Several of you have emailed me lately, asking me what my son Joshua wants for his Birthday.
We’re happy to report that on October the 12th, our son, and “Future Emperor of the Universe”… will turn two years old… and that both of his parents have survived it thus far!
As my family struggles to get Char through Chemotherapy and Radiation treatment, all the while trying to get a shipping container home built so that she and Joshua will be safe…
We’re stretched pretty thin and Joshua’s birthday isn’t going to all it could be. In fact, we had to scramble to keep the power turned on this month, due to a conflict we’re having with the power company.
Last month, our power bill DOUBLED. (It was outrageous to begin with. I mean, we live in a tiny 2 room apartment.) The billing period that I’m talking abut was the one where Char headed straight to Intensive Care, “Do Not Pass GO!”, after the Chemotherapy tried to kill her. In fact, she went back and forth a few times. As a result, we were out of house for quite a few days… And, as a result, we were gone for part of that time, while Char was in the hospital. And, everything was turned off, except the refrigerator. So, by using common sense, you’d think that the power bill would be less… and it should have DROPPED. But, it zoomed up into “nosebleed” amounts.
I did what anyone would do. I had a coronary on the spot… Wait, that’s not it… I called up the power jerks, to try and figure out what the hell went wrong. I mean, it’s not possible for us to have used an extra $150 worth of juice, when we weren’t even home part of that time.
And while they were very polite, they informed me that they’d be happy to come out and run diagnostics on the meter, for $45, plus the service charge. So, they want ME to pay them to check a meter that THEY own, that is probably going nuts due to all the lightning and heavy weather we’ve been having lately. That, and just plain old age. This is by far the most miserly utility company I’ve ever seen…
This doesn’t make any sense to me, at all. It’s not even MY meter. Why should I have to pay to have them check their own property? Especially when the bills seem to confirm the reason that I’m contesting the bill in the first place?
In the meantime, I’m on the hook for the bill, and there’s a late fee if I don’t pay on time. Oh yeah, they finally told me all of this several “go-rounds”, and then after the bill I disputed had become “late and disconnectable.” I know $300 doesn’t seem like much, but when you’re living from paycheck to paycheck and paying for medical treatment and medications out of that… it adds up quick.
Needless to say, the “Birthday Bucks” we were trying so desperately to save (literally saved… $10-20 a month) for Joshua’s birthday is mostly gone now, thanks to those Mississippi Power jerks.
So, Joshua’s not gonna get the birthday that we’d hoped for…
Back to the gist of the post…
While it’s hard to tell sometimes, he DOES like to read.
Rather, he get’s his hands on my “trades magazines” and then he flips through the pages… and then he turns them into confetti. It makes my wife crazy. It’s starting to look like we have a fifty pound hamster living with us! There’s paper shredded all over the house!
And he giggles like a demented mental patient while he does it. It’s really quite disturbing!
But, it does indicate that he likes books. But, we’re being rather selective in choosing his reading materials. For instance, have you ever really paid attention to the “goings on” in that age old classic; “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”?
Kids getting baked in ovens by mean old ladies? I mean, all they did was EAT HER HOUSE!
Trolls under bridges trying to kill you, just for trying to walk home? I used to walk 20 miles uphill, to school, in the snow… both ways! A troll’s gotta make a living, too!
Girls kidnapped and hidden away in tall towers, who get their hair ripped out while trying to escape? Um… er… never mind.
Girls in red cloaks getting eaten by wolves? Hey, that red cloak was only supposed to protect her against hunters!
Man, that stuff will give a kid nightmares!
We’re opting for books a little less “trauma inducing”.
But, not these books;
Nuh-uh!
Not this one either!
Definitely not!
Um… No.
And last, but not least…
Oh, man…
Wait…. Now that you mention it…
I’m thinking he doesn’t want books at all. Maybe a cool rocking horse, or some blocks, or even some Hot Wheels…
Now, I ain’t taking about any of that “freaky bondage” stuff, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you’re on the wrong blog. No, I don’t have a link! Man… what a perv!
I’m talking about getting the temperature out from under your feet, and into your house, where it belongs. After all, what’s the sense in owning land, if you can’t take full advantage of it? Hmmm?
I know it’s hard to think of heating and cooling and then throw a swimming pool sized blast of water into the conversation, but that’s exactly what we’re gonna do.
WHY?
Man, my mother asked me that for years! I’d just roll my eyes, and then utter those magic words…
“I Duh Know…”
And then, I’d run like the devil himself was chasing me…
And SHE was…
And no! I’m not talking about water because I’ve been overdosing on “Dangerous Crabbing” or “Deadliest Catch” or whatever it’s called… on Cable TV, either!
Anyone stupid enough to head out into the Bering Sea to catch anything but a severe case of pneumonia, is a complete nutjob! ‘Sides that, crab ain’t even Kosher!
See? Told Ya!
I’m talking about water, because water is the ideal thermal transport media. That’s WHY!
“WAIT! You were talking about Geothermal HVAC, you Bald-headed Bastard! Stick to the subject!”
I know… I know… Okay, let’s talk about heating and cooling.
Since winter is coming (unless you’re reading this inAustralia…) we’ll talk about heating, first.
Everybody and their brother has an opinion about how you heat and cool a house.
Were you not paying attention? HELLO? Am I talking to the thin air? Huh?
Wait… that’s not it…
Seriously, we all know that there are many ways to heat a house. In fact, if you’ve been paying attention (you have, right?) I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face (I look like “Papa Damned Smurf” sometimes!) about solar energy and passive solar, so for now, this is what you get (like it or lump it, bucko!)…
OK, let’s make a list… because I’m really anal that way (according to my wife):
You can make heat by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, or gas, etc.
You can make heat by burning renewable fuels like wood, methane, chili… etc.
(But never roast your marshmallows over a methane flame… Blaaahhh! They’ll taste like poop…)
You can even make heat from electric elements.
(Of course, you realize that the heat you generate will be generated in a variety of not-so-greenish ways unless you have a garage fulla bio-fuel powered generator, or a photovoltaic panel array… right?)
Or, you can just pay attention to what I’m telling you… and use a $%&$#@!! Heat Pump!
You don’t need to be a nuclear physicist, a rocket scientist, or even possess the alleged brains of your “Know-it-all” Mother-In-Law to see that all of these except the last one seem pretty crude.
And the last one… is extremely crude. Hey, put the rocks down… I have it on good authority (and a semi-secret poll) that most of you have one of these, too…
The first three are all less than 100% efficient.
In fact, my Mother-In-Law is (gasp!) less than 100% efficient (unless it’s about sucking up all the food on the dinner table), but that’s another post… that could go on for days… weeks maybe!
No matter how you cut it, energy costs money, so the less efficient your heating system is, the more it will cost you.
Heat pumps can be more than 100% efficient.
“Whaaaa? No way! Impossible! You can’t get more than 100%! It’s a trick!”
You can too! And, it’s really simple. Heat Pumps don’t generate heat, they pump it. When a heat pump operates in a suitable environment, it can be up to 400% efficient.
400%!!
So how come heat pumps get such a bad rap, especially in cold winters? That’s easy too.
When it’s 70 Degrees inside the house, and 25 Degrees outside the house, heat pumps have a really hard time pushing heat from the outside to the inside (kinda like a sump pump trying to pump water up a steep incline). It’s all a matter of differential.
And I’m not talking about the one on the back of your pick-up, so don’t rush out into the yard thinking you got a one-up on the deal, huh?
Did you know that when the difference between the outside temperate and the inside temperature is only about 20 Degrees, heat pumps are extremely efficient?
Well, you do NOW!
And that’s exactly what Geo-Thermal Exchange systems are all about. Underneath your yard is an unlimited supply of stable, constant, “love to let me love you…” temperature, perfect for a heat pump. Hammered by the desert sun, or buried under the snow… it’s stable, constant temperature. Wait, I already said that…
Well, it bears repeating! And, I just did! See? I’m efficient, too!
FYI: Told ya I’d get around to Geothermal… You just have to live through all the mindless meandering!
So… you have a “hunka hunka” slab of stable temperature right under your feet. Big deal. How do you get it out? Easy.
Pay attention, cuz’ I’m gonna learn ya somethin…
All you need to do is sink a long length of tubing beneath the ground, and circulate water through it. For those of you who keep track of facts, it’s called a “ground loop“. Then, instead of trying to pull heat from the sub-zero air outside your house, you now pull heat from the earth beneath your yard.
The newfangled machinery that does this for you is called “Ground Source Heat Pumps” (or GSHP for short).
There are many different tubing configurations, and the best one to use depends on your personal situation. If you behave, we’ll talk about those, too!
But for now… let’s talk about Cooling;
Ask anybody and they’ll tell you that the most popular way to actively cool a home in the USA is with a heat pump. Some desert locations may use evaporative cooling, or even ICE, but these don’t really work in humid climates.
I know that you saw that library on the Science channel that uses Ice to cool the whole building, but that only works in places with “dry heat.” Anywhere else, and it isn’t so effective.
Instead of using peak daytime (and often more expensive) electricity to cool your home or office during the day, in some places you can use your air conditioner to make ice at night (it is cheaper and cooler) and use the ice during the day to stay cool.
But, not around here! “Momma Humidity” will kick your …um… er… butt.
So, it’s back to heat pumps. The high efficiency of a heat pump is a direct result of the temperature differential that the pump must overcome. In raging summers, this difference may be as high as 30 Degrees, which is luckily still within the operational range of a modern heat pump. Simply put, it pulls air from outside, processes it, and then it pumps it inside…
If it’s over a hundred degrees outside, you have a fight on your hands, and one tired Geothermal Heat Pump. Say it with me…
“D-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t-i-a-l.”
But what if you use the earth as a constant temperate source. Now the heat pump is pushing heat from an inside temp of 75 Degrees, down to a nominal 55 Deg Earth temperature through those same in-ground coils. Since the heat already wants to go from hotter to colder, the heat pump is operating in an ideal environment. The highest possible efficiency is absolutely “guaran-damned-teed” here.
Here are some other benefits of the “mysterious Geo-Thermal” exchange.
Geothermal systems rely on loops of pipe placed in the ground. And… burying the earth loop is a hassle, but so is burying power lines, but we do that! Why? Well, from then onwards, the system is invisible, silent and low maintenance (no noisy fans outside, and no motors exposed to the elements etc.).
Wait! There’s more! I’m a big fan of “multi-tasking.” Since the Geo-Thermal heat pump is already dealing with one water loop, why not go all the way and replace the interior forced air system with an in-floor radiant heat system fed directly from the heat pump.
Radiant In-Floor Heat and cooling is the way, man!
If you do this, the interior noise of your house will also be reduced, and space isn’t taken up with heating ducts. (Great for locations that don’t have a cooling requirement).
Unless, of course, your Mother-In-Law is in town… that insures a “loud house with less space…” argh!
Geo-Thermal heat pumps are also capable of supplying your household hot water service with heat.
So, you won’t get home from work, to find out that dear old “Mom and a half” has used up all your hot water!
Since the cost of heating water for cleaning and bathing is a significant component of any home’s heating bill, the efficiencies of the Geo-Thermal heat pump can have a considerable cost saving.
In fact, Geothermal HVAC systems can pay for themselves.
Next time, we’re gonna talk about houses, Geothermal Heat Pumps, and how the different types of “loop scenario’s” work…
Stay tuned…
And for the last time… I don’t “hate” my Mother-In-Law…
We just have “issues.” My therapist says “it’s good to talk about your feelings…”
Aren’t you sick of all this “Shipping Container Nonsense”… yet?
Nope? Me either!
As you probably already know, I’m the guy building shipping container homes, for sport and even profit!
Of course, in my case, the profit is the knowledge that another family has found a home!
And… I find it sporting to give the local Planning and Zoning guys aneurysms! Plus, my own family will profit by this as well, by getting a “Tonka Tough” house to live in, when it’s finally finished!
I’ve been telling you about a plot of land that we’re “experimenting” on…
It’s just outside Ocean Springs, Mississippi, for those of you who are interested in WHERE we’re building this little “science project.”
The idea is to take several damaged shipping containers rescued from “the place shipping containers go to die” and reuse them as shelter, by turning them into modules. These modules will be interconnected, to form an entire residence, by “compartmentalizing” each space.
Nope. Not this. Can you imagine? I bet my local Planning and Zoning guys would have strokes right and left! Hey… wait a sec… that could be… maybe… um… nah… never mind.
We’ve been debating, arguing, and just generally bullying each other for a few weeks, but here’s what we’ve decided.
The first experiment will be a “floating home” that is nothing more than a village of container segments all interconnected by walkways.
We were going to build a “galley” kitchen unit that will include a built in 6′ x 8′ “banquette seating arrangement.”
But… cooler heads prevailed, and now the kitchen, dining area, and family room will be housed in a central room, that serves as the nucleus for the whole demented collection of Corten molecules!
(2) Bedroom modules will be constructed, one for the “parents”, and one for any guests foolish enough to want to visit.
The bedroom modules will be entered thru double french pane doors that open OUT.
Yeah, yeah, I know, the code guy’s gonna have a fit…
In a space this ‘tight’, it’s the only way that makes any sense. This means that in spring and summer, the doors can be opened allowing the module to extend out onto the 8′ x ?’ deck.
(We’re still arguing about whether or not to just screen off the decks to begin with, to keep bugs out. I’m all in favor of starving the mosquitoes, so that they’ll go elsewhere. Those little lanai’s could be quite cool! )
You enter into an almost 8′ wide “seating area,” backed by a 4′ organizer closet that runs up 7′. A double row of (5) stacked 1′x 1′ boxes forms a knee wall above the closet. The lower boxes will open into the sitting area, and a few of the upper boxes may open into the loft hidden behind that knee wall of boxes…
I haven’t decided yet which way the boxes will face. I suspect that they’ll open into the loft, to allow for more storage up there..
The sitting room is just a place to relax away from everyone else. We’re talking about (2) opposed chairs and a table between them, nothing fancy.
I know, you’re already complaining that the closet could be larger… But we’re building “small quarters”, here. Downsizing means getting rid of stuff you don’t need.
That 3′ opening on the left side of the closet leads to a full bath… behind the closet. We’re thinking about a pocket door, here. And, for an added bonus… On the left side of that doorway is a 1′ deep storage cabinet, based on simple 1′ x 1′ x1′ stacked cubes. That storage cabinet is 3′ deep. We’ll just screw them all together, to make them all “connected and sturdy”. Stacked 7 high, that’s almost 21 cubic feet of storage.
WHY?
Because I have about (160) 1′ x 1′ x 1′ wooden boxes. Built out of 1″ MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard), they were used to ship huge electrical relays, internationally. Who cares? The REAL cool thing about MDF is that it’s really stable, and those boxes will accept paint really easily!
Why do I have such a large stockpile of them?
Don’t ask me why! My wife says that it’s because I’m an idiot! I suspect it’s really because I can’t let anything go into the garbage… and…
… because they would fit into my storage unit.
A local manufacturing company went out of business and the new tenant found then in the building when he moved in. He didn’t want them… Guess who did?
So, I just got 21 cubic feet of storage space, for free! Who’s the idiot now…Char? Hmmm?
And, if it looks cool… I might just continue it into the bathroom, to kiss the sink!
The bath is virtually the same as any bath you’d find in a “normal” house. A sink and cabinet with a toilet next to it. and the tub running across the end. We may angle the sink in the corner, to get a few more feet of “moving around” space. No composting toilet, sorry folks.
Plumbers cost a fortune! If I had my way, we’d just cut a big hole in a “butt shelf.” Look out belowwwwww!
I recently bartered for some glass block, so we may even do a “feature window” of glass block behind the tubs.
Back in the sitting room, a library ladder attaches to a brass rail that spans the room, above the closet. That ladder leads up to a clerestory loft, and that’s where you’ll sleep.
Unless, of course… you’re in the doghouse, like I usually am.
WHY “Library Ladders”??
Because we salvaged four of the units that needed some TLC, and we had some fun rehabbing them. Plus, now they’re just itching to have my fat butt fall off of them!
We’ll create the clerestory loft, by building a knee wall on one end, and a full 8′ wall on the other, that will receive glass. We’ll cap it with a SIP (Structural Insulated Panel) roof overhead, naturally.
Remember that SIPs will carry themselves in short spans. So, we don’t need any beams or trusses.
In the sleeping loft, you’ll find a built-in Queen sized bed running across the back.We’re doing two of these units, so in one, we’ll run one bed system length-wise, on a raised “storage pedestal.” A built in headboard and footboard will allow a small place for knick-knacks, and beverages. We’ll slant the headboard and footboard and then upholster them, so that the bed can also be used as a reclining seat, to read in the window. This’ll leave a nice space in front of the bed, that faces into/over the sitting area.
We’re still undecided about the second bedroom unit. I’m all for building in the furniture, but the vote is still out.
(1) Bunk House with bathroom will be built, to give the kids their own space (and you can bet it’ll be located way out on the edge, where they won’t disturb anyone else!).
This lil beauty is going to be a “side entry module.” Essentially, we’ll use a french door to open the module to the deck. Their lanai will be wider (the full 16′ width of the module) and have a built in bench and table on one end so that they can play, eat, or whatever, in peace. The clerestory play loft is accessed thru a hatch above the bunk beds, to prevent kids from falling out and maiming themselves. It’s created by building a 5′ tall knee wall in that bunkbed end, and then an 8′ window wall in the bathroom end. Obviously, you just frame in the sides. A SIP roof covers it up, and keeps the critters out. Or, it keeps the critters IN, it depends on how you look at it.
(1) “Meditation Module” is being built. It’s an 8′ x 16′ library, really, with soft places to enjoy the scenery and read a good book, draw, or even hunker down behind a computer. A loft in the eaves will provide that CPU space, or maybe even another bed. A powder room will complete the unit.
All of these modules will orbit a large octagonal room (in the center of this mess) made out of SIP panels and french doors, and like I said… each module connects to that, by it’s own “deck”.
That center room is the only “module” that won’t be ISBU based. It’s essentially a big open space, with a pitched roof to match. We MAY build a loft into it. The idea is to construct it out of SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) and recycled french doors (from a huge hotel rebuild in Destin, FL), and then put a thick octagonal SIP roof on it.
Why?
Well, because we got a hell of a deal on the SIPs. They are “left-overs” from a large construction job. Now, you don’t usually have anything left when building with SIPs, as each panel is usually precut, at the factory. In this case, they decided NOT to build a certain segment of the building. Thus, “left-overs.” We’ll take ‘em.
A wood stove in the center of the “gathering room” will provide heat for the space.
Again, I know, I know… Why?
Sheesh, you ask a lot of questions!
Well, if you must know, it’s because we already had the woodstove, and it needed a home. The lot that this whole Corten Community is going in is heavily wooded, and there are a lot of downed trees. So, firewood will NEVER be an issue.
So, as we toil away cutting Shipping Containers up into even smaller Shipping containers…
I started looking at the size of these “reduced” boxes, and I’ve been thinking about how you could actually use one to build a “Tiny House.” The primary difference is that you’d just start with a steel carcass, about 8′ wide, by 16′ deep, and you’d have a 9.5′ ceiling. Cut the top out and add a big pitched roof (say… 8/12 pitch), and you have a terrific loft area. You could get about 200 square feet out of one of these easily.
The first shipping container arrived today from the ISBU dump, and needless to say, we jumped on it with plasma cutters blazing.
It was like those Sci-Fi alien movies, where the mechanical arms come outta nowhere, and start cannibalizing anything with metal in it!
We’re cutting this first ISBU into three sections, and one section is pretty much garbage. From it we’re going to get (2) 16′ deep sections, and they’ll be turned into bedrooms with ensuite baths. I’ll post the drawings when we finalize the actual design, in the next few days.
I’m sure you’re asking why we’re cutting before we have solid plans. I know that I would be.
Well, here’s the deal… The Shipping Containers that we’re getting right now are damaged boxes, and we’re just cutting around “the damage.” Careful cutting will give us two usable “pieces,” and we already know that we can build a pretty nice little sleeping box in 16′ of running space.
To recap:
Each bedroom will have a sitting area, a closet, a full bath that measures approx. 6′ x 8′, and a sleeping loft, overhead. Each sleeping module will have it’s own solar hot water heating system, and have radiant in-floor heat.
Each module will have at least an 8′ x 8′ front deck that will connect each module to the center octagon, in a hodge-podge kinda Ewok village sorta thing…
Concrete pilings built using sonotubes and rebar will hoist the whole shooting match up off the ground.
Each module will provide most of it’s own power, using photovoltaic panels and inverters that will feed into a “common” battery bank. A “desulferator contraption” will refresh deep-cycle golf cart batteries that we “commandeered” from a local golf course, for free.
So, now you know. We’ve finally lost our minds… But somewhere in all those metal scraps, we may just find them, again…
“In the Beginning, Gawd created an idiot… named Alex…”
At least, that’s what my wife says……
Hey, if you’ve been hanging around, you already know the drill…
I’m the guy in Mississippi trying to use recycled and re-purposed stuff to build a home for my family, after a hurricane ate my old one.
And just like thousands of families on the Gulf coast, we’re still not back in a house.
Now my build is a bit complicated, for four reasons.
First – Because the insurance company turned out to be greedy @ssholes who don’t want to pay off claims, “we’re stuck like Chuck”. So, we’re in a pool of over 2,000 families waiting for the resolution of a class action lawsuit. The lawyers say it could take years…
Second – The Planning and Zoning Nazis in this neck of the woods see ISBU container homes as a blight on the landscape, and they don’t want them anywhere near their neighborhoods. So it’s a fight, from the very beginning, to the bitter end.
Third - We have to pay as we go, because there isn’t any “formal” build money. Walk into a bank and then tell them you want a loan to turn steel shipping boxes into a house. They’ll treat you like you’re a stand-up comedian… Oy.
Fourth - My wife has a disease that is killing her, and we’re racing against the clock against the cancer.
In the meantime, we’re still without a home of our own.
If you’ve been following the blog, you know that my wife has cancer, and she’s having a rough go of it. And, we now have a healthy almost 2 year old son (October 12th), who was “the chocolate icing on a horrible ‘crap’ cake…“
Where did the time go? Where did my hair go? Where? Ah… never mind…
You see, we found out that she was very ill, the same day we found out she was pregnant.
My wife is a trooper. In fact, my wife is the “General Patton” of wives. She elected to risk her life to carry our son. She knew that the treatment she needed to go after the cancer, would kill him. She knew that waiting for the treatment would probably kill her. But, she waited until after Joshua was born, to start treatment. A life, for a life.
By then, the disease had taken a firm foothold, and now we’re fighting it with everything we have.
I’m not going to kid you… It’s real hard, and we pray it will turn out okay, but we’re doing the best that we can. Facing and fighting cancer without medical insurance is a real bitch. Massive layoffs after the storm, and then again after the economy tried to commit Hara Kiri (Seppuku)…
… put a lot of us in dire straits… it’s a big boat, so grab an oar, huh?
(And for those who are wondering… No, you can’t get Medicaid in Mississippi, if you make more than $500 a month. We tried, until the frustration nearly drove us mad. You CAN get “near death – indigent care” treatment, but the quality of this care is pathetic.)
And, so… as we fight this… we still need a home. She DESERVES a home. I OWE her a home. G_d knows she’s earned it…
Time out… Just amuse yourself while I go take a pill… okay?
Okay, now that my blood pressure is going back down to something that resembles “normal”….
Our home goals aren’t “lofty”. They start the same place as yours probably did; It all starts with a safe place to sleep and enough room to store all of your crap…
Many people have asked me how I’m going to fabricate containers for an ISBU home, without having to have two homes at the same time. Many of your know that I’m pretty much home 24/7, as I need to be close enough to help out at home. I’m also the full-time care “nurse and chief cook/bottle washer. So, I need to be “steps away.”
It only complicated things further, because… on top of that, it’s hard enough making ends meet, with chemo and radiation and medications, and all the damned diapers…
Diapers… My kid goes thru a diaper an hour… or so it seems… He’s almost ready for potty-training…
Thank G_d!
So, like I was saying, we need to find a way to cut costs, so that all of our resources are headed at this build. But how do you do that?
Well… like the old saying goes; ‘The sky’s the limit!’
Remember those aircraft hangars that we took down?
A while back, I told you about a federal program that allowed for the removal of Aircraft Hangars from specific airports around the country, so that “proper” brick and mortar boxes could be rebuilt (according to the FAA and Homeland Security). After miles of paperwork, you “won” the right to find contractors with the right credentials, and you couldn’t resale the buildings, after you took them down.
And… No “Scrapping for cash… buddy!” like it’d be worth it. ‘Cash for Clunkers’ has provided all the scrap steel anybody could need, for a while, at the expense of taxpayers, again… Don’t even get me started!:(
Now, the powers that be thought that some terrorist might try to blow up a bunch of airplanes, or perhaps hijack a small plane to use as a fuel filled missile, or whatever…
I’m not sure I buy it, because you don’t store a “fully fueled” airplane in a hangar. You fuel it on the tarmac, before you take off… usually. And, a typical small aircraft won’t haul enough fuel or payload, to make it a “formidable weapon” in the hands of bad guys.
But, whatever… if they want to give away hangars, I’m taking one… or maybe even three…
And, that’s exactly what I did.
One of the hangars was 80′ x 120′ x 40′. It was actually (2) 80′ x 60′ hangar structures, connected back to back. And it had 30′ walls, and a gabled roof.
Recently, an ISBU experiment I’m participating in made me start re-thinking about HOW you build shelter.
And that started me to thinking…
Rather than just cannibalizing the big ugly boxes for ‘steel and siding’, what if you put one back up to store all your junk in, and then… you found a way to carve out a place inside it, to sleep… huh? A box in a box that rocks!
It could work. But how?
The hardest part about having an aircraft hangar on your property is this;
“It’s the elephant in the yard.”
After all, it’s huge, it looks like it belongs somewhere else, and it sticks out like a ‘sore thumb.’
But, what if you put a wrap-around porch on it? Now… it’s starting to look like something else, eh?
Barns are big, but nobody has a fit when they see them… Especially around here.
So, we just build a “barn”.
No! I ain’t painting it RED. Nuh-uh!
Barns have big doors. Gotta get a tractor in there somehow, right?
Hangars have huge doors in them, too… to let planes in. And, they frame those doors with big internal trusses.
Now, a “regular” aircraft hangar door wouldn’t bear the additional weight of a porch… but if you added internal framing and bracing to it, and then increased the hydraulic lift capacity, by, say…
… using larger rehabbed cylinders from an industrial scrapyard, it sure would.
Aircraft hangar doors use a small truss inside them, to keep the door rigid. That truss only has to carry the siding, basically. But, I’d need a much bigger “door truss” system in order to carry the weight of a roof, a deck and the porch railing.
But, it’s not THAT much weight… a pair of 4′ trusses would do it, easy.
I’m not the first guy to think about this. In fact, I know of a guy in Florida who did exactly what I’m talking about, he just went “store-bought.”
And you know me… I’m a cheap bastard who would rather “do-it-myself… or do without.”
No “Jew” jokes… I’m watchin you!
And turn your speaker volume down, the soundtrack is terrible!
And, I just happen to have (8) rehabbed tractor cylinders. Barter is a beautiful thing.
So, I’m thinking to myself;
“Self..” I says… “If I build a box that’s 80′ x 80′ by 40′ tall (30′ at the East/West ends)… I have a fab shop. And, if I build a balcony into that ‘fab shop’, that’s 24 feet deep (3 containers), way in the back… I have a 24′ x 80′ loft, one that’s got a pretty high ceiling if I cut the tops out of the containers.”
And, I would, too. The hangar I’m thinking of rebuilding has a gabled ceiling, that starts at 30′, and goes up another 10′. I’d build my loft up in the air almost 20′.
Why so high?
Well… A High Cube shipping container, sitting on the ground, is 9’6″ tall.
And I’ve gotta get both under it and on top of it. The containers will set on roller frames, that hold it up the same height as a tractor trailer flatbed. That way, I can just winch it off the flatbed onto my fab frame and then… winch it back onto the flatbed, when it’s time to move it to the site.
The roller frames are just really “dummy tractor trailer flatbeds”, basically. That gives you about 50″ underneath to punch holes, weld flanges, and just generally make a mess.
It’s not that complicated, if you think about it. The roller frames are just big steel frames made out of scrap I-Beams, with “casters” on them, to let them get pulled around, if necessary. Along the rails, there are several rollers, that will allow the container to by pulled on and off. Remember, they don’t have to be monsters, as a 40′ Shipping Container isn’t that heavy, even after you add an interior to it.
Now, we have several hangar doors, so we’ll cut them down to fit our needs… We’d gonna put one “monster” door in “the front”, and we’d mount (2) in the back. The rear ones will measure approximately 25′ across and they’ll be 15′ high.
Why?
Jeez, you ask a lot of questions! Well, since you asked…
We need to get those containers back out, once they’re ready to move… “slide in - slide out…”
Now, a bay 80′ wide by almost 60′ deep gives me the space to work on (4) containers at a time. Easy.
And, after all… I’m the “Corten Commando”, I is! Here’s how we’ll do it;
Recently, we came across a “container graveyard” where “old and damaged containers go to die”. Upon inspection (actually, we’re still going thru them), we discovered that many of these containers were still usable, if you just cut off the “nasty bits.” In fact, we’re building a “small village” out of several of these segments, as an “experiment.”
So, I earmarked several containers, for cannibalization. We’ll cut them off at 24′. Take (6) of those 24′ segments, and then stack them (2) high, as one “8′ x 24′ x 19′ assembly” on each side of the hangar, all the way in the back. Now take that last stacked segment, and place it all the way back, dead center.
Now you have a 24′ deep “base” for (2) rows of (3) High Cube containers. And, you have (2) 28′ wide corridors under it, to allow you to move stuff in and out of the hangar.
Are you getting this?
You just built a 24′ x 80′ x 9.5′ “residential space”, 19 feet up off the ground.
Plus, you get to use all that “stacked area” for storage, small offices/bathrooms, and “what not.” All welded together, it’s solid steel. Wind isn’t going to bother it all that much. It’ll shed rain like a Himalayan cat sheds hair. Flood waters? Hello! I’m 19′ up in the air. I spit at flood water! Fire? Last time I checked, you gotta play with a lot of matches, to get a steel building to burn down…
And, it’s shipping containers!
I’m staying within my theme of “Build it fast, build it to last!”
Okay, now I have a “building box” that has room to burn, and a 1,920 square foot loft space, that is easily turned into a small residence.
It’s “the Hangar Home from Hell…” I tell ya!
I have a place to live while I build my boxes out, and I don’t have to worry about the weather, unless it’s a hurricane. And, I suspect that I’m not going to be building in this part of Mississippi. I have a few irons in the fire and the first good one that heats up… well, let’s just say I’m itching to pack. It might even be out-of-state. We’ll see…
Sure, the hangar itself will require a bit of insulation to make it ‘livable.’
The reinforced concrete slab… miles and miles of it… will need to be insulated to at least r11, on the interior. The perimeter slab gets nada…
The Hangar walls and ceiling?
That’s what spray-on closed cell foam is for! An inch of closed cell foam will get you an R value of about 7. Most residential building codes call for r values of 26-30 in the ceiling, and at least 13 in the walls. So, figure on about 5 inches in the ceiling, and at least 2 inches in the walls. And yes, more is better.
And remember, kids… Closed cell foam is a extremely rigid. The foam cells are closed to each other. That’s why they call it “closed cell.” This property makes it a very good vapor and water barrier. So, no leaks! And, it doesn’t eat up a lot of your cavity space, either! It doesn’t expand as much as open cell foam so it can be applied a lot flatter and you only need half as much.
Plus, just to keep the Planning and Zoning Nazi’s at bay…
Closed cell foam does indeed meet building code requirements as a vapor barrier. It also does double-duty as a water and air seal.
You know how much I love SIPs, but can you imagine what the materials would cost, to put Structural Insulated Panels on THAT roof? Oy Vey! I’d have to sell my kid…
I could cut back on the insulation in the shop area, but why? I gotta work in there! Besides, there’s a method to my madness…
The residential section needs windows, right? Could you achieve decent window glazing surface areas to meet code? You’re gonna need at least 20-25%. Yep! Easy. That’s why we pushed it all the way back. You have three exterior walls right there to punch thru!
Plus, the internal “container castle?” It’s inside an insulated and roofed box, already!
See? Told ya… Say it with me; “A method to the madness…”
All I need to do is “isolate the residential bits” to cut down on the shop noise driving the inhabitants crazy. After all, Mom needs her sleep, and if she get’s woke up… well lets just say it ain’t pretty… Using the term “grumpy” ain’t even close! I’d rather dance with a Grizzly Bear!
Am I worried about interrupting Joshua’s sleep? Nope.
Know why? It’s because he never sleeps. I love him to death, but the damned kid is almost two years old, and he’s never once slept thru the night. Not once! He sleeps for three to four hours, and then, he’s up and going 400 miles an hour. Doctor says he has a “high metabolism.”
So, anyway… I’ll just close off the ISBU roof section, and insulate the inside wall, floor to ceiling. I will put in a window or two so you can look from the house to the hangar build shop. I’ll just need to be careful about where they get placed. After all, windows have an r value of about 12, if you’re lucky. Do they slow down “sound”? Maybe. Will they stop the sound of a grinder? Never!
On that inside wall… Again, spray-on closed cell foam is a wonderful thing. We’ll use about 3 more inches. I want to not only keep the space warm, I want to quiet it down.
Plus, now I have an insulated attic space, or even a small “second floor” for the residence…
Underneath the residential section, more closed cell foam. A few inches, please… No need for a “cold butt”, huh?
I’m thinking that we do a pretty simple floor plan, a trio of bedrooms (two on one side, and the Master on the other), two full baths, a kitchen and a great room configuration that incorporates a dining room, and a family room. This is a good sized space, you could even cut it in half. I don’t need any structural walls, so it’s all partitions. We could start out in one huge “loft-like” room, with a couple of bathrooms punched into it. Then, along the way, we could finish it out, by installing wall segments. In the meantime, we’d be high, dry, and safe.
See? It’s easy.
And, after we get the containers below it ready to set, we just walk them across the yard!
It would give us time to build them out at our leisure, and then assemble them next spring. Because each level of the house is container based, we’d always have a roof overhead. So, we could even add one level at a time, until we reach our goal.
Yeah, I know that it would require a few visits by “the crane man…” to do it that way. Oy! Crane’s are expensive!
Or, we could just move them out of the hangar as they get finished (to be stockpiled/stored behind it) until we have all the “assemblies” finished. Sure, we’d have to close up any openings, but hey, that’s what plywood is for!
When we get the main house finished (hell, it could take a few seasons), we just use the “hangar house” as a guest house and the shop becomes a big garage.
Or, better yet… we could even use the set-up to fab more containers for someone else’s house! Split that upper residential section in two, and you could have “worker housing!”
That huge roof would also allow you to mount enough solar and photovoltaic panels to power most of Mississippi. So, I’d have ample power. I need panels for the radiant in-floor heat system, too! No problem! That roof is so big, you can probably see it from space!
(Okay, not really, but it WOULD be huge!)
And, I do love SSMR (Standing Seam Metal Roofing)! So, the roof would go on, fast, fast, fast!
I could even carve out an “upper deck”, to use some of that roof space above the container housing section. Maybe put in a greenhouse and a small garden!
You could launch a water balloon at the neighbors for miles, up there!
I’m giving this some serious thought. In fact, I may just go down to the local planning and zoning office and spring it on ‘em.
WHY?
Well, to be honest… it’s because I love to make them turn blue! It’s funny as hell watching their neck veins quiver like that! Sure, it’s evil. But hey… I gotta be true to my nature… huh?
Now, all I need is about $19,000 for concrete…
Stay tuned…
Exciting, huh? Wake up! The post is over! Go home!
Addendum: October 14, 2009: I heard from Joe today… the owner of the “Florida Hangar House” that I showed you in this post. He has more photos of his build, and they are available, HERE.
As I bury my head in pages and pages of Geothermal HVAC research (until it feels like my little tiny brain is going to explode), from time to time, I take a “Google Break…”
(Seriously, this “research” is so full of crap that you’d think politicians wrote it! Oy! I’ve re-written my damned series so many times now, I’m having nightmares about it in my sleep.)
And, lo and behold…
A buddy of mine… Paul Stankey… a guy I’ve mentioned on the blog several times, got his face plastered all over the television, when some “cable guy” cruised his neighborhood looking for houses that apparently everyone else on the block hated. Imagine that!
Now, it probably happened because he got his mug in a tabletop book full of pretty pictures of ISBU cabins, and container homes, and other ISBU stuff. I can’t really be sure, because I can’t get my hands on a copy of the book, and “Mr. Man, am I famous now…” Stankey is evidently too big for his britches to send me a scan of the pages he got…
Anyway, like I was saying… Apparently, at least in Minneapolis, Minnesota – nobody likes an architect! So, if TWO architects live next door, it’s double trouble!
As it turns out, Paul’s wife Sarah (who’s probably “the brains of the outfit…”) is an architect, too.
Now, I know Paul’s a humble guy, and he’s about as nice a guy as you could want to meet, but if I had his neighbors, I’d have gone postal and made the TV a whole different way;
“Minneapolis Man tires of neighbors constant whining and bitching… Bloody, Gory, Gruesome, Multiple Homicide! Film at 11pm!”
It seems that the locals don’t appreciate Paul and Sarah plopping down their modular house in the middle of a bunch of idiot’s “old neighborhood.”
Okay, maybe it’s just DeeDee and Robert who are the idiots, but I’m guessing that there’s a whole street full of ‘em… After all, they ain’t even smart enough to live someplace where the winter weather won’t kill you! That’s just… idiotic!
I personally think they should thank Paul and Sarah… The Stankey’s will probably single-handedly raise the property values on that block…
See what I mean;
By the way, Paul… With the economy taking a dump, and leaving all you “CAD Commando’s” as casualties sitting around begging for remodels “up Canada way…” Me thinks you should let your wife do the proposals from now on… She’s smart, handy with shop tools, and way cute… And, I always meant to ask… What’s she doing with a geek like you, anyway? Hmmm?
In case you’re wondering why I’ve mentioned Paul and his crew so many times (aside from the fact that they’re slow moving and thus, easy to hit…) , here’s the damned reason… again…
Man, I gotta get another photograph, I’m starting to get sick of this one…
Welcome to the Stankey Corten Cabin…
Hey Paul… Just say the word, and I’ll put a stinky, flaming, paper bag full a Joshua’s best crap on ole’ DeeDee’s doorstep. And using “baby crap” would put it way over the top, huh? “Ding Dong… It ain’t Avon Callin…”
Why would I do this? Well… Cuz’ I hear that’s the traditional “My neighbor is an @sshole” kinda greeting… At least it is around here! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened the front door to find a smoldering, smelly, fiery paper bag fulla … ah…. never mind.:)
Stay tuned.
FYI: My “Geothermal HVAC Series” resumes on the 28th. Finally. You’ve been warned…
“Bob Vila says this… Bob Vila says that…” Oy freakin Vey! Enough already!
You’d think that Bob invented ISBU (Intermodal Steel Building Unit) shipping container housing…
Actually, I’m being way too hard on Bob. For years growing up, I sat mesmerized in front of the TV, watching Bob rave about this or that, while he taught me how to solve housing problems. He was one of my heroes. How old is he, now? About a thousand?
Sure, I always envied him because he got really cool stuff for free. Sure, the manufacturers would send their guys to make sure it was installed properly. Sure, he made some great “advertising noises…” Lucky Bob. I envy Bob. There, I said it. Kill me now, I’m wishing I was Bob Vila…
Admit it, YOU like FREE STUFF, too! So don’t be makin no “Jewish” cracks… huh? Shame on you for even thinking them! Stereotypes are baaaaad!
Okay, he’s still alive…
Actually, I wish I was Norm Abrams. That guy can build anything! Give him a tablesaw, a toothpick and a bottle of wood glue, and he’ll build you a four bedroom house! And, he’ll do it in 30 freakin minutes! He’s the damned MacGiver of Wood, I tell ya!
You didn’t hear it from me, but I had a signed photograph of Norm hanging on my woodshop wall, right next to my idol… Richard Nixon, for years… After a while, I actually forgot which one of them I was saluting!
Okay, you did hear it from me. I admit it…
I WAS gonna dazzle you, with tales of “harnessing Mother Nature” in “a bountiful bondage of benevolence…” but somebody got my blood-pressure boiling again… Actually it was SEVERAL somebody’s… I was gonna continue our hair-raising saga about “GEO somethin or other…”
But, it seems that people tune in lately, just to heckle me, and see if they can get a rise out of me.
Now, where was I? Oh yeah… Bob Vila…
Once upon a time…
Ahem… and then “ole’ Bob buddy” stumbled onto the guys at SG Blocks, and did a series on a house they were building out of shipping containers.
Incidentally, the lady that lives in that house (it’s a few years old now) says that the house is doing splendidly, and she just loves it!
Now, David Cross and his crew at SG Blocks are doing what some of us have been doing for years. Here’s the one glaring difference;
Cross is making a profit. At least, I hope he is.
We, on the other hand… built house after house, for friends and the families of fallen comrades, as a labor of love. We’ve done it for decades. And, now, all of a sudden, you can’t turn on the damned cable TV without seeing an “Extreme Somethin or Other“ show where some nut-job spent $300 or $400 a square foot, to do what we’ve been doing for years, for about one third of that cash.
In fact, I bet it’s more like a fourth, or even a fifth.
It’s become fashionable to be “green” by going “brown, or blue…”
I’ve written articles where guys are turning ISBU (Shipping container) boxes into homes in Mexico, for about $8,000.00.
I’ve written articles about houses WE built, that we actually buried in the ground, so that you can’t see them.
Hell, I’ve even written articles about jug-headed politicians who cry about housing, but can’t see the solution staring them in the face, every time they drive down the coast in their limousines.
And now, I’m writing articles about how you can build a container home for your own family, if you harness your energy and your enthusiasm, and learn to use “the new wood…“
Of course, I’m talking about Corten Steel.
Somebody recently told me that 18 million shipping containers ply the high seas, every day. Man! If that’s a good number, it boggles the mind! And many of those containers end up sitting “un-needed, unwanted, unloved, and unused” in a shipping port near you!
Why? Well… because it’s cheaper to build a new one, than send one back empty for re-use. That’s WHY!
They’re not just for hauling toys, kids… One look at a shipping container will convince you that they are “Tonka Tough!” After seeing this, I kinda guess that they HAVE to be! What a nightmare!
Stacked up to 9 boxes high and stretched as wide as the ocean (or so it seems) those same empty boxes could house thousands.
Did you know that in Amsterdam, they built an apartment complex out of them, to house a thousand students?
Take a tour of one of the dorm rooms!
Did you know that hotel chains build hotels out of them?
Did you know that even the military uses them as quarters for their personnel?
Well, did ya?
20′ ISBUs if ever I saw them…
It’s easy to see that these boxes can be configured into just about any shape that you can imagine.
Shipping containers are designed to get the crap beat out of them, and then, just like a Timex… they just keep on ticking… And, they’ll bear the load of even your biggest “In-Law.” A shipping container can carry 60,000 pounds. With minor modifications, they are easily transformed into living quarters. Talk about your weather resistant shelter!
Now, here’s why I’m doing the “ISBU to you, too!” sermon, yet again…
I don’t know if it’s the ungodly heat lately, or a rise in humidity, the economy (or lack thereof), a disdain for the way the nation is headed, or whatever, but…
A lot of you have sent me email recently, scolding me for not suggesting that we just melt empty shipping containers down, so that they can be re-used as raw steel. But here’s the rub;
Shipping containers average out at about 9,000 pounds, empty.
And, it takes 9,000 kilowatt hours of energy to melt down 9,000 pounds of steel. Not to mention the labor of removing the wood floors first. Or, PAYING the labor to haul it to your scrapyard, and then dismantle it, so you can smash it all up and then shred it.
Okay, you say… “you still end up with the steel.”
Big deal.
Have you been watching all this “Cash for Clunkers” nonsense? Those cars that are getting scrapped are only worth about $100 in scrap steel. And all of a sudden, there are hundreds of thousands of them… Dodge, Chevy, Ford… even (gasp!) imports! Brrrrrr! pick your slab of perforated and punched steel…
Nobody wants them. Nobody.
It’s the next “big dilemma.” Why? Because in America, we’re in a terrible building and manufacturing slump. Scrap steel is virtually worthless right now. So those hulks will bleed out oil, anti-freeze, and brake fluid, while they slowly rust away, for years.
It doesn’t make any sense to add more of it to the pile!
But, if you take that same Shipping container, and modify that existing piece of steel, it only takes about 400 kilowatt hours of energy to turn it into a “building component.”
Hmmmm, carry the three… take away two… multiply by the square root of “Geez, that Ronin is a genius!”
That’s a 95 percent energy footprint reduction!
But, how much energy have you really saved? Well, the energy saved by transforming a single shipping container into a part of a home (instead of melting it down) can power a standard 70-watt lightbulb for 15 years.
15 years!
And for all you “Carbon Junkies…” you get a much lower carbon footprint out of an ISBU home.
And here’s another plus;
You get a STEEL home, not a house made out of wood. And, that steel house assembles much faster! So, you get a “tougher” house that saves you labor building it. The average container house takes half the labor to build. HALF!
According to statistics, the average single family (tract) home takes 4 to 8 months to build. But…
The average ISBU home, including the “modification” time, takes only 2 to 4 months.
And, most of that time is spent with the box in a controlled environment (like a factory building or old aircraft hangar), getting it’s guts added, safely tucked away out of the weather. This means no material loss to weather damage, a much smaller amount of scrap left over on your site, and an installation time that takes almost no time at all once the boxes are on the curb, ready to set up.
And why stop at using them to build single family homes? Why not stack them up and build multi-family complexes out of them?
After all, they’re designed to be STACKED. Duh!
You’d get a mid-rise building made of steel, that is more durable and has a lower carbon footprint. It’s also water resistant and termite resistant. It’s not that much different than those 100′ tall monstrosities you already have downtown!
And it’s stronger, too.
Every single container locks together. It’s like a gigantic “Rubik’s Cube” of a steel cocoon. Think about it…
Would you rather live in a wood house, nailed together (as fast as possible) so that the contractor could get on to the next one (after all, he’s gotta eat too!), or would your rather live in a steel shell, with hundreds of interlocking “points” that will defy the weather and aging process? I choose that “honeycombed” steel cocoon…
If you chose the wood house… well… you’re on the wrong blog.
Plus, the construction becomes cheaper as you get into multi-family homes. After all, you’re doing the same things over and over again, you’re buying larger quantities of material to build them with (so you get a price break) and you can set up jigs and templates to make it almost mind-numbingly simple.” Multi-family mid-rise units can cost 10 to 15 percent less than typical “stick frame” homes. All day long. Easy…
They don’t have to look like industrial scrapyards, or military barracks. You can make them look like anything you want. This is one pig that is easily clad in a prom dress…
And they’re tough.
They’re made out of steel, remember? Regardless of what they’re clad with… be it bricks, stucco or siding, each container already has its own roof. Sure, when multiple containers are put together side by side, there are gaps between the boxes. So, you just fill the gaps between the boxes. Then, on the top of the structure, you build a traditional roof, to provide additional safety in case Mother Nature shows up on your porch, all P.O.’d at you…
Remember that once the boxes are joined together and the gaps between them are sealed up, even if a hurricane or tornado eats your “roof,” you still have some protection.
I could go on and on… In fact, I usually do. But, for now…
Here’s the gist;
Recycling a “pre-weatherized steel box” to make a place for your family to live, just makes sense…
Sorry… didn’t mean to “shout!” That’s all I’m gonna say… for now.
Stay tuned.
I bet you thought I’d do some “911″ posts, huh? Nah… enough is being said. We should never , ever forget the lives of those we lose in acts of violence…anywhere. Each innocent life is precious.
And, we should try real hard, to do whatever we must, to keep it from ever happening again. Amen.
I’m building a house out of steel… cuz’ the “Big Bad Wolf” swiped all the straw, sticks, and bricks, when I wasn’t looking…
He says he needs them for his next go-round of stimulus give-aways…
I’m the guy trying to build a Shipping Container house, in South Mississippi. Now, it’s not as ridiculous as it sounds, unless you ask the neighbors. In fact, most of them think I’m as crazy as a loon… So, as the “powers that be” try to deter me, I have some time on my hands…
And, that means… you guessed it…
I’m in the mood to whack “political pinata’s ” today, so here goes:
Imagine a President taking time out from his hectic “play” schedule, to address the needs of the populace!
If I was on vacation, well… you’d play hell finding out where I was relaxing at! After all, I don’t pull a truck full of frosty cold beverages around behind me, when I head for the hills. At least not one to share with “strangers…”
If I’d been Obama, I’d have been pulling Martha’s Vineyard in around me like a security blanket, but ole’ Obamanation… he’s always ready to put a big happy face on whatever seems to be bludgeoning the economy (or lack thereof) of us lowly citizens here in the States.
Case in point;
In a recent press “meet and greet,” he actually said:
“We’re losing jobs at a much slower pace.”
That’s like telling an accident victim that;
“Relax… you’re not hemmoraging near as badly as you were a minute ago! You might survive after all! Maybe…”
So, the trainwreck is slowing down…. says Him. Well, not around here, it ain’t. We just had another round of layoffs, as the industrial sector (pitiful as it is here in Mississippi) tightens it’s belt further, so that the CEO’s can afford those upcoming ski vacations…
I took a poll recently, and 1 out of 7 people I know has either become unemployed, had their hours cut back, or tried to find a second job, so that they can keep their kids in Skittles and oatmeal…
But every time I turn on the damned cable TV, I see some idiotic politician or jug-headed economist saying that things are getting better! What’s up with that crap?
I’m starting to think that those politicians living way up there on “Planet Stupidity” (where the air is apparently REALLLLLLY thin…) couldn’t find their asses with both hands and a GPS.
As the seasons begin their slow descent from “ungawdly hot and humid” to “Brrrrrr… it’s the tropics for cryin out loud! Why’s it so freakin cold?” I’m wondering when things are going to start getting better.
HEY! This whole thing could be “seasonal.”
Since Bubba can’t afford to go Bass fishin’ every weekend cuz “the price isn’t right,” maybe he bought more beer and BBQ, and stayed home! Maybe summer sales of charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid are gonna heal what ails us!
Hey, maybe it’s that “back to school” madness, where parents ran like lemmings to a cliff, trying to get their kid just the right ensemble, so that they won’t become a social outcast, and be forced to “Columbine” the whole class!
Possibly it’s due to grandparents rushing to Kmart (the only department store that does Xmas layaways, evidently), trying to get the jump on other grandparents trying to lure their grandchildren back into their geranium smelling houses for the holidays! After all, they’ll be forced into “the home” someday, and they want visitors! You betcha!
Maybe it was “Cash for Clunkers!” You know, that program where some people gave up perfectly good cars (that were almost paid for), only to sell their souls to the “credit devils” again… for the promise of a few flashed Benjamins that won’t last over twenty seconds in this failing economy.
Did I forget to mention that it was taxpayer funded? That means that we were picking our own pockets… Duh! Am I the only one to see these things? Oy!
Now, they’re talking about another “Cash for Junkers” program, where you can trade your old appliances in, for newer, more efficient ones. I suspect that Uncle thinks we stashed some cash away that he couldn’t get to…
What we need are programs that actually speak to the common man… stuff like “Cash for Bunkers…” a program to help homeowners reinforce their houses, in case the crowds riot, looking for bread and gatorade…
Or “Cash for Dunkers!” a program aimed at insuring that we can afford Starbucks coffee and those outrageously priced pastries, as we schlep to work, only to quiver in our cubicles, waiting for that pink slip…
Hey… how about “Cash for Lunkers!” A program that subsidizes weekend bass fishing, so that the “Average Joe” can put some affordable protein back on his dinner table… Now, that’s a program I could cast a hook into…
And finally, how about “Cash for Punkers?” A program that helps beautify your city, by giving some kids (you know the ones…) hair cuts, and appropriate clothing… that doesn’t expose their underwear, the crack of their asses, or other naughty bits that we aren’t supposed to see until we’re married?
Call me a ^*&$%#!! liberal, but I think if you’re gonna give away money, it should be for something the “tired, poor, unwashed masses” actually need… like deodorant.
“Cash for Funkers…” Brother, can you spare a lime… smelling antiperspirant stick?
And don’t even get me started on this stupid notion that the US Government actually cares about you enough to try and fix your health care. I can see it all now, like a horrible nightmare…
You know, the one where your In-Law shows up on your porch, wearing a Moo-moo, 12 pounds of make-up, and curlers… crying about how her house just burned down (because she was too stupid to turn off the stove), and now she has no place else to go…
Holy Housemates, Batman! Where did that come from? Man, I gotta get my blood-pressure checked again… Oy Freakin’ Vey!
The healthcare proposal is JUST like that! Shut up! It is TOO!
“Now serving number 1894! 1894! Hurry up, we ain’t got all day!
Okay, you’re Mr. Who again? Please stop bleeding on my desk, huh? I don’t want to have to call the Hazmet crew! What test are you talking about? What? Let me check…
Sir, You don’t even HAVE Heart Disease! You have breast cancer! You do too! I don’t care what those doctors told you! It’s right here on my computer screen. And, beside’s… you can’t have that test! You’re way too old!
Look… The waiting room is jammed full, and you’re the oldest fossil in the room! You should consider yourself lucky! Why… You’ve already had a long, full, “squander your childrens birthright” life and we have to think about THEIR children! Why yes, as a matter of fact… There ISN’T enough to go around! NO! We don’t use a “quota” to schedule health care! We use complicated formulas to selectively prioritize who gets what and well… according to my computer… you don’t get ‘what.’ It’s all about shareholder values, profit margins, and CEO bonuses! You think those grow on trees?
I’m sorry you think you’re sick, but hey, you should have thought of that before we repaired your healthcare system! I think you’re being selfish, SIR!
After all, it’s not like we can just crap money, sir! The government doesn’t work like that! So, have a nice day and remember – we’re the US Government and we’re here to help you! If you need anything else… you can call this toll-free number;
1-800-YOU-LOSE.”
And you can bet that if you’re stupid enough to call it… you’re’ gonna get put on hold… forever.
And, since we’re asking… why does that woman on the other end of the telephone sound like she’s in Bombay?
At a “closed door” meeting on Affordable Housing, somebody in Jackson actually called me that recently! Sheesh! I’d prefer something like “Mr. Man, are you a Studly Bastard!” Or even “Mr. Man who thinks that he knows everything…”
Wait, that’s what my wife calls me… and then she spits. There’s spit everywhere. I’m starting to think I live in a saloon!
Work continues on a few ISBU projects, and we’re making some serious headway. In my own family’s case, nothing has really changed all that much, as Mississippi isn’t showing any signs that they care about families, in the slightest.
You know… I’ve lived all over the planet, literally, and I’ve NEVER lived anywhere where the needs of the citizens are viewed with such contempt, and the greed of politicians is the lifeblood and the very mainstay of “state affairs.”
(Except maybe California…)
It’s become painfully clear to me that the only way any of the grants that displaced citizen families from Hurricane Katrina qualified for are going to actually get carried out;
“…is if Barbour and his cronies figure out a way to ‘sell them’ to the very citizens who applied and qualified for them.”
At least, that’s the way the representative (who shall remain nameless – by arrangement) I’ve spoken to recently, put it.
So, we begin to get as high up off the ground as we can and we look beyond our current borders to find a place where we can just live like “normal people.”
Okay, maybe not “normal,” but at least we’ll make a good show of trying to fit in!
Many of you know that I’ve been offered opportunities to build a home for my family in other states, and although the thread of a conspiracy lies just below the surface…
Hmmm… I wonder if somebody is Jackson, Mississippi is trying to pull some strings – silently – to get rid of us?
If that’s the case.. a wooded waterfront lot on a river somewhere, with about 20 acres of fencing will do nicely…
Nahhh…. We’re just developing credibility… Yeah, that’s gotta be it!
Anyway, like I was saying…
“Ya know what really pisses Ronin off?”
I’ve been writing a blog about building ISBU homes since around May of 2008. I started it, because after a hurricane ate my house, I couldn’t find another one, and I couldn’t persuade the %^*&#@!! insurance company to do the right thing, and settle our claim…
…without using an handgun and committing a felony!
I’ve written hundreds of articles, many of them about homes we built in the past, using these wonderful building blocks. Each of these homes were built “for a family.” We didn’t cash in, we didn’t charge them an arm or a leg, or take an option on their kids.
Thank Gawd for that, do you know how much kids EAT? Oy freakin’ Vey!
Did you know that if you lined up all the unused shipping containers piled up to the sky, going unused, and collecting dust… it’d stretch around the Equator, almost twice? I didn’t think so.
See? I do know it all… Okay, I know some stuff… Okay, okay, I know just enough to be dangerous! And you should know that you should keep people “like moi” away from power tools, at least until National Healthcare gets better… At least that’s what that know-it-all, my WIFE says… Oy!
Why did we go on this crusade? Well, in the beginning, it was out of necessity. We lived in the mountains, out and away from everyone, and we needed a place strong enough to keep the bears from eating us. No kidding… I’m serious.
But, after we’d achieved a certain level of success doing it, we did it out of a love for “families,” the love of adventure and discovery, and frankly, because we love the smell of a plasma cutter in the morning!
It tells you that a ’69 Dodge Charger with a Hemi, driven by a terrified kid who want’s to grow old… can outrun a Harley piloted by “the family serial killer…” That’s what!
We never did it as “a corporation, a conglomerate, or a company.” It’s always been more of a “Habitat for House-Craving Loonies” kinda thing! And, we started doing it in the 70′s.
Not “1870,” you smart ass! I heard that! 1970′s…
Man, where did the time go? Where did my hair go? And how come I have “a spare tire,” when I don’t even have a car anymore?
Ah… never mind. Like I was saying… it continues to this day…
No! Not hair loss! Or “belly fat!” Don’t say that! You trying to jinx me?
There’s a lot of BS floating around out there, and recently, I started on a rant about “solar panel kits” that will provide you with just enough power to wish you were smarter, without having to squint in the dim light you create.
Ernest Hemingway said that “Man should develop built-in bullshit detectors.”
Recently, I’ve been reminded that there are contractors out there who are trying to sell other people’s shipping container designs, to build “affordable, sustainable, ISBU based” homes. This wouldn’t be so bad, if they were “real.” But, alas, they’re just playing the “green game,” looking to make a fast buck, in hard times.
How do I know this? Somebody just tried to “sell” me one of my own designs. Seriously.
So, what do you do?
If they can’t show you a house they actually built, walk away.
If they don’t own a plasma cutter… run like hell.
If they have to “learn how to do it” while you fund the build (and their education), walk away.
If they can’t figure out how to attach a piece of wood to the “outside” of a shipping container, walk away… Quickly.
If they show you a design that’s been out there (floating like a beachball for a decade) on the Internet, and they claim it’s “their’s,” walk away.
If they try to sell you containers so they can build your home for you… walk away. They’re just glorified “box brokers,” and they’ll steal your money at both ends.
I could go on, but you get my point.
You do, right? Ah man… Did you fall asleep again? Sheesh!
Do your homework before you decide to get in the boat with someone you don’t know. If you don’t, you’re gonna find out how long you can tread water… I guarantee…
Did you know it actually takes more energy to recycle a container, than you actually gain by doing it? That’s why there are so many mountains of them, clogging up US Shipping Ports.
(Okay, that, and stupidly regulated trade agreements with “the rest of the freakin world…”)
See, I do know everything… Okay, maybe not. But, you kept reading all the way to the bottom of this post, didn’t you? Hmmm?
It’s been said that there oughta be a law against the way I rant about stuff… It’s been said that the way I write is a “crime against literature.” But, I’m doing the best I can, kids. It’s hard getting those three brain cells to rub together fast enough to make a spark. You’re just gonna have to bear with me, and hope I continue to take my med’s…
‘Nuff Said.
Stay tuned…
Next time, we’ll talk about Geothermal “Somethin’ or other…” I promise! Maybe…
Yeah, it’s me again! That “metal craving miscreant” who dreams of living in a steel cocoon, while all those “naysaying bastards” drift slowly out to sea, after the next hurricane races in and kicks their butts!
Yikes! Where did THAT come from? Geez, I gotta check my med’s again!
Seriously, while I pound my head against the wall, trying to get these poltroons (um… okay… “authorities”) in Mississippi to understand that building a house out of a steel box makes good sense, I’m working on a few other projects, helping friends achieve a level of success I can only dream about, for now!
SPECIAL NEWS FLASH!
Recently, we came across a windfall. A guy we know has several containers stockpiled that have received damage while being offloaded, moved, or even dropped! And, he gave us the keys to the yard where they’ve “dumped them,” and told us that we could have whatever we could haul off.
So, like “good little recyclers,” we sent out our steel contractor pal, to inspect the boxes for damage, so that we could figure out how they could be used.
And, although most of them so far are unusable as “complete units,” most of them could be salvaged, if you kissed their little butts with a plasma cutter, and sectioned them off! And thus, a dream was born…
What do you do, when you have several 8′ x 16′ – 20′ x 9.5′ metal boxes, with one end cut off?
You build “treehouses!” Yeah buddy, Now we’re talkin! You build a “little house” that would make some of those “Little Houser’s” CRAZY! After all, you never know when society as we know it is gonna cave in, and you need a bulletproof place to run to!
I have a guy in our ranks, who has a big hunk of property that looks out at the Gulf Of Hepatitis… um… er… Mexico. And, since it’s in an “unincorporated area,” building codes are easier to deal with and P&Z Nazi’s are less “active.” Thus, he’s all for experimenting, so he’s given us “carte blanche” to build a few experimental units, to see what can be done, if you stay up way too late, drink way too much coffee, and just generally run amok with power tools. Obviously, he’ll eventually own whatever we build (unless I can work something out, or find some way to blackmail him… ), but in the meantime, we’ll get to use it as shelter.
So here’s the deal…
There are several huge oaks on the property, and one of them got some pretty severe damage when Hurricane’s Katrina and then Gustav smacked them around. As a result, we can use one of them, as a platform, to build off of.
We’re gonna stick one 8′ x 16′ box up into that tree, and do a “Swiss Family Are you outta your freakin mind?” cabin. We’ll build a staircase up to it, using a metal staircase that we salvaged from a hotel rebuild, after Hurricane Katrina tried to eat half of Biloxi.
Remembering that you have 9.5 feet of height in a High Cube, we’re gonna have to be “crafty” to disguise the box… but it should be a cool platform for the ultimate “Little House in da Woods…”
And I have another idea up my sleeve.
No! Not this… but ain’t it cool?
I have several pieces of culvert pipe, that got left over from a DOT highway project. We’re talking huge pipe, sections approximately 10′ long, by 10′ in diameter. (Okay, the inside diameter is about 8′.)
I’m thinking that we pour a footed slab, that will carry the weight of a section of that pipe, and then drop that sucker down onto it. Now, I’ve essentially got a 10′ high platform to set a section of those ISBU’s on, and I can build up from there.
(Plus, I can use the created “cavity” of that pipe section for storage, or anything else I can figure out, as we move along.)
Now, 8′ x 16′ isn’t much, but if I stack two container segments one on top of the other, I have a 128 square foot main, and the opportunity for a 64+ square foot loft above it, plus maybe even some nifty sleeping lofts above that, if I use something like a clerestory or even a shed roof to cap the whole shooting match off.
FYI: I figure a loft plan is best, so that the “cabin” doesn’t start feeling like a coffin.
I don’t want to lose any of the square footage to an entry, so here’s what I’ll do;
I’ll build an exterior deck, that hangs off the front of the house. It’s only gonna be big enough to sit out there and look at the mosquitoes buzz by so it won’t take any great engineering feat to make it happen. We’re talkin’ 8′ wide by 6′ deep, here. Off that, we’ll hang an 8′ “catwalk” (4′ wide) that will lead to another deck structure, that will double as a carport. This way, we have another 8′ x 16′ “out door room” to use as an extended living space, when weather permits.
We’re gonna cover it and then screen it in, to prevent the mosquitoes from making a meal out of us. As it is, I have to tie Joshua to the ground, as the mosquitoes around here are known to have carried small children off…
So, we just added 128 more square feet, as “mild weather space.” Plus, it’s gonna serve as a cover for a car parked under it.
Like I’ll ever be fortunate enough to actually own a car, again…
A big ceiling fan should keep the room cool enough to allow us to sit out and enjoy the view. A staircase from that deck, will lead down to grade.
Over the next few days, I’m gonna do some sketches, to give you an idea what we’re thinking about.
This’d make a dandy starting point, huh?
I’m thinking about something along these lines, but 2 story, with a sloped “south-facing” roof constructed out of SSMR (Standing Seam Metal Roofing). It’d be nice to use some roof surface for water retention. And in our case, the connecting deck will be a screen room, with solar panels on the roof of it, to help make power and maybe even some hot water for an outdoor shower.
Figure that much of the south facing walls will be glazed, either with commercial glass panes, or “fixed” sliding glass doors,”or maybe even some glass block (that we traded/bartered for) thrown in, as “illuminating accents.”
As I think this through, I’ll post the progress.
And then, you can tear them apart to your heart’s content. If we can figure out how to do this “fast, fast, fast…” I may move into it myself… until we either move out of Mississippi to someplace that uses logic for making rules, or the powers that be decide to leave us alone long enough to build the house we really want…
For the record, let me make this perfectly clear...
Blogs are about opinions. And some of us, myself included, have strong ones.
Some of us, myself included, can't be counted on to be "politically correct" all the time. So be advised that I call 'em like I see 'em, and sometimes I use strong language to make a point...
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Several of you have emailed me lately, asking me what my son Joshua wants for his Birthday.
Nuh-uh!
Not this one either!
Definitely not!
Um… No.
Stumble It!
People just Yelled at ME!!! ME!?!