After the recent Offshore Oil Rig disaster, we’ve been waiting to see how things are going to play out.
Today we found out that our local beaches will be covered in oil by Sunday. I live about 1000 feet from those beaches.
As the State and clean-up companies everywhere mobilize to deal with new threat to the Gulf of Mexico, we’re seeing an already ravaged local economy begin to collapse. With no beaches, no tourists, and no commerce, this part of Mississippi will dry up and start to mummify.
If you’re reading this and you’re looking for work, they’re hiring over a thousand people right now in LA, to act as “clean-up crews.” I’m sure that will happen here, too. The local employment centers are already begging for workers, to send over to LA.
Louisiana beaches are already closed. Mississippi’s will close sometime tonight or in the morning as the oil starts to appear.
I’m now hip deep in organizing an infrastructure to feed hundreds of workers that will start showing up in the next three days to secure the beaches here.
I WISH I had someone to watch my wife and child!
They’re paying $25 an hour for site supervisors (I already have just about every Safety Cert card in my wallet now, including HazMet), and it’s a mandatory 84 hour a week job, 7 days a week for a long time. We could really use that kind of income right now.
I’ll tell you more, when I know more. Until then… hang on…
This could be worse than the Exxon Valdez spill, before we’re thru.
We’re busy organizing and gathering aid for some families in Mississippi that just got pounded by Mother Nature. She must really be mad at Mississippi… First, multiple Hurricanes, and now Tornadoes that ravaged entire communities.
Yep, I guess that tornadoes aren’t just for Kansas and girls named Dorothy… Recently, Mississippi (and Louisiana and Alabama as well) got pounded by the devils.
And once again, people are homeless and in need of fast emergency housing, while they try to figure out what happens next…
As more and more of those people start thinking “about the road ahead”…
I’m being asked more and more about how you can build something “reasonable” for a small family, without killing yourself financially in the process. Nobody wants those FEMA “death-trailers…”
And I don’t blame them.
You’ve probably already seen my ideas for using larger containers to build “dorm-style mini-homes” for site workers in Haiti.
But…
Can you build a small “cluster” community out of 20′ ISBUs?
Yes.
The best way to cut expenses is to spread the costs out between the families. Right? So…
First, build a separate series of bath/shower containers, and pair them up with small “residential” units built from 20′ High Cube shipping containers.
It would be easy to build several toilet facilities, enclosed shower units, and even stacked laundry units into a single 20′ box, that could just be dropped into place to provide immediate relief from the wrath of Ole’ Mom Nature… You could even put solar panels on the roof to heat the water… Easy. And… since we’re talking about panels, add a panel or two to power light systems.
(Yes, I realize that adding laundry units means generating more power, like by using a small portable generator…)
Now, since you wouldn’t have a bath and shower in each family unit…
You’d have plenty of space for a small kitchenette, a fold down bunk system and some comfortable living area, that is sheltered from any further storm activity.
Build (1) bath unit for (4) Family units, and you’d have an instant “settlement” that could be dropped off the back of flatbed truck beds, onto precast concrete blocks.
Okay, so maybe it’s fast, but say people don’t wanna share baths…
And, hey… nobody likes to hike for a CBF – “communal bathroom facility” at all hours of the night, so why now just nestle one between two 20′ residential units, to form a big “U” by running One 20′ High Cube across the back, between the two opposed (sleeping) ISBUs.
Now you have big apartment sized baths back to back, and water easily reached on both side, for kitchens, and even a huge greenhouse that would fill that big hole you just created.
Now, drop another 20′ High Cube ISBU on top of your pair of opposed units, and you have a second floor, to use as a big bedroom loft.
Voila, now it’s not “emergency housing… It’s “instant apartments.” 11′ kitchens, normal sized baths, a neat LR/DR area, and a cool loft bedroom overlooking a lush greenhouse filled with produce and life-giving plants, year round!
Now, go a step further.
What say we place that whole shooting match on an insulated slab, and then earth berm around the outsides of it? What do you get for all that effort? You get a pair of semi-underground homes, without much digging. Now, think about the possibilities. Like for instance, radiant in floor heating.
All you need is a bunch of cinderblocks, some rebar, and some concrete. And PEX tubing… Lots of PEX.
(PEX tubing is what you use to run your hot water thru, to heat your slab.)
Now you have great South Exposure, protection from the cold North, and you’ve done it all yourself, over a series of weekends.
Okay, now take that same idea, and build a single family home.
U shaped ISBU structure, 2 levels high.
20′ x 28′ foot two story room in the center, complete with Island Kitchen and Washer/Dryer area.
Now you have 4 bdrms, 4 bathrooms (including (1) common bath on the first floor, an office, a banquette seating area, (2) small decks, and enough great room for a decent woodstove.
Put a standing seam metal roof over it, in that hipped shape that I’m so fond of…
Instant home.
Just add water.
And power.
And AC.
And Insulation… don’t forget the SPF!
All for the low, low price of… um… er… how much ya got?
Gimme a day or two to get things here under control, and I’ll draw something out, to demonstrate exactly what I’m talking about. I can see it in my head, but you really don’t wanna go there…
Bah Humbug! I could go on for hours about Taxes, and Politicians, and the “State of the State,” and “false promises made by false prophets…”
But I ain’t gonna do it. No sirree!
So, let’s forget all this “Tax Foolishness” for a second, huh?
Instead, let’s think about “Renaissance Ronin” goals:
Because, in the end, it’s all about ME, right?
Nope.
It’s about US, trying to house our families, without bearing any additional burdens.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again;
It’s not the building of an ISBU house that is “The Challenge.”
It’s the Planning and Zoning Nazi’s… the “Building Inspectors.”
You’re thinking “out of the box” by USING one (or maybe two…) to build a home.
You’re trying to do something different. You’re breaking all the rules. You’re a (gasp!) “free thinker!” ARGH! You monster, you!
Here at RenaissanceRonin, we advocate doing what’s best for your family, and not necessarily for the “administration.”
Wha? Are we Communists? Subversives? Non-Conformists?
Um… maybe. Probably not.
Actually, we’re just “Moms and Dads” who want their kids to grow up safe and sound, cradled in homes that were crafted to care for them. Home’s that we can actually afford to live in. Homes that will stand up the test of time, and not necessarily just on some builders spreadsheet.
Listen, if I “preach” anything… It’s about being “self-responsible” and “self-reliant”.
So, the most daunting task isn’t “doing…”
It’s “placement.”
Real estate is all about “Location, location, location…”
And… so is building an ISBU (Intermodal Steel Building Unit) Shipping Container home.
Whether you’re building a home entirely out of ISBUs, or simply incorporating those steel boxes into another building plan, say by combining them with earthbags, straw bales, or traditional framing practices…
The building inspector isn’t going to like it.
Why?
Because you’re doing something that they don’t “understand.”
In America, we’ve been building houses the same way for about 100 years. Sure, the materials have changed a little bit (some would argue whether that’s better or worse) but in the end, that house down the street is pretty much just like the one Grandpa built…
And it’s time to change that.
I’m not going to go off on a rant about “affordability”, or “sustainability” or “environmental consciousness” or “energy efficiency”, or “hugging trees,” or anything else… um… wait… I just did… sorta!
I’m gonna simply says this:
In order to achieve “ISBU Success,” You have to figure out where to put that “ISBU House” in the first place.
That means you need a tool.
Terry Herb, over at “Containerist.com” decided that enough was enough, and he built you that tool.
Now, I pointed out to Terry that the term “Containerist” has been around for decades, and then we got off on an off-topic chat about “ancient history”… and wild bears, and big trees, and other stuff… but his book is ANYTHING but history!
No Building Codes is a tool that every ISBU or alternative home builder should have in their tool box.
No Building Codes is an actual compilation of how and where you can build, by researching the building codes (or lack thereof) in your area, to find that perfect place to drop those boxes, so they can be crafted into a “remarkable repurposed respite…”
Terry wrote his book, No Building Codes, to help the average owner-builder find the last remaining places in the United States where there are inconsequential to no building codes.
In ANY kind of “alternative construction”, be it ISBUs, rammed earth, strawbale, or even earthbags… there wasn’t a resource book of any sort available on the subject of where to find states with no building codes. None!
So, Terry wrote it! I suspect he’s “a glutton for punishment”, but to hear Terry tell it…
“It was a daunting task because I had to cover each and every state in the U.S. I had to gather sources together to determine which codes were current, outdated, or even if a code existed.”
He worked, he toiled, he sweated out each page… and now, you can reap the benefits of all his hard work, without losing a moments sleep, or “Googling” yourself to death.
And he’s decided that he’s going to release in in E-Book form, so that you can get your hands on it, “fast-fast-fast!”
CLICK The Book!!
He’s offering “No Building Codes” to the public for the low price of $19.95, in PDF format (so that even your Mac will like it… )
Now, Terry has offered RenaissanceRonin a commission on each book sold thru our site, so if you follow my link to buy the book, then RR will get a small part of that book sale.
This is great, because it’ll help us actually pay for RR’s operation and upkeep, costs that we are really struggling to afford, now!
So help yourself and help us…
… at the same time! What could be better than that?
HOW… you ask?
By clicking on the book!
If you decide to buy it later, like after you get your income tax refund… there’s going to be a widget on my sidebar that will allow you to click in and go get it, and make sure that RR gets the credit for the sale.
When I’m not talking to you about ISBUs, or Plasma Cutters, or even ISBU home floorplans…
I’ve been talking to you about “Survival Gardening.”
Oh, I have too. You can’t click away that fast… You’ve seen the posts!
But not everyone has; a wife that nags them almost constantly to get up off the sofa and go out in the yard, “to get some exercise by playing in their big yard with a shovel”… or a few kids to trick into doing “forced labor” to build Chicken Coops/Greenhouses or raised beds, or plant row upon row of beautiful tomatoes…
Anybody wanna buy a wife?
And not everyone has a driveway that they can line with fences made of PVC, to turn something ugly into something productive and green… literally.
But anyone, even YOU… can “container garden.”
You don’t have to buy big fancy pots, and spend tons of cash to get started.
Here’s an example of how easy, and even creative it can be.
Self-Watering Containers
These containers are great because you make them for less than $5. They are made from materials that most likely would’ve been sent to landfill and are readily available.
A self watering container can be placed on a fire escape, balcony or in front yard. Since it’s in a container, it can easily be transported as well.
The tools and materials required are:
• 5 gallon bucket
• 1 vinyl tile
• 15″ of copper pipe
• Plastic deli container (or butter, creamed cheese container)
• Drill with 1/4″ bit
• Marker
• Razor
• Scissors
• Duct tape
So, if you cut yourself on that Exacto Knife, fall off your fire escape, or just generally tick off the fireman trying to use said fire escape to fight a fire… blame THAT guy (Michael Lieberman) at “The Growing Edge” or even the guys at Urban Organic Gardener.com… and not ME!
In the last two weeks, I’ve gotten about fifty emails about “the state of the blog.”
Most of them left me feeling like THIS.
And it made me think about how we seek out and then identify the paths that we’ll travel on, as adults.
I’m reminded of something I learned in Latin class, in High School;
“Imperium in imperio”
It does NOT mean:
Hey! You have a big piece of spinach in your front teeth, ya moron!
It means:
An empire within an empire.
You know… a “fifth column” – a group of people within an nation’s territory who owe allegiance to some other leader or service.
Families in America, seeking homes that are not “conventional,” fall into this category.
We’re a group that although housed “within,” seeks a different set of walls “without.”
We’re tired of the parades of lemmings that wander thru town and into the banks, to “try” and sign their lives away, by attaching a huge millstone to their necks, called a mortgage.
Note I said “try.” Mortgages are getting harder to find than needles in haystacks.
So, “Familia In Pari Materia” – “Families Of Like Kind” need to band together, to establish paths that will aid them ALL in achieving success.
It’s what I’ve tried to do with “The Life and Times of a Renaissance Ronin.”
We hoped that we’d stimulate conversations and form a “tribe” of sorts, one that would band together, contribute, and help educate and entertain… as we all moved towards a common goal.
I even wanted to help other architects and design firms, as well. I wanted to help them break the learning curve that keeps people from taking action. By helping them to educate client families as to the worthiness of ISBUs, they would prosper too.
Not all families want to go down the DIY path.
For the families that did want to “Do It Yourself…”
…however, we wanted to insure that they had enough insight and “information” to make good decisions.
By showing you how things work, I wanted you to be able to choose the right teams to help you build YOUR team, one that would ultimately contribute to your success… an affordable, sustainable home made of steel.
That is STILL my hope, come what may, for as long as we are able.
If this blog has helped you, we urge you to help keep it running.
We can’t do it by ourselves any longer.
There’s a Paypal button at the top of the page.
No amount is too small. We’re counting pennies, now.
This time, we’re going to do a brief ISBU “refresher” course.
As RenaissanceRonin becomes more popular (YOU can see that by the 200,000+ unique IP addresses representing thousands of my “reader families,” in the “Tylenol box” over there on the right of the page… and I can see it by the hundreds of “please help me build my ISBU house…” emails I get monthly) we get new readers every day that still “don’t quite get it.”
So, today… we’re going to take a minute, and revisit just a few of the reasons why people are considering ISBU shipping containers as materials to be used in housing solutions for their families, internationally.
Massive population explosions that have brought migration, food shortages, and strife have led to the evolution of new “tribes”… Mankind has become a collection of migrants who roam from place to place, looking for greener pastures.
It’s Darwin at it’s best, “Survivalism” at it’s worst. Our new-found “need for mobility” actually characterizes our lives and how many of us are living today.
This is further affected as natural catastrophes frequently leave thousands of people homeless (in fact, my own family was/is one of Hurricane Katrina’s “refugees” here in the US… and we fared better than our brothers and sisters scattered throughout the planet, as disaster visited them).
We of this generation no longer see things quite like our parents did; the very idea of “home” is less “monumental” and more “adaptable” today… than it was just a generation ago. Times have changed, and for most of us, “personal space” is now a luxury, making us reflect on how much space we really need in order to survive and “prosper.”
“The McMansion” has one foot in the grave, and “Little/Tiny Houses” are springing up everywhere, as people rapidly downsize to meet the economic demands of our times.
Tract homes in the suburbs of America, once averaging in the 2,000′s of square feet and beyond, are being reduced to 1,000 square feet and change. This is in part due to rising energy costs, and failing economic times.
Families are looking for alternatives; ISBU‘s, Straw Bales, Earth Rammed, you name it. ALL of them have merit. But here at RR, we’re die-hard “Corten Steel Disciples.” Why? Well… steel doesn’t bio-degrade, melt in the rain, or turn to sludge during a big weather event.
And when the wind blows, ISBU Homes holler back:
“HAH! Is that ALL you got?”
Container homes are “fast-built,” environmentally “green”, economical, and a surprisingly flexible alternative to “traditional houses.”
Why?
Well, they are capable of providing affordable, sustainable homes for any household size – from individuals, to families, and even “tribes!”
Now, as much as it might surprise you … some say that they’d “never live in a steel box.”
Some (it seems the loudest, if my email is any indication) of those people “poo-poo’ing” ISBU homes… are already “doing it”… wrapped inside their steel skyscrapers called “condo’s.” DUH!
So, to those of you who are new to ISBUs, or to you naysayers out there, those who just don’t want to see the light… Let’s examine some stylish, environmentally friendly, energy efficient, affordable homes that demonstrate just how cool ISBU‘s can be, shall we?
There are landmark ISBU projects; Projects that make you sit up and reevaluate the way you do things.
I’ve talked about most of these, but we’re gonna take a new look;
The USM (Nope! Not the US Marines, g-d bless ‘em … The Urban Space Management Group) used a flexible, component-based container construction system to build an entire city in the London Docklands in 2001 out of ISBUs.
Did the public cry out and gnash their teeth in anguish at the pending “Corten Steel Armageddon?”
Nope. Far from it…
The demand was so high for these homes (which were built using 80% recycled materials) that by 2002 they had to build a second city right next to it. And architect Nick Lacey didn’t just drop containers “willy-nilly,” he used component pieces to create vibrant and every adaptable living and work spaces for the residents.
And, containers have been used to create 1,000 “Project Keetwonen” dormitory units for Dutch students, making it “the biggest container city in the world.”
The project was executed by Tempo Housing in 2006. Did it work? Well… not only does it look cool and provide all the amenities and comfort that a student could ask for, the rooftop is used for rainwater drainage, heat dispersal and insulation of the units below.
The award-winning project has received a lot of international attention (in fact it’s become a “poster-child” for high density housing module projects globally) and has proven itself to be so successful that it’s planned relocation (it was only supposed to be in place for 5 years originally) has been postponed until 2016.
These 40-foot “one-container” models, called Modular Dwelling Units (MDUs) by New York-based design company LOT-EK demonstrates that ISBU housing can be colorful, cleanly designed and built with reused industrial materials. According to the company website, MDUs have been designed for “individuals moving around the globe.”
Imagine moving your entire home from “platform to platform,” seasonally! Beaching in Bali, Skiing in Switzerland… even Mountain-biking in Montana!
Will it actually happen? Who knows? I don’t personally see these “RV-esque” ideas as “reality.”
I mean, if I wanted a movable house, I’d just build THIS:
Cool, huh?
I CAN however see these MDU “one container housing solutions” being used as cost effective residences, or even remote cabins and “fall-back” homes.
And several of my good friends (See, Greg? Told ya I’d work ya in there!) work for oil companies, and energy exploration companies that house their crews in ISBUs. Here’s a cool solution that not only looks great, it functions even better.
Take (4) 20-foot High Cubes containers, and one crazy guy from Dublin, Ireland. What do you get? You get a two-story shelter unit called a LiNX, a design that industrial designer Richard Barnwall originally intended to be used for construction workers employed by the energy cartels.
But look closer. By simply adapting the interiors, it’s easy to imagine this configuration’s use as a permanent housing solution.
First Guinness, and now this… Those Irish guys are geniuses!
And, if we’re going to look at ISBU construction, we may as well just end this by looking at the very best.
If you read the blog regularly, you know that I’m flattered that California based architect Peter DeMaria is a fan of mine, because I’ve said it over and over again… I AM a HUGE fan of his…
In spite of the fact that I’ve actually started my very own ISBU Construction Consulting company, and I’m in the middle of the “pre-release” editing of my new book titled: (what else?) “Container Home Construction”…
I’m just going to say it; If you’re building, or even thinking about building an ISBU home, DeMaria Design is a terrific place to start your search.
Peter DeMaria is one of the very, very few GAWDS of Corten Steel. I cannot recommend this guy highly enough.
His ISBU (Shipping Container) based luxury beachfront residence located in Redondo Beach, CA, was constructed by his two firms,DeMaria Design and Logical Homes in 2006 using eight prefabricated, recycled shipping containers of various sizes, that were combined with traditional building materials.
Ummm… Hey! I’ve said that ISBUs SHOULD be integrated with traditional building practices, several times. In fact, just the other day! It just makes sense!
One of his containers even functions as a swimming pool.
Can you see why I LOVE this guy? He’s brilliant, a genius, and HE thinks just like ME…
(Except he’s rational. And humble. And he has hair on his head.)
While I’m positive about that latter two, I’m still not quite sure about the first one. I THINK he is “rational”… I’m still waiting for the results of the poll I sent to some of his co-workers and clients, to verify it…
His ISBU house is “Tonka Tough…” it’s strong, mold-free, fire- and termite-proof, by design.
And, most of the construction happened in a warehouse, and NOT on site. 70% of the actual construction happened off site, which dramatically reduced his construction costs.
And that same off-site construction contributed, rather it didn’t contribute as much landfill, in the form of waste. Why? Because Peter is SMART. (What? Are YOU not paying attention? I’ll try to type slower…)
Peter maximized his materials usage in controllable circumstances, and demonstrated that ISBU houses don’t have to bring to mind “Max Max” crisis Armageddon images. This home would fit anywhere you dropped it.
(And it would probably survive the “drop.”)
And it will outperform the neighbors homes, on almost every front.
Now, Peter doesn’t just build Country Club Homes, he is also designing and building more affordable container projects – a community center and multifamily housing. His new division, Logical Homes, is also dedicated to the design and construction of affordable, sustainable single family homes, that any family would be proud to call home.
(And some of them are even as cool as MINE!)
Okay, some of his “work” is better… dammit…
Next time, we’ll talk about MY newest project. Peter isn’t the only one doing cool stuff… grumble… mumble… snort…
You’re gonna love it! Or else!
Stay tuned.
NO ISBU homes were harmed in the creation of this post. Nor were any actually “dropped.”
I didn’t eat my Wheaties today.
Did this post help you? We are still trying to determine the future of “Renaissance Ronin.” If enough readers help to support it, and help it at least reach it’s operating costs, we’ll continue writing it. We’re not trying to make a living off this blog. We’re not even trying to make a profit. We’re just trying to “keep going.” If you can help, please do. There’s a Paypal button up on the top of the page. Any help you can offer will assist us greatly.
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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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