0201 - Building with Steel Shipping Containers
Dates Aired: September 11-17, 2006 and March 12-18, 2007
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>> Vila: Hi, I'm Bob Vila. Welcome to the show and to a brand-new season of programming about housing transitions. We're in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we're really looking at a neighborhood in transition and a new type of housing alternative. Here we're recycling abandoned old shipping containers—those big steel boxes—and turning them into affordable and hurricane-resistant homes. Stick around. Before we get started with the actual construction of our house, let's talk with Askia, who is really one of the pivotal figures in the recycling and rebirth of this particular neighborhood in St. Pete. This is an interesting neighborhood. It probably goes back to the '20s.
>> That's right, but very substantial housing in this area and housing with a lot of character.
>> Vila: 'Cause it was seasonal. It was winter residence, right?
>> That's correct. A lot of the housing was developed by people who would come here from the north in the wintertime. They would spend half of the year here. The rest of the year, they'd go back home, and they would either rent out these houses or board them up.
>> Vila: So many of these houses have a history of almost three quarters of a century. What happened to them in the last 20, 30 years?
>> Well, the neighborhood gradually declined over a period of years. The cost of maintaining the housing, the cost of rehabbing the housing was pretty high. A lot of the owners just walked away from it. So at one point, you had hundreds of boarded houses, blighted properties, and vacant lots in this neighborhood.
>> Vila: And very often, when that happens in a community, you have a different social element that comes in. What happened here?
>> Well, you're absolutely right. Boarded properties and overgrown lots just attract the bad crowd in the neighborhood, if you will. And obviously, it contributes to the decline in property values. That's what we were experiencing. We had drug problems, crime problems—you name it. It was quite a tough battle to turn this neighborhood around.
>> Vila: And the neighborhood works group that you had has really had an impact, not just on turning it around, but explain what else you do, in terms of housing.
>> Sure. Well, first of all, St. Pete NHS has been involved in the Bartlett Park neighborhood for about 15 years. Back in the early '90s, this neighborhood was inhabited by one of the worst drug operations in the history of the city. In fact, the head of that operation is now doing federal time in prison. But we came in, and we worked with the residents. We worked with the neighborhood association. We worked with Bank of America CDC to acquire properties. We provided homebuyer education and counseling services to potential homebuyers. We've been involved in transforming and revitalizing the neighborhood primarily through promoting first-time home ownership.
>> Vila: Mm-hmm. And one of the key things is not just promoting home ownership, but helping people figure out how it is you maintain a home and how it is you pay for it, et cetera, right?
>> Yeah, absolutely. We're committed to the long-term success of our first-time homebuyers. We like to say that we generate successful, lifelong first-time homeowners.
>> Vila: And we're building here houses that are unlike any other houses this neighborhood's ever seen.
>> That's correct. That's correct. In fact, if you ride through the neighborhood, you'll see quite a bit of construction, two or three houses per block, but nothing like we're doing on this site.
>> Vila: Now, Buba, you're a former civil engineer, computer engineer, but now you're a contractor.
>> Yes.
>> Vila: It's a lot more fun, isn't it, being in the field? And, ray, you're the project manager for these installations, as it were.
>> That's correct.
>> Vila: First, let's talk about standard, traditional building technologies here in Florida. This is what we're looking at behind us, right?
>> Yes, that's what we're looking at behind us. This is standing on a 20-inch x 8-inch continuous footer with two number-5 rebars.
>> Vila: So that's the foundation, the footer.
>> Exactly.
>> Vila: And then we've poured a slab.
>> A slab, yes.
>> Vila: Concrete block structure—cbs.
>> Cbs with a number-5 rebar at 32 inches from the center all around. And those hollow areas are all poured.
>> Vila: They're all poured with concrete.
>> Exactly.
>> Vila: So we've got one of the sturdiest building systems anywhere in the country or in the world, of course, because of the hurricanes and the building codes down here. Tell us a little bit about the conditions of the lot before we got here.
>> Well, the lot is in a neighborhood that is naturally shaded with a number of trees, as you can see.
>> Vila: You have wonderful old Florida live oaks all over the place.
>> And the lot had a large oak tree in the center of it, which we had to remove, and we basically had to prepare the lot from a lot of brush. And we were able to do that and, actually, start our footers last wednesday.
>> Yeah.
>> Vila: So we've poured footers around, or footings, around the perimeter of where the new structure will be.
>> That's correct. We did that on Saturday.
>> Vila: I think you've done a great job, considering the weather 'cause this is the rainy season, isn't it?
>> Exactly. We had great weather when we started the foundation and we started the site clearing, and the reverse happened when we started the foundation. We had two days of rain delay, and we were basically just sitting around, watching the clouds for a couple of days.
>> Vila: Typical Florida story. Now, let's look closely at what we've got, though, 'cause this that we're in is kind of like a little add-on, but the main rectangle of the house will sit on this foundation here.
>> Exactly.
>> Vila: What are we looking at?
>> Well, we're looking at the stem wall, which is gonna be the support for the ISBUs, as well as the house, in general.
>> Vila: Okay. Now, ISBUs refer to "intermodal steel building units," and that's a fancy word for old shipping containers. And so they're basically big, rectangular steel boxes, and what we're looking at here is a steel plate that'll be a well point, right?
>> Correct.
>> Vila: Great. I can't wait.
>> Vila: If you've ever visited a major port like Charleston, Miami, or New York, New Jersey, you know that shipping containers are the standard method of moving goods around the world. Because the U.S. Is no longer a manufacturing nation, we don't have many goods to export. But we're real good at buying foreign goods, so we end up with a lot of empty containers. And it doesn't make economic sense to ship them back empty. There are 700,000 of these containers just abandoned in U.S. Ports. Here at Tampa Armature Works, a team of engineers and shipping experts have been converting what are basically really sturdy steel boxes into what they call "intermodal steel building units," or ISBUs, for military contracts. And they're used in operations around the world. Given the urgent need for affordable and storm-resistant housing that can be built in a hurry in places hard-hit by hurricanes and earthquakes, it makes a lot of sense to find a way to adapt ISBUs for residential use.
>> Well, TAW's been working on a skeletal frame system, a system that allows us to take an intermodal cargo container down to its barest element components, and it's done through a series of intermediate posts. And from that, we can build just about anything. Here we have what we call the world's largest toolbox, and it has some fold-up awnings, some fold-down awnings... Some roll-up doors, and then inside... This particular unit has a cargo handling system that allows the military to go to door 2, container 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and bin number 1, 2, or 3, and find whatever it is they're looking for for their particular project. A shipping cargo container is designed and built to move general cargoes around the world, interchanging those cargoes out from one port to another. An ISBU is an intermodal steel building unit where that cargo container has been changed and modified to become a housing system. So, to suit the customer's application, this particular unit will need to be shortened up to 38 feet. What's going on here is the use of a plasma torch. It gives us a very clean cut. Other than a little grinding, we're ready to weld once we take this end off. In the conversion of a container into an ISBU, an intermodal steel building unit, what we have here is a 9'6" tall "i" beam, which is created by this channel that you see down here—this corrugated web of metal here going all the way up to this flat-bar top rail. That is, in effect, a large "i" beam. We lose structural integrity when we cut out this window aperture that you note up here, and so bringing back this channel helps replace that lost structural integrity. These units come with a marine-grade apitong flooring. It's an inch and 1/8 thick. It's of many laminations, and it's just a feature that's with the ISBU containers that we couldn't build into them. It's already there.
>> Vila: So, the floor is wood, but basically the container is one big steel box, and isn't it gonna be murder living in a steel box in the Florida sun?
>> One would think, sir, but this particular unit—this house system—will be coated with supertherm ceramic insulative paint. This coating is gaining great popularity in Europe and the Far East, and it's starting to gain ground here in the U.S.
>> Vila: All right. So, we'll see more of that later in terms of applying it to the actual steel?
>> Yes, sir.
>> Vila: All right. But let's talk about the economics of it, 'cause, you know, you have to—it's an alternative to building with concrete blocks or with wood, and yet you still have to have a crane involved in it, and you got to pay something for these. I mean, what do these cost?
>> Well, a raw container used only a few times will run roughly $42,000 to $56,000, depending on the volume. With the value add that we do to the system, the overall of the particular unit you see here as a roughed-in, dried-in framing package will be anywhere from $40 to $45 a square foot.
>> Vila: Wow. So, you can spend $45 a square foot on putting the house together. Does that include the skin of the house and the roof?
>> It includes the exterior skin of the house. It includes the ceramic insulative coatings. The balance of the home for its fit and finish—the foundation and the trusses will need to be supplied by the general contractor.
>> Vila: I see. Okay. So, how many of these are floating around the world?
>> Well, there's 17 million T.E.U., Or 20-foot-equivalent unit containers around the world in use today. And in the U.S., Our trade imbalances because we consume far more than we export. We're building up—at one time, we had in the neighborhood of 700,000 T.E.U. U.S.A. idle and on the books.
>> Vila: 700,000 Containers...
>> Containers, yes, sir.
>> Vila: ...Idle, off the books, just empty, sitting in the ports of america, and you're saying the main reason is 'cause we don't manufacture anything anymore except rubbish, and so we don't have anything to export in them? But who paid for them? The American consumer?
>> The American consumer, I am confident, has the cost of the idle equipment built into the cost of the goods they're purchasing.
>> Vila: So it's a salvage business that we're looking at here.
>> In many ways, yes, sir, or recycling or a green business.
>> Vila: Or a green business. Now, we placed them all down, and what will be the next step, in terms of building this house envelope?
>> Well, to place them down, then to permanently weld them to the plates that are embedded in the foundation, and then where we're standing, there will be some joist panel infill going along here.
>> Vila: Infill?
>> Yes, sir. And then, of course, the subflooring on top of that infill.
>> Vila: Sure.
>> Now, while that's—once that's taken place, the skinning of the exterior—some other fellows can come in and start to drywall, some roof trusses can go up, whereas in conventional construction, sometimes one job is waiting on another.
>> Vila: Right. It's a very fast system, and that's one of the big advantages of it, but, also, these are steel, sturdy items when you think about hurricanes. They're gonna perform very well, right?
>> Yes, sir, and they're built for the hostile maritime dynamic environment aboard a ship. And here, they're permanently affixed to a stationary foundation. And I think as important, steel construction is gaining ground in residential construction, but that's light-gauge steel construction, and here's a heavy-gauge steel-construction solution that is approximately the same cost, and we're looking for those early adopters to consider it in their choices.
>> Vila: Terrific. Closed captioning provided by...
>> Vila: Hi. I'm Bob Vila. Next time on the show, we're starting a whole new series of projects about housing transitions. We'll be in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we've actually got a whole neighborhood in transition, and we're showing you an alternative housing solution—recycling abandoned shipping containers. That's right—those big, old steel boxes that come in on ships from all around the world. Lots of them are abandoned, and a new way to use them is to turn them into housing that's both affordable, as well as hurricane resistant. Don't miss it.
>> Vila: Hi. I'm Bob Vila. Next time on the show, we'll be looking at the process of taking these old shipping containers and converting them into parts for affordable housing. Also, we'll be showing you the process of installing them on-site. Don't miss it.
>> Vila: Hi. I'm Bob Vila. Next time on the show, we're in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we're building affordable housing out of abandoned shipping containers. Don't miss it.
>> Vila: All right, so, dave, it still looks, to all the world, like a shipping container, with these kind of corrugated-steel sides. What can we do to make it look a little bit more like a house?
>> Well, what we're gonna do is, we're gonna add this heavier-gauge steel to bring everything out into plane. And then, on top of that, we're gonna add this sheet-metal covering, which brings us in line with the foundation.
>> Vila: Okay, so now you've added another layer of steel. Seems to me that's gonna help it cook in there. Isn't it gonna get a lot hotter?
>> One would think, but this is going to be topcoated with the supertherm ceramic insulation. And here's a sample for you.
>> Vila: Supertherm ceramic insulation. Well, when I hear the buzzword "ceramic," it makes me think of the space shuttle.
>> Yes, it does. NASA participated in helping the manufacturer, supertherm, come up with a product. It uses four ceramics to help deflect and reflect the energy that comes in from the sun. It basically sends energy back from whence it came.
>> Vila: So there won't be any insulation on the inside...
>> Other than the Supertherm.
>> Vila: And then what kind of an r-factor can you get from this?
>> Well, with one coating, it's 16 mils wet or 10 mil dry. You're gonna get an R-20 R-factor equivalency.
>> Vila: That's amazing.
>> And i'd like to show you instead of just talking about it.
>> Vila: So it doesn't get painted on? Oh, you've got a demonstration?
>> Yes, sir.
>> Vila: All right. Let me get away from your torch, here. There you go.
>> I want to heat that up nice and red-hot for you. I'd like you to see that I'm holding it in my bare hands.
>> Vila: Wow.
>> And there's absolutely no transfer of heat from that to the other side of this piece of metal. Right there.
>> Vila: Yeah, you're right. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's absolutely, totally cold, and I'm not gonna touch it there.
>> That's correct.
>> Vila: All right. So, how do you install this?
>> This will be sprayed on like any other coating product that you'd use out in the field.
>> Vila: And they're ready to start doing it right behind us.
>> Yes, they are.
>> Vila: Here. Careful. All right, we're back on the inside with ray, our project manager. And what's the front-to-back dimension on the house?
>> 58 Feet.
>> Vila: 58 Feet. That's great. So, essentially we've got two different-sized—i shouldn't call them shipping containers anymore. They're i...
>> ISBUs.
>> Vila: ...Sbus, yeah. So, this is gonna be a pretty good-sized house.
>> Yes, yes. 1,800 Square feet.
>> Vila: And we've got plans here, so that we can look a little bit at how it's being built, right?
>> Yes.
>> Vila: This is the floor-framing plan. Can you explain that to us?
>> Yes. What we have is four ISBUs, two on either side, at different lengths.
>> Vila: And then we've been walking in the void in between them.
>> That's correct.
>> Vila: And what do these lines represent?
>> These lines represent steel joists for the floor system, and they will be—the joists will be welded between each ISBU, and they'll be similar to this. They will be roughly 16-gauge steel, 7 3/4 width.
>> Vila: And how are they spaced? Are they on 16-inch centers?
>> They're on 16-inch centers.
>> Vila: Okay. So, essentially you've got a total steel structure, and on top of that, you put plywood?
>> That's correct—5/8-inch flat plywood.
>> Vila: Okay. Let me see if we can find the actual layout for the house. Here we go. Okay. All right, take us through. I mean, I guess this is the front entry over here.
>> Yeah, this is the front entry. It's facing north. And where we're standing here now is in the kitchen area, which is here.
>> Vila: In this corner.
>> This corner here. There's a garage...
>> Vila: Oh, that's right.
>> ...A single-car garage next to it.
>> Vila: And that is not made out of a container. That's made out of concrete block and a slab.
>> That's correct.
>> Vila: Okay.
>> And the home basically has a living room, dining area, that covers this entire area here.
>> Vila: There's a great room.
>> Correct. Then we have a hallway that goes down the middle of the home.
>> Vila: All the way to the back.
>> All the way to the back. And on this side, we have two bedrooms with the bath in between. On the other side, we have two bedrooms. We have a bath here, a master bath for the master bedroom.
>> Vila: Okay, and a big walk-in closet.
>> A big walk-in closet, utility room, which gives the home a very nice layout.
>> Vila: All right, so it's gonna have really a traditional kind of floor plan, a nice Florida family house. What about the outside of the house? Will it blend in with the neighborhood?
>> This particular home will look just like a typical Florida stucco home. In fact, we built this home a year and a half ago about a block away, so it'll look identical to that except it's larger.
>> Vila: Terrific. Thanks, Ray.
>> Sure.
>> Vila: Okay, we're running out of time for today. Next time, we're gonna be showing you the details of how this roof comes together, how it's fastened down onto these containers so that the hurricanes won't bother it. Also, we'll be installing the windows—impact-resistant pgt windows. Lots to show you. Till then, I'm Bob Vila. Thanks for joining us. Looking for help on your next project? Visit bobvila.Com for everything you need to get the job done right. You'll find show highlights, interactive tools for planning your next project, and helpful "how to" articles for every room in your home. Bobvila.Com, the ultimate home site.
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