Strong, Affordable Storm-Ready Housing Project
Finished Exterior of a Container-Built Home VideoThe front of the home is complete and looks like the exterior of any home in the American suburbs. Bob talks with Ray Price, the project manager for St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services and Steve Armstrong, the architect. There were some speical issues in this project due to the four different types of materials used for the building exterior. The challenge was to find a finish that would blend the surfaces and textures together. The garage and foundation use concrete block construction; four ISBU's or converted metal shipping containers make up the four corners of the home; conventional framing connects the ISBU's; and plywood makes up the gable ends. To blend and transition these four types of material, a horizontal band is used as a design element to separate the two types of materials. A water table band was placed near the base of the home to solve the problem of closing the joints. The stucco face of the house is actually a stucco coating that is applied over the 16-gauge sheet metal. It is a smooth finish with a traditional stucco look. The insulation behind the stucco is SuperTherm, an insulating ceramic coating. SuperTherm is an energy-efficient thermal coating with an R-factor of 19 and is similar to the substance used to coat the space shuttle. SuperTherm is becoming more available for commercial and industrial applications. Around the back of the home, much of the original vegetation, including the big oak trees, is still in place. The neighboring lots have been cleared but great pains were taken to preserve old growth. The garage door is accessed by an alley around the back of the home. The neighborhood was originally designed with alleys between the blocks so people could have their trash picked up and deliveries made. The alley system is being cleaned up and brought back. Having a back alley for the garage entrance allows for a front porch on the main street. The roof overhang is made of sheet metal, aluminum fascia, and a soffit which gives it a nice clean look. This overhang is low maintenance and meets hurricane code requirements. Right next door to the home, a second prototype follows roughly the same setup and construction. Using lessons learned from the first home, the detailing around the windows will be refined in the construction of the second home. All the windows are made of impact-resistant glass made by PGT. Although this second house will follow the same wooden roof truss system as in the first house, there are some alterations. Different types of insulated panels are being investigated as a possibility for the roof. These insulated panels are very strong and work well with the tie-down to the ISBU's.
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Additional Bob Vila Showrooms• Crown Point - Handcrafted Custom Cabinetry
• PexSupply.com - Your Online Source for PEX Plumbing & Radiant Heating Supplies
• Basement Systems Inc - Basement Waterproofing and Crawl Space Contractor Network
• Radiantec - Radiantec: radiant floor and solar heat & hot water systems
• Sears - Heating & Cooling Repair
• CertaPro Painters - America's Most Referred Painter
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 | Appliances
• Amana - 19 cu. ft. refrigerator with EasyFreezer pull-out drawer with EasyClose drawer track system
Carpentry, Construction & Materials
• Barrow Construction - home building and general contracting services
• Georgia-Pacific - DensArmor fiberglass-faced inorganic wallboard
• SG Blocks - a container based sustainable building system
• Simpson Strongties - building safer structures with bolts, clips, straps, plates, tie-downs, and fasteners
• Tampa Armature Works - converting steel shipping containers into building units
Painting & Wallpapering
• SuperTherm - insulating ceramic paints and coatings
Real Estate
• Home Depot Foundation - building affordable homes and strong communities through grants and partnership to non-profit organizations
• NeighborWorks - a non-profit network improving communities and creating opportunities for home ownership since 1978
• St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services - home ownership services and education for low-income, first-time homebuyers
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Other Video Clips from this Episode |
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| Bob is in St. Petersburg, Florida, to tour a finished affordable home after completing projects in other parts of the country. The St. Petersburg container-built homes are part of a ...
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|  NOW PLAYING
Finished Exterior of a Container-Built Home The front of the home is complete and looks like the exterior of any home in the American suburbs. Bob talks with Ray Price, the project manager for St. Petersburg ...
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| Bob talks with Buba Barrow, the general contractor for the project, about finishing touches being added to the home. On the front porch, a non-slip tile is being installed. Because ...
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| The finishing touches are being added to the interior of the home in St Petersburg. The appliances are being delivered and installed. The home features an open plan with a ...
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| Because this is an affordable house, most of the items in the kitchen were builder-supplied. The kitchen features oak cabinets and laminated countertops. With affordable homes, it's important to acquire ...
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| Bob talks with David Cross formerly of Tampa Armature Works, now of S G BLocks, the company that has taken these abandoned shipping containers and converted them into home-building units. ...
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