After failing to find a buyer, the house built entirely out of Legos in Surrey, England, is being dismantled brick by mult-colored brick. Built by James May of the BBC's Top Gear, the home was never intended as a permanent structure and was built on a vineyard without the necessary permits. It did however feature a working toilet, shower and a "very uncomfortable bed." One visitor apparently made off with the Lego constructed cat.
Alas, the vineyard needs to grow its grapes and May had to sell or dismantle. Legoland was interested but could not afford the moving fee. So the 3.3 million Lego bricks are coming down and will be donated to charity.
What do you think: Silly waste of time or Genius tourist attraction?
Modular homes are becoming a buzzword again as property prices plummet and hopeless homeowners auction off their houses. The New York Times recently posted a blog called "Reinventing Modular Housing as Green" about rising trends in modular home construction that can help homeowners save money while saving the environment. The blogger highlights the energy-efficient and sustainable quality of modular components like walls that are sealed together with screws and glue instead of just nails to increase insulation and floors made of biodegradable bamboo. Sound oddly familiar? That's because BobVila.com wrote about it here last year. We have the New York Times beat.
Lured in by their low price and sturdy material, another Florida building is being constructed using discarded shipping containers. In this case, it's a port security operations center in Jacksonville. According to the builders, the use of shipping containers is shaving hundreds of thousands of dollars off the construction costs of the $1.8 million dollar building.
As we showed in our Strong Affordable Storm-Ready Housing series two years ago, buildings made of shipping containers are perfect for withstanding hurricane force winds (ideal in places like hurricane-prone Florida). And when completed, it's difficult to tell the building is made of steel.
Last season, Bob Vila chronicled the construction of a home made from steel shipping containers. Now Scott Parks of Melaque, Mexico, is documenting construction of his neighbor's home using the same technology. This is a three-tier building with a storage area and workshop on the bottom level and living space above. Posting on a message board, Parks has pulled together a wealth of information about the project with photos showing steady progress over three pages of posts. Shipping containers are affordable building materials left abandoned in port areas across the U.S. and Mexico. When done right, homes constructed from steel shipping containers can be extremely storm resistant—high winds don't do much against welded steel. Let's hope Parks continues posting progress throughout the project—it's a fascinating view of shipping container construction in action.
Have you ever tried to repair a cracked ceiling or wall? I love drywall compound—it slathers on and makes that great swipe. It covers anything in its path! So why, when I've completely covered the crack, does it come back? And, moving on to drywall 201, why can't I just make those popped seams disappear? Well, it turns out the two conditions require two different responses: retape the crack but smooth out the pop. Until it happened in my newly drywalled addition, I had no one to ask (okay, blame) for these errors—I'd always done the work myself. But as the drywall finisher came back for the third time, he explained that cracks will never go away until they are retaped. Who knew!?!? He covered the popped seam with a layer of joint compound that he feathered, returning two more times to make sure it was perfect. The cracked seam got a new sheet of tape and drywall compound, plus the extra visits for special care. Oddest of all, he said, was finding cracks after just two weeks. Looks like the moisture content in "kiln-dried" framing really is higher than we're thinking. Ah, but that is a discussion for another day!
There's no better time to sign up to win power tools than at the holidays! Ridgid, the tool guys, are sponsoring a 25-day giveaway of the new Fuego 6 1/2" framing saw on Toolmonger.com. The 'Monger bloggers have set up a contest where tool lovers write in with a project they'd undertake if only they had this light, fast, framing saw to work with. Each day the guys at Toolmonger.com select a new winner based on the project that really rings their chimes. So dream big and jump in. Send them a writeup and go for the saw. There's no limit to the number of projects you can submit. And, there are only 10 days left, so get cracking.
Hurricane season is here and coastal communities are bracing for the storms. Every year brings new building codes to protect homeowners in storm-threatened areas and new products to help builders meet code without sacrificing the bottom line. Norbord Windstorm OSB (Oriented Strand Board)provides continuous sheathing to connect directly to the sill and top plate and resist uplift and wind shear. Using a single panel to connect the sill to top-plate eliminates the need for blocking, U-straps, filler strips and wall uplift hardware. This means faster sheathing and greater exterior integrity that is code approved for communities with wind speeds in excess of 110 miles per hour. An engineer-specified nailing pattern operates in place of costly uplift hardware, saving builders time and equipment costs. This sheathing was used in the NextGen House at the 2006 International Builders Show, where contractors clamored for hurricane-proof building materials. Windstorm OSB is available through local building suppliers.
