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The Latest From the Container House Project

- About Shipping Containers
  12th Jun 2019Main Structure and RoofWe bought five shipping containers with which to build our house. It might seem a bit bizarre to read this, but each shipping container almost seems to have its own personality. So this is a post about each of the individual containers we purchased, and some interesting facts about shipping containers. History Malcolm McLean, an American trucking magnate, designed the first shipping container as we know them, in the 1950s. (There were similar concepts around in the previous decade or two). He saw the need for an interlocking and stackable storage unit for freight, because loading and offloading trucks, trains and ships was taking too long. Malcolm changed the world. You probably already know that shipping containers are available in a few sizes. In South Africa, most of the containers are either 6m or 12m long. They also come in two heights. The standard height is 2.6m, but high cube containers are available, at 2.9m. There are also specialized shipping containers such as refrigerated units for cold storage. Our house is constructed from 12m containers, two of which are high cubes. Fun Fact: In Canada, 60′ shipping containers are available. That’s over 18m long! You can read more about the history of shipping containers on Wikipedia. About Shipping Containers and Their Identification Shipping containers are designed to travel the world. I cannot but wonder where all our five shipping containers have been. Were any of them used to smuggle drugs for a Columbian drug lord? (Let’s hope not!) Did any of them have a guest role on an episode of NCIS? (That would be cool!) I set about on an internet expedition to see what I could learn. There are databases available where one can track the full history of a shipping container. However, this costs money; money that would be better spent on building our house. So what did I find out? You might have noticed that shipping containers have a series of letters and numbers printed on the side that looks something like this: XXXX 123456 7. The Container Identification System (CIS) works as follows: The first three letters refer to the company that owns the container. The fourth letter refers to the type of container it is and therefore what equipment can be attached to it. All of our containers CIS letters end with a U. After that, the first six digits is the serial number of the container and the seventh digit is just a number that helps verify that the previous digits have been entered correctly into databases to help reduce errors with data capturing.More than 1000 shipping containers are lost at sea each year.If you have a consignment on its way to you in a shipping container, and have the container’s CIS number, you can track your shipping container online, as you would any parcel travelling via courier. It is also possible to fit your shipping container with a GPS device so that you can live track it as it sails the seven seas. About Shipping Containers on the Container House Project The shipping containers we purchased have been graded as to their condition. We can’t quite figure out if the grading system is universal, or particular to the companies that deal with shipping containers. However, if it is company particular, the grading is very similar between them. A Grade A container would be in brand new condition. Grade B would have few dents and maybe a spot of rust. Grade C you might expect a patch or two along with the dents and a bit more rust. And so on. For this project, we looked for the containers in the worst condition. We were looking at upcycling old containers and using as little water as possible to build our house for a somewhat more eco-friendly approach to housing. Our purchases did depend on what was available at the time and what bargains we found. Let me introduce you to our shipping containers. Blue & White Container, South Side This container is a 12m high cube. It has been used as a building of some sort previously. It has doors and windows already cut into it. You can also see where a toilet was once fitted to the interior. At some stage, squatters lit fires on the wooden floor (yes, seriously!). There are burn marks everywhere and holes in the wood. The fires have warped some of the steel making it particularly disconcerting walking on the top. The steel deflects with a loud “boing” as you walk over it, and then pops back once you lift your foot. 1) Our South shipping container is currently our entrance 2) Mind your step – there are holes burnt into the floor 3) a toilet once stood here 4) Blackened from the fires & lots of graffiti Blue & White Container, East Side This container has had a similar history to the above container. This one is of a standard height. The fires have bubbled and loosened some of the paint on the sides, but it is still stable to walk on. There is, at the time of writing, some lichen growing on the top! We received both the South and East containers full of rubble and other rubbish left from the fires and previous inhabitants. 1) Our East side container with 2) fire damage to the paint on the exterior and 3) the interior 4) blackened by the fires Red Container, West Side This container is also in very bad condition. A large area on the “roof” has rusted, leaving the metal looking a bit like a colander. The result of this is that rain water has damaged the wooden floor inside and rotted some of it. You can still walk across the top of it, as long as you avoid the very rusty section. 1) Our West container that will soon be our main entrance! 2) A very rusty top and a 3) rotting wooden floor Yellow Container, North Side This container is probably in the best condition out of all of them. it has a bit of rust, but is still wind and water tight and therefore sea-worthy. This is our second high cube container and the very last one that we purchased. This container came with a free pair of socks. They are filled with something. We don’t know what, but guess it is probably some kind of insect repellent. 1) An interesting dent 2) a mystery sock 3) We are using this container for storage at the moment. Green Container, North Side, Second Storey This container is also in fairly good condition, and sea-worthy. The paint has faded and there is a bit of rust. Kevin has cut a door into the side so that we could access it. He found it a bit difficult to do so because he knew that with every rotation of the cutting disk, he devalued it. We bought this container through a private sale and the collection point was not too far from where we stay. Bonus! 1) The green container makes the double-storey side of the house 2) We had to cut in a door to rescue the generator that we forgot was stored in the container 3) The generator hiding in the container Those are our shipping containers. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for these awesome steel boxes!...
- Preparing for the K-Span Roof
  5th Jun 2019Main Structure and RoofWe’ve very excited about the K-Span steel arch roof that will be covering our container house. But of course, we need something in place to which the steel roof can attach to the containers. Kevin has been busy preparing for the roof installation. If you want to find out more about the roofing system we will be installing, here is our original post on the system we have chosen. There were a few things that Kevin had to weld together and install on the construction: C-Channel on the exterior walls on the North and South side of the buildingRaised C-Channel on the interior of the North and South side of the buildingSteel arches (the wall plate) that will follow the curve of the roof on the East and West side of the building First of all though, we needed all the steel. A Delivery from Steel And Pipe There was obviously only one company from which we wanted to get our steel. Steel and Pipes for Africa have worked closely with Small Scale Engineering for years now. Therefore, Kevin called them up and ordered several tonnes of steel. Delivery was made shortly thereafter. Steel and Pipes for Africa arrive on site with all our steel Kevin helped to offload while I stood by taking photos and doing a quick double check of our order. Kevin and the Steel & Pipe team offload the truck Preparing for the K-Span Roof: Interior and Exterior C-Channels The exterior C-channels were the easier section to weld into place. Kevin and Louis clamped the channel against the side of the container. After that, they went along the length and welded it where necessary. Kevin welded the channels with the open side facing outwards. This should allow the C-channel to flex a bit when the K-Span steel arch roof is bolted on. You might also note in the below photo that the C-channels have been pre-galvanized in order to reduce rust. We touched up the welding seams with red oxide paint. C-channel in place on the side of the shipping container The interior C-channels were a bit more complicated because they had to be raised above the height of the container itself in order to meet the roof. Kevin welded several upright posts in place. On the lower container, Kevin, Louis and myself stood on the roof and helped Kevin raise the C-channel into place. We held it still while Kevin welded it to the uprights. I was not able to help with the double-storey (North) side as I was not on site that day. C-channel welded into place on the uprights, ready for the roof installation! Preparing For the Roof – The Steel Arch After some careful calculations, Kevin took three lengths of rectangular tubing. At regular intervals, he cut through the steel, leaving the last side intact. He then bent the tube in against itself and welded the seam. He joined the three smaller arches and made one very long arch that is at the same radius that the roof will be. Steel arch lying on the ground after painting with red oxide paint. Next up, was to weld the arches on the East and West side in place. Again, Kevin used upright steel posts to further strengthen the curved wall plate and hold it in place. The roof plates thesmelves won’t be relying on the arch for stability, but we will use this frame and the arched wall plate to fix the cladding to make a wall. Steel arch wall plate in place, one misty morning Now we are (im)patiently awaiting the roof installation. Black Block Industries and Horizon Roofing have been hard at work milling the roof plates, but that’s a story for another time… Before we go, we have two more photos of interest to show you. Bonus Photos The view from up here is pretty good! A friend took an aerial photo of the project for us! How awesome is this? Can you see the steel arch wall plate over the white (East) container? Can you spot the Nissan we recently refurbished?...