Hello Everyone!
I apologize that I have not posted in a while. Since my last post, I have purchased more of the materials I will need for my house, including handles for my cabinets, assorted lumber, screws, insulation, wiring, windows, interior paint, exterior stain, and a number of other items.
On April 19, my father and I applied the zero-VOC epoxy to the floor of my container. You may remember that the purpose of this epoxy is to mitigate the pesticides contained in the floor, which prevent the container from carrying invasive species and protect its contents from pest infestations. The epoxy kit comes in 3 2-gallon jugs. Two of them contain what appears to be paint, labeled “Part A”. The third contains a liquid slightly lighter than olive oil, labeled “Part B”. Though it takes only 15 minutes after Parts A and B are mixed (in a 2:1 ratio) for its application to be difficult/impossible, it took approximately two days for it to dry completely.
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| This picture was taken after my father and I pressure-washed the floor, walls, and ceiling of the container to remove any dirt. This did not mitigate the pesticides in the floor, however. |
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| This picture was taken after the epoxy was applied to the floor. The purpose of the epoxy is to seal the floor to mitigate the pesticides in it. |
Over the past week, I have disassembled all of the crate covers I will need in order to make the siding for my house. This was a very slow process, as quickly prying the boards away from the 2x4s (which I am using as the exterior strapping) that they were stapled or nailed to would result in the board being broken. However, I am saving the nails to potentially use later. Last week, I worked on pre-drilling holes in my container for the exterior strapping, which my insulation and siding will be fastened to. I had tried using a battery-powered drill. Drilling the holes is a fairly quick process, but it takes approximately two hours to fully charge the battery once it is too weak to drill more holes. I have since begun using a plug-in power drill, so charging batteries is not an issue.
Window and Door Holes Cut Out
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| Here, I am building one of the frames for the opening, which are shown in the picture above this one. |
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| This is what the inside of the container looked like after the holes were cut out. The openings on the left furthest from the camera are where my three picture windows will be. The area in the immediate foreground is where the bathroom will be, and it will extend just past the small window on the left. My kitchen sink will go under the opening on the right, closest to the camera. The far end of the container will be my bedroom and will extend toward the camera, just past the farthest picture window. |
On Saturday, May 9, my Uncle Ken and my neighbor Jesse cut out the holes in my container for my windows and doors. Uncle Ken had originally planned on using a plasma torch, but instead used a metal-cutting saw. Contractor Arthur Stone (whom I consulted with on various aspects of my building plan) was also present to help build the frames for the windows and doors. Cutting the holes and building the window and door frames took approximately four hours.
The pine trees to the west of my house provide shade in the late afternoon (from approximately 4:00 pm until sunset), but the container otherwise has has full sun exposure all day. Since this made for very hot working conditions (with temperatures outside of the container topping 80 almost every day last week and temperatures even higher inside the container), I was very excited to have the windows and door cut out. It made the container look much more like a house than simply a large blue box sitting in the field, and it also provided much-needed airflow, which has kept the inside of the container much cooler.
What’s Next?
Some of my next steps will be to continue attaching strapping to my house. I will also likely need to attach my insulation and siding before installing my windows. I am very much enjoying this project. I began this project with absolutely no building experience, so this is certainly a learning experience for me and is somewhat experimental. Please check back in the future for updates on my project, as I plan to post updates at least until my house is primarily finished!
Thanks for Reading!
Devin