0226 - Finishing a Container-Built Home March 5-March 11, 2007 | September 3-September 9, 2007 Buy Show Video
>> Vila: Hi. I'm Bob Vila. Welcome to the show. We're down in Florida again, where we started a project a few weeks ago, and we're basically converting abandoned shipping containers, big steel boxes, into affordable homes like the one you see behind me. Today we're wrapping this one up, so we're gonna give you a tour of the exterior, showing you all the different finishes that were used, and on the inside, where it looks like a traditional home. Stick around. It's good to have you with us. Well, we're back in St. Petersburg, Florida. After several weeks doing projects in other parts of the country, here in St. Pete, we've got a pilot project going, which is really experimenting with reusing or repurposing idled shipping containers -- those big steel boxes that come on the ships that bring us everything from China. Many of them are sitting idle in many of our ports around the country. And here in St. Pete, we've been looking at a pilot project that takes them, repurposes them into very structurally sound housing that can withstand hurricane conditions. So far we've learned why there are so many of these steel shipping containers left in our country's ports and around the world, how some resourceful folks right here at Tampa Armature Works have begun adapting them into housing modules and using them in the residential-building market to try to keep down the cost of conventional construction. We also got to know the neighborhood a bit. St. Petersburg has an amazing variety of housing styles. As people settled here from all over the country during the early 20th century, they brought their own ideas of a dream house with them. So these streets are lined with modest- to medium-sized bungalows, Mediterranean-style homes, prairie-style cottages, two-story Dutch Colonials, and even some Federal Revivals. And, of course, you still see some true Florida bungalows that look right at home among the banana palms. Along north shore park and coffee pot bayou, you can see grander versions of the same styles with beautiful views of the bay. Most of these neighborhoods were completely built out by the 1950s and '60s, so the character of the housing has really been well preserved. Bartlett Park, just south of downtown, was built up as a working-class retirement neighborhood in the 1920s. It's had a period of decline and a tough time with crime and poverty until a few years ago, when the city and a community-development corporation called St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services, part of the neighborworks U.S.A., stepped in. With the Home Depot Foundation and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, they undertook this as a pilot project to see if it'll fly as a model for affordable and storm-ready housing. Once a depressed area with few prospects, Bartlett Park is now seeing a dramatic revival, as affordable housing and support for first-time homebuyers creates the pride of place you need to keep a neighborhood healthy and sustainable. The house you see here was trucked to the site in four sections, or intermodal steel building units, which is the fancy name for a steel shipping container that's been specially modified here at the Tampa Armature Works to meet the needs of the plan. The ISBUs were craned onto the foundation and welded to steel plates that had been installed in the concrete. The conventional truss-roof system was bolted to the containers right over their own steel roofs. And each truss is attached with special hardware to resist hurricane-force uplift. The space in between the ISBUs has now been filled in with conventional construction, as well, and next came the metal sheathing... cutting the windows... grinding... priming... stucco... And a special superinsulating ceramic coating called "SuperTherm" that was developed by the space administration for the shuttle. Here it's designed to stop the metal containers from conducting heat and keeping the building comfortable and efficient. On our last visit here, we got to tour the interior with the architect and get a feel for the space that you can create with four shipping containers and a roof system. And I'm really looking forward to seeing how it's turned out in there. But before we get started, let's see how the project's been going. And the payoff is here, so right now we're gonna be taking you on a walk around the exterior of the house. Obviously, the front is complete, and it looks like any conventional house in a suburb anywhere in America. But let's talk with Ray, our project manager, and Steve again with us, our architect. And I'm gonna ask you first, what kind of special problems have you had with this kind of building technology? Because this is a pilot project. This is the first time you've done something like this, right?
>> Correct. Essentially we have four different types of materials for the exterior, and trying to get a finish that would all blend together has been somewhat of a challenge.
>> Vila: Talk about those. What are the four different materials?
>> The garage is concrete block, and the foundation, concrete block. We have a ISBU, which is a 16-gauge steel box inside of there.
>> Vila: I love that.
>> And the same thing on the other end. And in between the two, we have metal framing, conventional framing with 16-gauge sheathing on that. And then the gabled ends have plywood.
>> Vila: So you've had to kind of solve transitional problems between one material and the other. And if we look up there at the gable end of this small projection, you can see where you've essentially put a band that you've picked out in a tan or a beige color, and that provides a separation between those two materials.
>> It helps with the transition.
>> Vila: That was a great idea. Also, down here, we have what essentially in an old bungalow would be called the water table, or in an old wooden house. But that, too, solves the problem of closing the joints, right? But then the surface that we're looking at, which looks like a stucco house -- tell us about that, Steve.
>> It's actually a stucco coating that is applied directly overtop of the 16-gauge sheet metal. So you have a very smooth finish, has a very traditional stucco look.
>> Vila: What about the insulation?
>> The insulation behind it or mixed in with the paint is a supertherm insulation. It's a ceramic-based insulation. It's a very efficient insulation.
>> Vila: It's like what they put on the space shuttle.
>> It's very similar -- similar material, similar basis.
>> Vila: What's the "R" factor?
>> The "R" factor is R-19 for a 50-mill thickness, which is about the thickness of a credit card.
>> Vila: You would think you'd be able to get that anywhere in the country to put on new construction, right?
>> It's becoming more and more available. It's used commercially and industrially for many years.
>> Vila: Let's walk around and take a look at the back side of the house, 'cause we really haven't seen that yet. All right, so, one of the things that's great about this neighborhood is that a lot of the original vegetation, the big live oak trees and things, are still in place, and even though these lots had to be cleared 'cause they were never built on, you've taken great pains to preserve a lot of that, right?
>> Correct.
>> Vila: Now, here we are on the back side of the house, and the garage door is here. How does that work?
>> We have an alley which allows us to have a rear entry to the garage. And this neighborhood was designed originally to have alleys between the blocks so that people could have their trash picked up, make deliveries.
>> Vila: That's a terrific concept which you see in a lot of areas. This is fabulous. And it looks like it's being cleaned up and brought back.
>> Yes.
>> Vila: That makes a big difference in the quality of life for the neighborhood, front porch, and everything. Now, Steve, you were talking earlier with me about the transitions of materials and stuff, and here in the gable end, we kind of see what you're talking about.
>> This is a very good example of what happens because you have 16-gauge sheet metal on the right side and on the left side where the ISBUs are located. And in the middle, we have conventional construction with sheet metal applied, and above in the gabled end, we have conventional framing and plywood sheeting. All those materials have to work together and have good transitions between the textures and finishes. It's a real challenge, but with these horizontal bands that we're using here, it's an excellent way of making that transition between two different materials.
>> Vila: There it works very, very well. And up at the top, are you putting a band up there, too?
>> There's a prototype you learn as you go through, and this is a good example of what we're trying to do is to find out where those problems are and make that solution by putting that band up there.
>> Vila: Right. Yeah, so, this side of the house is made up of two shipping containers end to end. So you've got uniformity of material, and you don't have to worry about any of those transition problems.
>> Only at the bottom where we sit on the foundation.
>> Vila: And then what about the roof overhang? What material have we used up there?
>> As you can see, it's metal, sheet metal and aluminum fascia and soffit, which gives it a nice, clean look, and it's very easily applied to the tail end of the roof rafters.
>> Vila: Low-maintenance, and it meets the hurricane-code requirements. And, of course, this is number one, kind of a prototype. But right over here we have number two, which is also essentially the same setup, right? It's four ISBUs.
>> It's four ISBUs. This is three bedroom, two baths, and this is four bedroom, two baths.
>> Vila: Okay. So, you use a little extra space in the living area?
>> Correct.
>> Vila: Now, are you applying any lessons learned from this house to this house?
>> We're looking at some of the detailing around the windows. We think we found a good solution here, and we're gonna take it with some refinements and make that work, as well, on this particular one.
>> Vila: And, of course, all the windows are impact-resistant glass made right here in Florida by PGT, I believe.
>> That's correct.
>> Vila: Same windows going in this one?
>> Same windows going on this one, the same finishes, the same closure of the joints. They all work very well.
>> Vila: And the same wooden roof-truss system. Are there any alternatives to that?
>> There are certainly different types of insulated panels that we're investigating. We think they have great potential. They're very strong, and they work very well in the tie-down of that to our ISBUs.
>> Vila: Excellent. Congratulations, guys. This is fun.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Vila: Buba's our contractor on the job, and you are now at the finishing-touches stage, right?
>> Yes.
>> Vila: And we're on the front porch here. What kind of tile did you choose for this?
>> We chose a nonslip tile. We went to the tile company and asked them to give us a tile that would be an exterior tile, but, you know, even when it's wet, it would not slip.
>> Vila: Exactly, 'cause here in Florida, you get afternoon rain showers eight months out of the year every day. So when you use a product, you're not just concerned about stuff like mildew, et cetera, but you also want to make sure it's gonna be safe. Now, one of the problems that you had to deal with was installing these windows, right?
>> Well, when we wanted it installed, they had a rubber seal around them, but they were not working. They would peel off.
>> Vila: It wasn't a problem with the windows. These are winguard from PGT, made right here in Florida, and it's impact-resistant glass and a very sturdy frame. The problem was the transition space between that window and the steel box.
>> So the solution we came up with was to put stucco stuff all the way around the window the same height with the window. So we just went ahead and put the stucco inside -- inside the stucco stuff.
>> Vila: You built it up with wire mesh.
>> We put wire mesh inside, and then we stucco it.
>> Vila: It's a clean solution.
>> It came out pretty nice.
>> Vila: The front porch looks beautiful. But now it's time for you to help us with a tour of the inside. Plus, we got to get out of their way 'cause they're working so fast.
>> That's right.
>> Vila: Closed captioning provided by...
>> Vila: Hi. I'm Bob Vila. Next time on the show, we're back in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we began a project a few weeks back that involves taking abandoned shipping containers from the ports and turning them into affordable housing. This time around, we've got one finished, and we're gonna give you a close look at all the different details, the different types of finishes that are being used both on the exterior of the house as well as on the interior to make it look like a traditional home. Don't miss it.
>> Vila: Hi. I'm Bob Vila. Next time on the show, we're back in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we're documenting the process of taking abandoned shipping containers, big steel boxes, and turning them into beautiful homes. We'll give you a tour of the finished project. Don't miss it.
>> Vila: And finishing touches, and, of course, everything happens at once at the end of the project, doesn't it, Buba?
>> That's right.
>> Vila: So you've got all the appliances being delivered and installed. But let's talk first a little bit about the whole space, 'cause it's an open plan, very modern design in terms of having the kitchen and the dining and the living all be one flowing space.
>> That way you don't have any kind of hindrance. Everything is right in there. People can see each other. This is the living room here, dining room/combination family room, and the kitchen.
>> Vila: And what's interesting is that we have one container, if you will, on this side, and another one on that side. In between, the space is filled in with conventional framing.
>> And you have a higher ceiling in this area. It's a good contrast.
>> Vila: It goes all the way down the central hall to that end.
>> The space is much bigger.
>> Vila: It's a bigger volume. And off the central hall, you've got four bedrooms, which is a lot for a small house. You've got a master bedroom with its own dedicated bathroom. And then you've got three more bedrooms, a spacious bathroom down at the end. What about the interior trim for these windows? Again you've got steel surfaces behind the -- is there sheetrock here, drywall?
>> Yes, we put drywall on the metal furring strips, and then there's the wood frame for the windows. And we use that to put this wood trim around it.
>> Vila: So you have nailer for the molding. And down at the baseboard?
>> Down at the baseboard we don't have any wood there, so we used construction adhesive to install the baseboards.
>> Vila: And the baseboard itself is made of wood. And the walls are -- well, they're DensArmor Plus from GP, and I've got a little sample, 'cause one of the key things when you're working in a very humid place like Florida is to avoid mildew in interiors. And this material, this gypsum drywall product, instead of having a paper or organic surface on it, it's got a fiberglass mat. And the fiberglass just doesn't provide any kind of foodstuffs for molds and mildews. And you've gone over it with beautiful finishes. What's the ceiling?
>> We put the knockdown texture on the ceiling and painted with semigloss paint.
>> Vila: Yes, and then the walls are more of a satin.
>> Those are more of a satin with orange-peel texture.
>> Vila: With the orange-peel texture -- how appropriate for Florida. Let's take a closer look at the kitchen. The kitchen looks great, Buba. I assume everything is kind of builder supply down here, right? 'Cause this is an affordable house. And so what you've got is nice oak cabinets and nice plastic-laminated counters.
>> Exactly.
>> Vila: And then you've done a great job. Congratulations. But one of the key things with affordable houses is to do all the shopping for these types of appliances in the most efficient way. Big builders can buy everything wholesale, but smaller builders sometimes have to depend on the local mom-and-pop suppliers. And through BrandSource and the internet, we've got a terrific network of 2,500 dealers that are locally owned, but they buy in bulk so that they can really pass on the savings. And the great thing about this concept is that you've got the refrigerator portion up at eye level. The food you use on a daily basis is right there. And then the freezer's down below, and you've got two separate compartments in the freezer so that you don't have to be digging through the bottom of the chest. And these haven't really been installed yet. We also have these Fisher Paykel dishwashers, which I really think is a great idea, 'cause instead of one big dishwasher, you've got two modules, as it were, and they're extremely energy-efficient. They're energy star. They only use a couple of gallons to do a whole wash. So if you just have a small load, you just do one of them. If you've got a party, you use them both. And we've got a GE electric range, and that completes the package. It's a nice kitchen in an affordable house.
>> Vila: With us now is David Cross from Tampa Armature Works, the company that is based here and that is taking some of these abandoned containers. And we talked with you earlier when we started the project, and now it's been maybe three months since we'd been working at it and we're coming back. What's new with this technology? Is there a future for it?
>> Absolutely. Since this first aired on your show, we've received well over 500 inquiries. We have two more orders in hand from militarized systems going down in the Caribbean islands, of course, the Redondo Beach house that you reported on earlier in California, and then a 600-unit system that'll be going into southern California is in discussions right now, and we're confident that'll be coming through.
>> Vila: Now, are they meant to also be affordable units?
>> Absolutely.
>> Vila: And will they be more or less stand-alone designs like this, or what alternatives?
>> It'll be a configuration of multifamily housing, stand-alones, and it's, again, still in discussion, so there's a lot to --
>> Vila: well, good luck. I think it's a great use for these abandoned containers. And we're out of time. I hope you've enjoyed our season this year where we've been repurposing all sorts of different houses, creating a small nursery, creating a playroom for a young family with kids, and here in Florida, creating brand-new housing. Till the next time, 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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