Well what started out as a cool idea may cause me to sober up for long enough to write a bunch of checks. Sure, I drive a rusty old station wagon, so why not build a house using rusty old shipping containers? How hard can it be? So I found someone who will deliver the containers I need for about $2500.00 each. I found an architect/builder who wants in on the project. I got the county to OK the project, so long as I meet the minimum state building codes. WHAT WAS I THINKING? I must be crazy. I gotsta stop drinking so much. http://smallhousebliss.com/2013/08/01/savannah-project-a-container-house-by-julio-garcia/ I COULD have just bought a new mobile home, and ignored the ugly cheap plastic clad box for the rest of my life. But nooooo, not me. Holy crap on a cracker, I'm gonna have to spend a pile of money AND work up a sweat. What have I gotten myself into? Somebody please shoot me now.
Please contain yourself Had a neighbor from New Mexico buy a lot near us and put just one container on RR ties for his cabin when he or his friends came here to visit and hunt. Nothing but the container. Still better than the tent they used to set up. It's gone now that he sold the lot and others built a real house. But I saw a few other stories about container houses that were very nice. Even the outside was either spray foamed or something. They didn't look like containers when finished yet are solid and fairly hurricane proof. You don't even have to drink to build one. Used containers and semi trailers are often for sale.
Yes you do... actually I think it's kinda clever. However my head is aching abit I may be coming down with a cold.
I'd bury them underground and forget the permits. Keep it on the hush hush and you'll survive the zombie apocalypse in style.
At least there is a pretty nice 12' x50' mobile home already on the property. Stormin' Norman? Ever dream of a vacation in Florida? Just bring your tools.....
What are you drinking???!!! My folks had 2 properties in Ft. Lauderdale way back in the 1970s. Fine folks, horrible rain storms and huge alligators sunbathing on the highways. I like your idea. I'm gonna ask around here, but I'd never get those in my back alley, let alone the yard. I'd suggest you talk to vendors of Quonset huts and steel roof suppliers for good sealants and fasteners. Insulate them, maybe with spray foam (airtight protection from interior rusting) and vapour barrier. While you're building, keep some small 6" fans running in them to keep some moving air to chase out the humidity. I'm going to build a demountable garage on a slab this coming year, using steel construction materials. Demountable because I don't need a permit, and sliding doors so I can get my trailer in/out from outside, and only 8 foot high, so I can roll my engine gantry. If it works out, I might build a small greenhouse on the roof, close to the south face of the kitchen and grow some tomatoes and chilli peppers and walk into it from the kitchen. But this 'garage' will be for two cars, so I can split off one side for painting, etc. I think the wife's gonna scoop my wagon, once its converted to a stick- shift. So I'll drive it down to Mexico and get another one, and tow it back up here. With your weather, you'll want all that rain to drain off fast, so give it lots of ground slope away from it, all around. Here, I dug up about 3 feet down, and 2 feet wide all around the house and got 1" stone, sand, and then sloped out the topsoil at a 1/4" per foot for 10 feet away. We're in the Red River Valley, where flooded basements are an annual ritual. Not mine though. Good luck with yours. And the best of the New Year! Norm
I love seeing alternative solutions to standard type housing. Some man did a really killer two story job with shipping crates. Yours is nice, love to see the inside! As far as the message posted to the right of the sliding doors--I guess it pays to advertise
I haven't typed it in but I'd bet googling CONTAINER HOUSES will bring up a lot of pictures and maybe plans. As written, insulating to prevent sweating is critical in Florida. I'd never bury anything metal because it will float away and rust. Some people hit water just digging a post hole. The ones I saw long ago didn't even look like containers and they removed the inner wall in a few to make a double wide like mobil homes. Or mount it on 55 gallon drums and live on water. Keep drinking and ya'al get all kinds of ideas.
And here's a great source of all things GREENer: http://www.motherearthnews.com/ The following sites are mostly directed to Rural areas, but there's a lot of old-school tools, water-management, etc. All are free, and downloadable: http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_o...ngineering/Features/Extension/Building_Plans/ http://www.todaysplans.net/start-building.html http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/buildingplans/ http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/buildingplans/machine And this one is really handy for all kinds of widgets! There's lots of DIY sites on all kinds of stuff, but many are specialized by type of project. http://handy.scout.com/ If you search, use keywords like DIY, building, making, fabricating in your search phrase. Making a Million Dollars is usually next to "Bridge for Sale", but you might find something with "Printing Money"
Not my choice for a house, but as a cottage get away for sure all nestled in the woods like that. I really think it's nice, keep on drinking!
The exterior walls will get spray on foam on the inside, covered with sheet rock. The roof will get foam panels covered with corrugated metal roofing panels (tin roof) The center section will have openable clerestory windows and ceiling fans for cooling during part of the year.. Propane gas for cooking, hot water and heat, and maybe central A/C of some type. I'll go with the containers arranged like a box rather than a parellelogram, for more useable space. 8'x2 with an 8' center section=24' wide x 40' long.= 960 sq ft, I think. Plus a wooden deck on the front and the rear. I'll get another 20' container for a storage shed. The washer will stay in the pump house I guess, or maybe we'll get the small apartment style stackable washer /dryer.
http://smallhousebliss.com/2013/08/0...-julio-garcia/ When I clicked this link I was shocked at what those houses cost. They took all the fun and reason for going recycled container out of their projects. When I looked up shipping containers there I found a large company in west central Illinois that sells them and ships them to you. They even make whatever you'd like. We considered a single wide mobile home in the country in Illinois. Even that was going to take awhile with a lot of zoning red tape. Plus when we die it had to be moved. Our daughter is having a second new home built in a new subdivision. They wanted to use their same floor plans just a different place. New home has to be larger and have 75% brick on front. Since they are on a corner lot it will have to be brick on two sides. Some places the roof has to be certain material and color. The biggest problem anywhere will be zoning. I'm sure a 40' container can be bought for around $2500. Then do like you say and a nice home can be built at a decent price. Plus a good looking comfortable place can be erected in a short time. Not for everyone. But a million dollar house is not for everyone either.
