Container Home: Installing Ceiling Supports - 22 August 2015

Here is putting the i-beam in place across the ceiling. The i-beam is necessary to support this end. We did not want any posts inside the living room, so we are using the i-beam. This was a very tedious process that required a lot of work. I first had to cut the i-beam down, which took quite a while. The i-beam is 8" with 5" flanges. Once I got the i-beam cut, the next thing was getting it hoisted up to the ceiling. I installed two 4x4s as temporary supports so the ceiling would not sag. The i-beam is close to 400 pounds. I bought 4 pulleys to setup a pulley system and used a steel cable.

I connected the cable to a d-ring so my Jeep could be used to hoist the beam up.

As I was hoisting the beam up, I had to stop every few inches. It would begin to sag on one side. The beam was cut perfectly to fit in between the wall grooves. When it sagged too much, one end would come out and then the beam dropped.

Once I got it up to this point, I had to detach the steel cable and chain because it could not go any further. I secured the two ends with 700 pound straps, along with an additional 400 pound strap. I removed the chain and cable and then put the cable underneath so it could be hoisted the final 18 inches to the ceiling.

Once I got the beam hoisted to the ceiling, I welded it directly to the main container supports on both ends and the center.

This took so much time, that the only other part I finished were fabricating the floor plates. Even though it is not welded in place, I left the straps secured to it and used a come along to secure the steel cable just to make sure it remains secure. When I go back in three weeks, I will install the vertical support beams on both ends. This is by far the most dangerous part of the entire project.

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Container Home: Walls Completely Cut Out - 08 August 2015

Here is the latest picture of the inside as I have cut out the inner walls and welded the support beams in the back. The 4x4s are temporary until I can get a welder out there to cut and weld the 8" I-Beam to the ceiling along with the two vertical support beams on either end of it to support the beam. My welder is not powerful enough and although my plasma cutter is, the generator only produces 36 amps and I need 50 amps to cut the beam. This is also a critical structural beam that I think a pro needs to help me put in place.

We have decided once the support beam is in place, we will begin building out the bedroom and bathroom. We will also put in place the gabion baskets on the outside to bury the bedroom/bathroom portions. Of course before we put the baskets in place and bury it, we will apply truck bed liner to the external walls of the containers, along with a urethane foam coating for rust prevention. There will also be a drainage pipe at the bottom, layered with sewage rock and then dirt. Once this is complete, we are going to pause for a little while to see how efficient the cooling of the inside it with it being buried on two sides before we progress with the living room.

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Container Home: Cutting out the Center walls - 01 August 2015

Once those support beams were in place, I began cutting out the inner walls from both containers. This portion will be the master bedroom and bathroom, which will be 13'x16'.

For the water supply, we will be using two 275 gallon totes. These are FDA grade totes used in the food industry. These will be buried 10 feet so they will be immune to freezing. They will be replenished with water through a rain water collection system that will be carbon filtered. There will be a DC pump to pump the water into the home.

This is the 8" I-Beam that will be welded to the ceiling with two vertical I-Beam supports. I took this picture of it as we were taking it off of the roof rack of my Jeep to give a perspective of its size. It weighs 345 pounds.

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