Finishing the Steel Building Container

Project: Storm-Ready Housing, Episode 1, Part 3



Bob joins Askia Aquil from St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services (SPNHS), project manager Ray Price, and general contractor Buba Barrow, while they are in the process of constructing an affordable, energy-efficient, and storm-resistant home from converted steel shipping containers. David Cross from Tampa Armature Works (TAW) explains how the 700,000 abandoned containers that clog U.S. ports can be fitted as intermodal steel building units (ISBUs) that are perfectly suited to quick, affordable housing for storm-threatened regions. Bob watches ISBUs cut, skinned in sheet metal, and sprayed with heavy-duty insulating SuperTherm ceramic coating to prevent heat buildup and transfer.
Part 1: Constructing the Stem-Wall Foundation
Part 2: Converting Steel Shipping Containers to Housing
Part 3: Finishing the Steel Building Container
Once stripped down, an ISBU's exterior is finished with heavy-gauge steel, then faced in sheet-metal wrap and covered with SuperTherm insulating ceramic coating. Back at the site, Bob joins project manager Ray Price to go over the floorplans, as the ISBUs are lifted onto their foundations.
Bob Vila is in St. Petersburg, FL, learning how to create affordable, energy-efficient, storm-ready housing from recycled steel shipping containers. Bob and the team build a roomy, single-family home that improves this once-blighted neighborhood and creates opportunity for first-time homeownership.

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