This new, neat, affordable, and hurricane-ready home prepares to welcome its first-time homeowners.
Strong, Affordable Storm-Ready Housing Project
This Week:
Finishing a Container-Built Home
Bob closes season two of Bob Vila with a return visit to the Bartlett Park container-built homes in St. Petersburg, Florida. These affordable houses are serving as models for a pilot program initiated by the St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services, the Home Depot Foundation, and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. Their goal is to build safe, affordable housing that will draw first-time homeowners and bring pride-of-place to neighborhoods like Bartlett Park that need neighborhood revitalization. Bob recaps the shipping container story and how Tampa Armature Works has adapted these abandoned steel containers to create housing modules. Bob looks at the rich architectural history of St. Petersburg, and the development of its waterfront parks and neighborhoods. He also reviews the construction progress to date and the innovative way four intermodal steel building units, or ISBU’s, were joined together with a block foundation, traditional framing, and a truss roof to create a storm-ready, four-bedroom home that looks like any traditional Florida stucco home from the exterior. Architect Steve Armstrong and Project Manager Ray Price join Bob to review the insulating ceramic coating that was used to paint the exterior and protect it from heat buildup. They also review the innovative finishes and design features that helped them transition the exterior surfaces from corrugated metal siding to sheet-metal panels to concrete block to wood with a unified finish. Lessons learned on this first home will be applied on its sister house, which is already under construction. General Contractor Buba Barrow joins Bob for a tour of the finish work and interior layout, staring on the tiled front porch, moving through the open-plan family, kitchen, and dining spaces, and finishing with the four bedrooms that are faced in mold-resistant wallboard and painted with an orange-peel textured finish. The kitchen is complete with oak cabinets, laminate counters, a bottom-freezer/upper refrigerator unit and an energy-efficient dual-drawer dishwasher. Bob closes the show with David Cross, formerly of Tampa Armature Works and now with SG Blocks, who tells him about the more than 500 inquiries he has received about building with converted shipping containers and plans for future projects that include multi-use housing developments, single-family homes, and military installations.View Show Summary.
Check out Bob’s newest projects including current and past episodes of our home improvement TV show. View video clips for up-close information on project techniques and details. Find product information and services for each show. Click here!
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Learn more about Bob's appearances on the A&E channel, including Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America, Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of the Mid-Atlantic, and Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes: In Search of Palladio. Click here!
Learn more about Bob's past home and remodeling reports on The Early Show with host Jane Clayson. Find more information on the companies, products, and ideas featured on CBS's national morning news program. Click here!
Bob Vila hosted a 50 state visit to remodeled and restored American homes, communities, and gardens in this grass roots remodeling tour that was billed as "a celebration of our nation's architectural and cultural diversity." Click here!
Bob was the host of This Old House from 1979 to 1989. Use this section to find the answers to commonly asked questions about Bob Vila and the original cast of This Old House. Click here!
Additional Bob Vila Showrooms • Sears - Custom-Fit Replacement Windows and Entry Doors • Sears - Heating & Cooling Repair • CleanEnergyQuotes.com - Get Solar Energy Estimates for Your Home • Chadsworth's - Columns, Pillars, Pilasters & Balustrades • InsWeb - Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Bill up to 25% Online • A.I.M. Radiant Heating - Clean, Quiet, Efficient Heating
