After three times over there, we have finally cleared all of the land to start building on. Here are some pictures after it was cleared.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Container Home: SYNOPSIS
My wife and I have embarked on building an eco-friendly, weekend lake home at Land between the Lakes, TN. Our goal is to build it to be completely self-sufficient. Why have we chosen to use shipping containers? The biggest reason is the fact that we had instant four walls, roof, and floor. With us living 63 miles away, we only get over there on weekends to work on the project. Using shipping containers removed the urgency to get the frame built fast and out of the elements.
It will be solar powered, have its own rain collection system, incinerator commode, gray water incinerator, and a geothermal cooling system. We are trying to keep it as close to being LEED compliant as possible. For one, we are using two shipping containers as the core frame of the house. We used shipping containers for three reasons. They are sturdy. There is an instant four walls, roof, and floor. Finally, we are repurposing a resource to be green. In the end, the containers will be completely covered with cement backer board and stucco as to look like a normal home. The doors in the picture will be a solid stucco wall. The side in the picture with the "K" Line will be buried to the roof, along with the opposite end The side with the doors and the back will be all that is visible. This was intentional for several reasons. The first is for the cooling effect of the earth up against the container. The second is protection against tornadoes. Tornadoes typically come from the side being buried with the "K" Line on it. The house being flush with the ground will provide significant protection against tornadoes, as they come most of the time from the west to east direction. The total size of the container home will be 640 square feet, which for a weekend getaway, is sufficient for the two of us.
We are doing almost all of the construction of the home ourselves. I have done a fair amount of home improvement projects in the past, but nothing to this degree. My welding skills have come in very handy with this project. We estimate that we will likely save about $60,000 in labor costs with us doing most of the work. Our goal is to have it livable by this winter. I have to say that I have already learned a lot!
