Container Home: Finishing Up the Earth Tube Cooling System - 25 October 2015

A lot was accomplished this last weekend. I finished connecting the culvert piping. I used cement for the large gaps and then covered that will aluminum tape. Finally, I cut small portions of the piping and put over the aluminum tape so that weight of the ground would be distributed evenly across the joints.

Next came filling in the trenches. We did this very slowly, while I was inside the trench to make sure the joints remained OK while the dirt slowly came down on them. Here is the final view after the trenches were filled in.

Here is a view of where the pipes enter the house.

Finally, a mound was built up to divert water flow over the winter around the house.

At the same time this took place, I had to take a tree down for the cable guy to install the high speed internet.

While the bulldozer was there, we went ahead and cleared out the rest of the land. The entire property is now cleared.

The next thing was performing the first test of the cooling system. I placed an 11,000 BTU heater behind a fan blowing directly into the air intake. I set both the fan and heater to maximum. I then walked over to the air outlet pipe and felt cool air coming out. This was most exciting!!

Finally, here is a picture of the inside. I got high speed internet installed this last weekend, so now I have connectivity to the outside world. This will be the only utility the house will be connected to. The window is installed behind the water totes in the back left. The sliding door will be installed next spring. Over the winter, I am going to build out the frame for the sliding door and the second window. I am also going to weld the 4"x2"x0.25" beams every four feet down the wall on the right and the wall to the back. This will reinforce the walls when they are buried to keep the dirt from pushing the walls in. The tires that will be placed outside the wall will also help to hold back the dirt. The dirt pushes with 2,300 pounds per square foot of force. The other thing I plan to do over the winter is to install the subflooring. The container on the right is slightly lower, so I will have to shimmy the subflooring slightly.

This was the last time that I will be over to work on the house this year. I have two speaking engagements and my wife and I have three vacations the rest of the year. I will be returning this coming January.

Read More

Container Home: Telephone Pole Installation - 18 October 2015

This weekend, we got the telephone pole installed. Since there will be no electric utility hookup, I had to install my own pole, or pay roughly $2,000 to have one installed. Luckily, my neighbor had a pole laying around and brought it down and gave it to me. He also helped me install it by bringing his backhoe down. He dug a 4 foot hole in the ground using an 18 inch scoop.

Next, we picked up the pole and put it over the hole as I guided the pole to the deepest part of the hole.

Once we got it centered in the hole, we started filling the hole up with rocks and tamping them down. We finally filled the rest up with dirt.

Read More

Container Home: Earth Tube Cooling Installation - 11 October 2015

This weekend, I started on the earth tube cooling system. I purchased 12 inch culverts. There is 85 feet for the air to travel through and cool down. We dug it 6 feet down. 

Here is a pic of starting the dig.

Here is after the first trench was dug and we initially laid the piping in place as a guide for the other side. 

This is standing inside the trench.

Here is a pic of the trenches after they were dug out and connected.

Next, I drilled pilot holes in the wall as a guide to cut out the steel for the plasma cutter.

After I cut out the wall, I was able to fit the piping through the hole.

Here is what the pipes now look like as one has air going out and the other has air coming in.

I have sealed around the cuts for now. I still have to connect the U end of it. At current, I covered the end with trash bags so water cannot come in on the one day this week which rain is supposed to move in.

The other thing that was done was to clear the lot. Here is a picture of the back showing what it looks like now. I still need to install the french door and the other window. I have also changed what I plan to do to cover the container look. I was originally going to use stucco, but ran across stone veneer that will give the outside a great look. Another change to the design will be the deck. Now that this is cleared off, the part which we were going to build a deck is not as sloped as I originally thought. Instead, we are going to build a large paver patio. It will be much easier to maintain than a deck. Plus, there is not the fire hazard with an open fireplace we want out there. 

Read More

Container Home: Coal Tar Epoxy Application - 07 October 2015

I took the past two weekdays off of work to come over and work on applying the coal tar epoxy to the end of the container where the geothermal cooling pipes will be run out of. The wall had to first be completely free of all rust. I did this by using a wire brush on my angle grinder. This worked perfectly and it was super-fast. I learned quickly how fast the brush will wear down, but once it has worn down, the brush stops all wear and is solid at taking off the rust. The coal tar epoxy is considered one of the best long term sealants. An acquaintance of mine told me about his dad who treats tanks for the oil industry. That is where I learned about this epoxy. It is not cheap at $100 per gallon. One gallon will treat about 160 square feet.

Now that the walls are treated with the epoxy, I am now ready to begin the installation of the geothermal cooling system. 

Read More

Container Home: Installing First Window - 04 October 2015

This is the second weekend in a row in which it has rained, thereby leaving me unable to apply the coal tar epoxy to the exterior wall. In order to continue with the build, I decided to go ahead and install the first window. I took my time doing this because of several reasons. First and foremost is that once the wall is cut out, I would not want to have to go back and make a change. I had to cordon off the bedroom part and decide what went where. We want a fireplace in the bedroom and after researching those early Saturday morning, I decided on an ethanol fireplace that will hang in the corner. Once I got that decision made, I was able to mark off where the window was going to go and proceed with cutting out the wall. Here are pics I took of it as it progressed. I used bedliner paint for coating the steel since it is very durable. I have also changed a part of the window design as I went through this. I am not going to tell much more on that since I am filing for a patent for the window frame design. What you see here is just a portion of the window frame design. I still have one more window to install along with the french door. I am going to proceed with the other window, but the french door will have to wait until I get the subfloor laid so that I can then gauge how to install it so it is flush with the flooring.

Here is the first part of cutting out the steel using my plasma cutter.

Here is after the panel was removed.

Here is a final view of the window from inside.

Here is a view from the outside. I am not concerned about the black paint getting on the rest of the container as it is going to be covered with cement backerboard and then stucco, which will conceal both the steel container walls and the paint.

Read More