.

The Chesleys plan to re-build on their Tennessee acreage. Since their SIP house held together so soundly, all of their personal belongings survived and were well protected from the scattering winds and harsh rains of the storm. Their old appliances, plumbing fixtures, cabinets, and the like can and will be used in the new house construction. Oh, and in case there was any doubt, they are planning on using SIPs!

Article courtesy of the Structural Insulated Panel Association