First look at containers

This week has been a quiet one--that is there was no equipment noise.  Further site work is on hold until the structural changes get approved.  I still have my fingers and toes crossed.

I've been weeding along the fences where the graders did not get the weeds.   They didn't get to these weeds because there were things in their way, like the water tanks and materials I have been collecting.  I also did a little site cleanup, though the workers were pretty good at cleaning up after themselves.  One issue I'll have to address with their bosses is the trash disposal.  While my trash bin was empty, they had put their plastic bags of trash in both my green bin and recycle bin.  Being the recycling addict I am, I went through every bag and separated the trash into its proper bin.  Fortunately much of it could go in the green bin as our trash collection company is now collecting compostable things like soiled paper and food waste!!

My son and cameraman

Thursday I woke to sunshine for the first time in quite awhile.  It was a great start to a special day.  My son, Danny, and I were driving to Vallejo to get a close up look at my containers.  I was happy that we didn't have to drive all the way to Sacramento which is where TAYNR's headquarters are.  As you can imagine, finding the space needed to build houses offsite is a challenge.  James Roberts has solved this problem by collaborating with other facilities.  This business is called Transport Products Unlimited.  They rent, sell and modify shipping containers. 

This gives you an idea of the enormity of this facility, but shows only a part of it.

We were met at the site by James and Adrian from TAYNR and were introduced to Mike and Adrian (yes, another Adrian) who work at the site.   We got to see containers, inside and out.  One thing we learned is that not all shipping containers are created equal.  While the basic dimensions are standard, each manufacturer has their own color, flooring, corrugated siding style, locking mechanism, etc.  It is important when using multiple containers that they are the same.  The color and the numbers printed on the boxes help to identify the manufacturer.

James, Mike and Adrian answering my questions and explaining how it all works.

James with me inside half my downstairs living space

Lowering a container to look inside to check the flooring.

Most often, shipping container floors are 1 1/8" marine plywood made from tropical hardwood such as Keruing or Apitong.  These floors are often treated with pesticides so it is recommended to seal them.  I assumed this was done before applying your choice of flooring, but James pointed out that there is another option--using the existing floor as the finished floor.  The 40' containers have a metal plate in the floor at one end which wasn't particularly attractive, but the 20' container floors were all wood.  The containers we looked at had 3 different types of floors.  One was a dark laminate that wasn't particularly attractive.  One was a bamboo floor but it was stained red.  The third was Apitong, if I remember correctly.  We liked the look of it and I decided it would be a good option for the ADU, but James and Mike have to see if they can locate two 20s with that floor.  If they can get the containers, they will sand the floor and seal it with Epoxy.  I had said that the greenest floor was reclaimed wood, but using the existing wood would be even better.

Apitong

Red Bamboo

Laminate

James arranged for some fireworks for us while we were there.  Sparks fly when the metal is being cut. 

Here Adrian is using a plasma cutter to cut an opening in one of the containers.

 It was quieter than I expected, but did smell.

 The plasma cutter made quick work of the opening.  This will be the opening for the sliding glass door off of the downstairs bedroom.

That was the end of our tour.  I got all my questions answered and can't wait to go again to see the progress.


On the way home we stopped at Urban Ore in Berkeley to check out their materials.  It is a giant thrift store for building supplies, as well as some clothing, kitchenware, records and books, etc.  They have hundreds, if not thousands, of doors.  It wouldn't be easy to sort through them to find what you need.  Their kitchen cabinets weren't as nice as those at Habitat for Humanity's Restore in Redwood City, but I'm sure their inventory is constantly changing.  I wasn't expecting to buy anything--we were just getting a feel for what they have.  Danny did find a large hooded fur coat he liked and he bought it for Burning Man.

Friday morning the surveyors came to set markers for the foundation crew to work from.  They have better equipment and expertise to more accurately mark the building corners and elevations.  Juno is enjoying her modified space.













While the surveyors did their work, I was attending a webinar through the PG&E Energy Center.  Whatever you may think of PG&E, they have excellent educational programs for both professionals and homeowners.  Many of the courses are held in San Francisco, but some of them are also available online or on demand.  This class was on Integrated Design Thinking for Net Zero Energy Residential Buildings.  It is a mouthful, but really says it all.  All new homes in California will have to be NZE soon.  The class was about how to do this efficiently and without adding a lot of additional expenses to the project.  One of the best things you can do is to spend more time in the design phase, utilizing the expertise of the various trades in a collaborative way.   A common way to build is more a sequential series of events.  An architect and homeowner come up with a design.  They take it to a structural engineer, then it goes to an energy engineer before going to the building department for a building permit.  Once a permit is obtained, a contractor is hired to build it.  The contractor in turn hires sub-contractors to do the HVAC, foundation, framing, finishes, etc.  With a collaborative approach you get all these people together during the design phase.   For example, to save money they might figure out a way to spend more on insulation that could save on the size of the heating and cooling systems.  The design phase takes longer, but the construction time is reduced because there are fewer changes.  Other suggestions include simplifying the design (such as roof lines), smaller size and fewer windows.

While I didn't have the collaborative design in my project, I will make it a requirement on anything I do in the future.

Here is a great lecture on the subject with an emphasis on affordability:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvJWCLYqAnA&feature=youtu.be


And here is a written guide authored by the PG&E instructor:

https://energycodeace.adobeconnect.com/aia-zne-guide/

We are expecting to get the plans back from the city this week, otherwise we won't be doing much on site, however, nothing is stopping James and his team with moving forward with the containers.  

Construction Step One--Excavation

Day 1--

I couldn't sleep last night.  So much going through my mind.  I can't believe this is finally happening.

While we did break ground today, the work was off to a soggy start.  It was a wet Half Moon Bay morning with the fog so thick, it falls from the sky.  While standing in the drizzle, the first hour or so  consisted of introductions, inspecting the site and making a work plan.  The plan was to start clearing the site which was covered in knee high weeds, but there was concern that the big truck would get stuck if driven onto the saturated clay soil.  When I left to walk to my job at the park, they were still debating how to proceed.  I was surprised to see upon my return that they had gotten a good section of the lot cleared of weeds.  They decided to use the small grader on the site to scape the dirt and to keep the truck on the street.  They piled the weeds and dirt in the middle of the lot to move later.  They also located the corner survey markers.

One thing that is unique and special about my situation is that I have a front row seat to the construction as I'm living in the house next door.  I put a fence up to separate the 2 parcels but left the fence boards off the section by the kitchen porch and so I could see out.  This would have worked great had I not gotten a rescue dog, Juno, last year.  Juno loved to run and dig in the vacant lot, but once the work was to start, I had to keep her from going there, so I put up every other fence board--enough to keep her from going through the fence, but open enough to see the work going on.  She seems unfazed by the work, workers, noise, etc.

Day 2--Today we had more rain.  The workers did not bother to show up and it was just as well.  There was standing water on the scraped ground--what a mess!  The black clay soil is like glue when wet.  It cakes to your shoes, your shovels, etc and tracks everywhere.  

One thing was accomplished, however, the delivery of the Honey Bucket, AKA port-a-potty. 

Day 3--After a mostly dry weekend, the surface of the ground has dried out some.  There were a few puddles, but it was definitely workable.  It was a very noisy and busy day with more dirt removal, loading and hauling away.  The downside of being so close to the action is the noise.  I have to keep the doors and windows closed to muffle the sounds.  

While dirt is being moved around, other workers are locating more precisely where the buildings will be with their survey equipment.

Day 4--The last of the dirt was finally removed today.  I'm glad to see that part over with.  I was told they were moving something like 50 tons of dirt.  I can't imagine how much it would have been had we done the original foundation plan.  Then, of course, they have to bring back material to replace the dirt.  Truckload after truckload of base rock is being dumped, spread with the graders and by hand, soaked with water and compacted with a small tamper and large roller.  They only do a shallow layer at a time so the process is repeated over and over again.

This afternoon Hendrik (my younger grandson) went with me to Firewood Farms.  It is a local business that deals in reclaimed lumber from deconstructed buildings, milling of falling trees, wood carvings, etc.  I have been talking with them for several years now about using reclaimed lumber for my floors.  It is probably the greenest flooring option there is.  It is re-using something that would otherwise go to a landfill or be burned, it is locally sourced, is free of chemicals, and so on.  The only real choice they have for wood flooring is 2x6 and 2x8 tongue and groove Douglas fir.  Yes, it is a soft wood and it will scratch, but it will add warmth and character to my already unusual house.  I plan to sand it and finish it with tung oil which is natural and worked great on my son's floor.  

They also have gorgeous big slabs of wood.  I thought that nothing could be more fitting with my California heritage than a Giant Sequoia countertop for my kitchen island.  I put down a deposit for flooring and countertop--2 big decisions out of the way!

Also, today, James sent me pictures of the containers he had picked out for me.  I was surprised that there was no writing on them, but he tells me that "Shipping companies plaster their names on the side and reuse the boxes until they are beat up.  Leasing companies do not.  This is how we get new, 1-way and clean boxes."  

While the site work is going on, the fabrication of the containers will be done in the Sacramento facility.

Day 5--

The noise is incessant and is starting to get to me.  Today it didn't even stop for lunch.  While some workers took a lunch break, others were dumping, grading, rolling, etc.  On and on and on.  But by the end of the day, they had finished this phase of the process.  They loaded up their equipment and left.  I will enjoy the quiet as I wait for the next step. 

While all this work is going on, we still do not have the final approval on the changes we made.  It makes me nervous, but I keep telling myself, it isn't my problem.  This morning I got the latest corrections printed at UPS and dropped them off at the HMB Planning Department.  I have my fingers crossed that they will be approved....and soon.  It is the final piece of the puzzle.

Back when I began this project, I purchased a Brinno TimeLapse video camera.  It comes with a waterproof housing, records onto an SD card and runs on AA batteries.  I mounted it to the back fence and set it to take one frame every 20 seconds, which condenses a workday into about 3 minutes.  So far I'm very happy with the results.  I asked my older grandson, Noah, to help me with the videos and he was excited to do it.  Here is the link to our creation on Youtube.  It runs about 10 minutes, but you can speed it up in settings, if you like.

                 https://youtu.be/5-Nyh5boygU

Enjoy!

Breaking ground

I was starting to think that it would never happen (and I wasn't alone), but you can see from the photo that we have finally broken ground and are moving forward with my shipping container house!!

The last blog I posted on the house was in April 2018.  The year since then has not been an easy one.  First I struggled to find someone to build the house.  There were several young contractors who really wanted to do it but whom I felt lacked the proper experience....and everyone told me it was going to cost 2 to 3 times more than I was expecting.

Because I felt that I needed to do something, I tried to get some bids on the foundation.  The people who looked at the plans told me that, as engineered, the foundation could cost upwards of $200,000 due to the numerous piers, some of which went down as deep as 28'.  I spoke with the engineer and he stood by his design, siting the soils report and clay soils, while others thought it was crazy and way overbuilt, especially since it is basically a flat lot.

That sent me on my next mission--to see if there was another way to build the foundation.  While reading about shipping container construction and watching videos on the subject, I came across a builder who used something called helical piles.  I then started researching helical piles.  They are screwed directly into the ground, eliminating the need to dig holes and fill them with concrete, rebar, etc.  Since shipping containers have built-in structural integrity, they do not need a stem wall or slab for support.  They can be supported by the piers alone.  Using helical piles greatly reduces the amount of excavation needed as well as saving on tons of concrete.

Talking with people who manufactured and/or installed them led to a referral to a company in Sacramento that has used helical piles for its shipping container homes, no less.  The company is TANYR.  I sent them my plans and spoke with the owner, James Roberts.  He said they normally don't do custom homes, but since I already had the plans, he would be interested in helping me.

I decided that TANYR was my best option, but it was still a slow process.  First we needed to re-engineer the foundation and James had other things he thought should be changed in the structural design of the modified containers.  We still needed a contractor to work on the containers once they were delivered.  The one he initially introduced me to backed out, but James was able to come up with someone else that seems more than capable, though not experienced with containers, Hauser Construction.

All this took a lot longer than I would have liked, but from what I hear, over and over again, everyone is just too busy.  One contractor I spoken with said he had a year long waiting list and I couldn't even get on his list until I had an approved building permit.  Since I've been doing this, I've watched with frustration as numerous new houses are built in our neighborhood, but most of them are spec homes (built to be sold).  

There were many occasions when I thought I would have to give up on using shipping containers.  I was prepared to scrap the original plans and build a conventional house, but that would have entailed new plans and more time.  While I'm expecting more bumps in the road, I just hope there is nothing that will derail this train because it is full steam ahead!  

The plan is to be done this summer, so expect more frequent blog posts as the work progresses.