Shipping Container Project

[MountainDon]

There is a new shipping container cabin / shelter project over at permies.com if anyone is interested in following it.

http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/5752_0/alternative-building/my-shipping-container-cabinshelter

Not too much there at this time but he has a link to a blog with more. 

[ben2go]

That's cool.He has installed 110/120V but has he realised that the washer dryer stack is 220/240V?

[MountainDon]

Excellent observation.  Hopefully he owns a 220/240 volt generator for wash day.   Should we ask?

[Squirl]

I had one of those once.  The stackable apartment ones can be 20 amp 110.  The dryer usually takes at least an hour or more.  I have even seen them as LP/LNG.

[Grimjack]

That looks great!  I'm in the process of modding a 20ft container to use as a workshop. I'll try to post some pics this weekend. I picked the container up dirt cheap ($1200) and have so far put a 6 foot roll up door in the side, and have laid the conduit to bring 220v out to it. Once I've pulled the wire, the next step will be to put up a 12x20 awning over the front for a work area. I also intend to install a solar powered fan to get some air circulation in the summer.....the best part about it is when it's time to move I can tear down the awning, load it on a flatbed and take it with me.....

[StinkerBell]

Ohhhhh......

[StinkerBell]

Very nice. The one thing that popped in my mind is the seem in the roof line between the 2 containers and how the water would run off the roof and not collect.

btw, I am taking my first welding class in 8 days. An intro class, if all goes well next March I have a 40 hour class at the Community College.
I think at this point I want to do a container project myself. Something I can work on in my own back yard and move to a future site!

[ben2go]

Very nice. The one thing that popped in my mind is the seem in the roof line between the 2 containers and how the water would run off the roof and not collect.

btw, I am taking my first welding class in 8 days. An intro class, if all goes well next March I have a 40 hour class at the Community College.
I think at this point I want to do a container project myself. Something I can work on in my own back yard and move to a future site!

Good deal.Good luck with the classes.You can make a few dollars welding sculptures.There's a guy in my area that makes a living at it.I just don't have the imagination to do it,so I stick to repairs and fab work.

[ben2go]

I understand what you're saying.That's not the point of the structure.It is an extra space for guest, and some protection in case there's ever a nuke war on our country.For the area he is living in, it should be plenty adequate as far as insulation.I own two mobile homes,and have lived in quite a few over the years,so I can say first hand that sea containers will hold up a lot better in foul weather.Oh yea,I've have experience handling sea containers.I used to load/unload and move them.The eye sore statement doesn't apply in my mind.He doesn't live in an upscale housing development.He is out to himself,and IMHO he did a pretty good job at making those containers look nice.Looks better than a lot of rural houses I have seen in his general area.I do agree that they do need to be tied into the ground better,but he doesn't state what he did for that.So we don't know what,if anything, has been done to keep them down during a tornado.He is laying new floor over the old trailer floor.I believe he stated that he was going to seal the trailer floor off,so contaminents shouldn't be an issue.I would worry more about pulling the floors up and causing any contaminents to become airborne.He cleaned and painted the inside and out so any contaminents there, should be sealed away.The floors are gonna end up being 4+ inches thick,so I don't think adding insulation is gonna help much more in his mild climate.I can't say if the structure would be good for a permanent home,but after living some place I've lived in,it shouldn't be to bad.

[325ABN]

Very cool and great looking to me, certainly better than a 30 year old MH would look.

[MountainDon]

... the container project has not been standing for 30 months, let alone 30 years yet. 

Time will tell what happens with those bermed walls and the roof joint.

[StinkerBell]

I read about the foam, I am still concerned about water pooling.

So, I was talking to the hubs about the need to stock food and to make sure we are in general prepared for an emergent event. After talking to him and discussing such things as the "What If's" he pointed out that it is best always to hide in plain sight. Might be better served staying in the suburbs and yet hidden so speak out in the open. The ugly look of a container may just achieve that.  Something to consider.

[muldoon]

I think he has an interesting project.  I like the aesthetics of how he dressed up the exterior with retaining wall and landscaped with rocks and greenery.  He has multiple provisions for heat, electricity, and water.  I think he is doing a good job on his project.  As for the rooms being 7' or so, I dont see that as a big deal.  It's not his primary residence. 

For the roof and seam, I agree thats a trouble spot.  The expanding foam will break down soon.  It does not have any UV protection in it, it will turn brown and start breaking up in chunks within the next two years.  I have seen it happen before with the stuff.  For a roof, I think he could add a simple 16x40 carport over the structure to shed water/snow very cheaply.  (1500 or so).  He doesnt need structural rigidity, he has plenty of that on the existing flat roof.  Just some basic water/snow shedding properties.  It also would give it a more traditional look. 

Hidden in plain site in the suburbs?  I would be more concerned about neighbors than anything else.  That being said, my experiences during a past hurricane said that when an emergency hit us and our neighborhood was without power and water for 10 days, crime went down.  We did help each other.   Unless I thought there was an extended emergency requiring some hidden bunker for a long time.  (greater than 3 months), I would be fine with the notion of suburbs.  If it was longer than 6 months, I dont think there would be any "safe" place, but agree the suburbs would have some higher risks.  Again it would depend on the are and your neighbors.  I can think of specific places in cities I would rather be than places in the country given such a scenario.  I'll take a blue collar everyone works in the city neighborhood over a methhead country town anyday.  And to be honest, there is alot of our country covered up in methlabs today.  Sometimes things are just not as cut and dried as they first appear. 

[StinkerBell]

I am also seeing the benefit of it being a container. I am considering a single one. Gives me something fun to do in my back yard and practice my welding on. The benefit of it not being tied down or not being an older mobile home  is it is not a permanent structure and therefore the county/city would have a hard time getting involved in my project. I also when finished could have it removed and placed maybe on a piece of property out in the country. Get all the work done in my back yard!

[Grimjack]

Here is a picture from a finished  "Container project" over at AR15.com




and the link: http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=17&t=510228&page=1


Its a long thread at about 22 pages, but very interesting.

I only have the single container, but intend to do something very similar to the carport he put up. Waiting for the sun to come up to take some pics...

[JRR]

These postings are about to make a believer out of me.  I think the dual box project would benefit from an added metal roof ... complete  with air gap above the box roofs, and sloped enough to dump rain water.  I sure a truss system could be designed that would be low cost ... benefitting from the already in-place box roof structure.

[NetHog]

Stink alluded to my "Hiding in plain sight" comment.

My observation is that if you're trying to hide something, people are either going to look for specific obvious hiding spots, or (where food / forraging is concerned) people who haven't hidden anything at all.

For example, we got talking about "if you was going to hide somewhere, where can you hide, given Satellite survaylence", including infra-red scanning. If you're out trying to hide in the woods, you'll get found because you stick out like a sore thumb (infra-red signatures etc). Now in the suburbs, it's a different story.

Stink's still trying to convince me a container would help here... maybe with an SEP field

[glenn kangiser]

I think there really is no place to hide.

Out here in the boonies even in the back country things get wandered through.  I think the network of friends is the best solution and here in the wild west the local law enforcement used? to run the meth labs and drugs, never-mind the methheads.

[h0rizon]

I agree with the "hiding in plain sight" concept.

A local farmer got caught by an overhead helicopter that was intentionally looking for methheads trying to grow stuff hidden in the woods.  They passed over a corn field and ended up catching several patches of stuff growing right in the field.

Supposedly the neighbors had snuck into the fields and planted it themselves, unbeknown to the farmer.

Then there was the report of cops getting called in for a domestic disturbance and running into a growing operation.  They probably would have never found it otherwise; and this was in the middle of the suburbs.  Of course the neighbors were shocked and "never suspected a thing" as the growers were very friendly and neighborly.

Personally I'd hide in a cave.  Seems that it is difficult to find people in them.

But back to the subject at hand    I think these would be awesome for temporary housing.  As said they are a byproduct so instead of sitting useless in a yard, they can be shipped, dropped on blocks, tied down and insulated for probably less than the cost to put up the Katrina house.  Innovative solutions like this should really be considered as part of a disaster plan.  Assuming there is one.

[altaoaks]

they are both beautiful and ugly at the same time!  ugly because they are very plain, and steel. seems like a very cold medium.  but they are beautiful when you think about sustainable building.  you are using something that has already used resourses to build, served its purpose, and now is being re-purposed.  seems better than just leaving them to sit somewhere and take up space.

after katrina i bet lots of folks would have liked to have one--or 2.  at least it would be shelter.

back during the great depression, my papa dennis was out of work, and lived in a box car in a field with his 5 children.  his wife, who was cherokee indian and irish mixed, had died after baby # 5.  that was somewhere in new mexico.  after the depression he re-located to clovis, NM.  i remember him telling us as young children how at least he put a roof over his kids heads.  there was a lot of prejudice then, and my dad recounts his years in that boxcar and being called a half-breed, not fitting in anywhere.

i know a box car is a bit different, but much the same since alot of the truck shipping containers get loaded directly onto trains.

[StinkerBell]

I like the idea because I can place the container in my back yard as I work on it. I can lock up my tools when I am done for the day. If I do not finish because I am working on another great idea (yes I have issues) I have a great storage area. Also if that container is still in my backyard when I die then my family has a container to toss all my trash in when they clean out the house to sell it. It's a win-win!

[altaoaks]

OMG stinkerbell, that actually makes sense to me.  when i die the bigest problem my family will have is how to get rid of all of my "good stuff".  ONE MANS (or womans) TRASH IS ANOTHER MANS TREASURE!  then the only problem is where to ship the container?

[StinkerBell]

Well they just need to fill it up with our treasures and have a truck pick up the container and deliver it to the dump. How much easier can that be?

[altaoaks]

they might need two containers for my junk/treasure/good stuff.  (i have a thing for old trunks and chests)

[MountainDon]

The project container that I started this thread with has some completed interior pictures....

http://www.permies.com/bb/index.php?topic=5752.40     scrolllll.......