My shipping container cabin/shelter

jeannacav McCoy wrote:Hi everybody,

I was bumped from the forum somehow.
I got back in by saying I forgot my password. Oh well whatever works.

We all had to. New forum software and all.

I bought 3 clear painter's tarps and covered the berm with them, so for now, the berm is safe.
It is also warmer.
The cold rain was making the room cold.
Also having no berm at all in places made it cold and noisy.

Interesting thing about being your own builder. You don't have to feel swindled if the builder messed up. You also get to learn about your home more intimately.

I plan to re-seed it in the spring.
For now, the biggest problem is moisture at the door and windows.
I am heating with candle heaters , which are excellent, and if the berm were fully there, I am sure would be sufficient, but
The inside temperature is frequently 51 which is too cold for me, and 30 minutes with a mr buddy will bring it up to 60, which is fine, but,
the humidity coming from the propane is not!

I just have a supply of cloths and wipe it down.
Last night I used oil lamps to add warmth without propane.
They were OK, but I do not like the smell.

any time you burn something you get water unless you vent outside. well maybe not coal... but I don't think I would want coal fumes inside either.

Actually, this is a lot of fun and a great adventure.

OK thanks for listening,

jeanna

Thank you for posting your adventures, we have found we can be comfortable with less of the common "creature comforts". Our house is not quite so cool as you have... though at the computer desk downstairs it is. We do have power though so we could be warmer if we want to pay for it. But long range we are also headed off grid.

Thannks Len,
I guess this is right about the burning anything.

It was as bad or worse with the oil lamp perhaps because it was even colder.
So after that,
I just cranked up the little buddy and drove the temperature to 62 and today the weather changed and it is drizzling and 45 outside, so I am grateful for the breather...
Also, the clover will be better able to grow tall under the tarps.

I wonder if clover is the best choice for deep roots to hold the berm together.

Anybody know?

jeanna

jeannacav Cav wrote:
I wonder if clover is the best choice for deep roots to hold the berm together.

Anybody know?

jeanna

I am pretty sure depth of root is not what you are looking for so much as how interlocking they are. I don't have enough clover to see, but what I have seen is that deep roots don't intertwine as much as shallow roots like grasses. googling around got me this:

http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=5316

Maybe grass is good for something after all. Maybe with clover in there too to pin the grass deeper and move nutrients around.

A friend of mine is a welder and used two 40' containers as the sidewalls for his shop. They are up on pipe frames so the top of the contianers match his 10 foot ceilings. There is 30 feet between them. The containers have internal access doors, and are used as unheated storage.

New here my name is Brian Rodgers from northern New Mexico
Beautiful home and project

Brian Rodgers wrote:New here my name is Brian Rodgers from northern New Mexico
Beautiful home and project

Thanks Brian, and welcome to the forum!

Hey all, it's been a while since I have checked in and gave an update on my shipping container cabin, so thought I would share a few final things I have done. It is now totally complete.
The rock hearth was one of the things I have been putting off, but finally tackled it. All the stones were gathered from the land it sits on.



A few other last things I have done was to find some uses for the left over metal from cut outs.
First one is a small wood shelter, holds about one cord.



Next is window awnings.



And last is the vent well's.



Well that's it! All done and ready for any emergency. Kinda like insurance, hope you never have to have it, but glad its there if you do.

Insulation-Larry did you ever get the Exterior Insulated with Spray Foam? I am in Seattle and was curious about condensation problems with the steel walls without using spray foam on the Interior???

Tony Muhley wrote:Insulation-Larry did you ever get the Exterior Insulated with Spray Foam? I am in Seattle and was curious about condensation problems with the steel walls without using spray foam on the Interior???

No issues with condensation. I used spray foam on the roof to seal it and the back and end wall because it was going to get buried. The interior has R-12 in all the wall's and ceiling. So I am sorta double insulated.

Is there anyone here in communication with Larry the gentleman who built the Taj Malodge shipping container cabin? His old blog seems to have been removed some time ago.

I would like to make him aware of a book on Amazon using many of his original shipping container build photos uncredited, and I am sure unpaid. Link to book below:

https://www.amazon.com/Shipping-Container-Homes-Examples-Designs/dp/1979322902/

Sadly,the books being peddled by https://www.containerhomeplans.org are also using his photos uncredited.

The book is #1 on Amazon in the search for 'shipping containers homes' and has been since Christmas which begs the question... how much money is this scammer making off Larry's work?

For reference, a lot of the original photos are archived here: Story of Two Containers

If anybody knows Larry let him know. Thanks