Thread: Southern Tablelands Shipping Container Build

Looking good. It has some early Richard Meier vibes going on with the expressed joint cladding.

Out of interest why did you go with the shipping containers as your starting point? Would you do the same again?

I have followed a few builds that have started with shipping containers, and initially it looks to be a good idea, but they seem to quickly start becoming a hindrance and result in a compromised outcome. Looking at your photos, by concealing them you have basically created a home around the containers.

Not trying to be a negative Nancy, but interested in your feelings after going through the process and if you would do it the same if you knew then what you know now.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

Looking good. It has some early Richard Meier vibes going on with the expressed joint cladding.

Out of interest why did you go with the shipping containers as your starting point? Would you do the same again?

I have followed a few builds that have started with shipping containers, and initially it looks to be a good idea, but they seem to quickly start becoming a hindrance and result in a compromised outcome. Looking at your photos, by concealing them you have basically created a home around the containers.

Not trying to be a negative Nancy, but interested in your feelings after going through the process and if you would do it the same if you knew then what you know now.

Yes Meier likes his grids! I was actually inspired by Mies van der Rohe the Barcelona Pavilion and especially Farnsworth House.

I chose shipping containers as I'd never built anything before and doubted by construction abilities. I thought with containers I'd basically just have to clad them. Which is pretty much what I've done. And initially I was going to leave them exposed inside and put all the insulation and cladding on the outside. But I grew tired of looking at the metal as the years rolled by and I decided to line the inside as well. This also meant I could increase the insulation.

Would I do it again with containers. No. For several reasons - firstly when I bought them they were really cheap (40' High Cube $2,500 per container including delivery) and this build is a super budget build. Secondly, having now had a lot of building experience I would create a similar space with steel beams and curtain walls. Thirdly, and let me make this quite clear - THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER TIME!!

But it's been a grand adventure and I don't regret any of it. All my life I've set myself big challenges - soon I will have to start thinking of the next big one!

Last 4 days at the house (2 were in the classroom!) since my last post and I managed to get the kitchen ceiling up. The battens certainly made it easier to put the insulation in.
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I had some fiddly gyprock cutting around the 3 bar down lights that will be above the kitchen island.
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I also lined one of the two large loungeroom cupboards and finally put the bathroom cavity door latch in - a small job I've been meaning to do for ages.
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Main bedroom ceiling now sheeted. I'm running low on insulation for the lounge/dining ceiling so have ordered more along with other odds and ends (doors for the hall cupboard, door reveals for the barn door, more 2x4;s,and I think I'lll need more shadowline bead)
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And made a start on battening the lounge/dining ceiling (the last to do) - it is fiddlier than the others as the container roofs on 2 of them are a little battered and uneven so I need the battens to adjust the height differences to make the ceilings all level with each other. The laser level has been getting a good workout.

Went for a boundary walk the other day - I don't often get to see the house from these directions:

View from the North boundary fence:
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View from the West boundary fence:
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View from the South boundary fence:
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View from the East boundary fence:
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You should consider planting a few (hundred) trees. Perhaps from seed. Perhaps you could find out what's indigenous or what the wildlife likes to eat and plant them.

Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

You should consider planting a few (hundred) trees. Perhaps from seed. Perhaps you could find out what's indigenous or what the wildlife likes to eat and plant them.

I've already planted I think around 180 natives (I'm not having any non-natives on my property except food plants), and have mainly been planting flowering gums, large and small grevillea, banksia, callistemons, and have been researching endemic natives.

I still have plans to plant a lot more - lost a lot during the 3 years drought followed by the big wet these past 5 years (soil became so boggy that with the high winds we get here lots of trees came down in this area as the tree roots couldn't cope)

And I don't want too many trees near the house - the Morton National Park bushfire in Jan 2020 came within a few kms of my place so I intend keeping a decent fire break between me and the trees!

Also time and money mean I can't plant as extensively yet as I would like.

I'm still waiting for the order mentioned in the previous post - over 3 weeks now so I have no batten clips or insulation to finish the lounge room ceiling.

Bu there is still plenty to go on with.

This photo shows the difference in levels of parts of the lounge ceiling. The top blue line shows the bottom edge of the ceiling joists (which follow the two edges of the containers). Because they are a little worse for wear, battens were necessary to level up the ceiling. The bottom blue line shows the batten where the actual ceiling level will be.

2 of the 3 containers had this lopsided roof - the other was fine.
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I had enough batten clips to do 2 of the three ceiling sections.
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I boxed in the steel support beam that runs across the kitchen/lounge division:
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Then I did the same for the two beams in the lounge:
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I added the corner beads today. It taught me a lesson NOT to shop at the hardware store without my glasses. I bought another supply of corner beads and couldn't work out why they looks so messy and wouldn't sit neatly along the edges.
I had inadvertently bought internal corner beads instead of external!

I have also gyprocked the wall behind the (main bedroom) barn door. Then cleaned out the hall cupboard which was full of shelving and housed all my tools and building supplies, so I could prepare it for lining and adding doors:
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I had a tiler come out to check out the bathroom to give me a quote. He picked up on the fact that the plumber had not centred the drainpipe in the centre of the wall so the strip drain would butt right up against the tiles on one side and leave a gap of about 10cms on the other. This would have driven me crazy!

So I set about repositioning the pipework. Fortunately there was ample 'give' in the pipe in the direction I needed to move it:
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Quick update - working away steadily as usual on lots of little things mainly taping/plastering, putting up some fibre cement panels on the ceilings outside, ceiling battens (yes my delivery finally arrived), door jambs and the waterproofer/tiler has been and completed the waterproofing.

The plan now is to complete the things I need to do in order to get the plumber back to attach all the fittings such as shower, sinks, toilet etc and the electrician to attach all the powerpoints, switches, lights etc so I can move in to finish off everything else.

There is still so much to do but once i can live there I will have longer working hours and save money on rent, electricity and petrol which means I can buy more materials.

Battening all done:
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Ceiling outside kitchen door:
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Main bed door surround:
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Villaboard for the bathroom floor:
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Waterproofing compound:
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In order for the plumber to return, the kitchen sink needs to be plumbed in - so the wall needs to be painted and the kitchen cabinets installed and the sink and cooktop holes cut into the countertop. This is my first attempt at top coat plastering - messy but a bit of sanding will make it right!!
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Mid winter browns:
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I’m curious about the series of clamps in the wet area. They appear to be holding something along one edge of the shower floor. So, what are they doing along one edge that doesn’t have to be done along the other edge?

Good question! They are clamping 2 pieces of aluminium forming the edge of the sloping floor into the shower. The glue between them wasn't completely dry when he wanted to waterproof. The clamps were removed the next day for the 2nd coat. Almost all will be buried in the screed, and all that will be seen after tiling will be a thin sliver on the shower side below the shower screen.

I've just caught up with all your progress since the move from 'RF.com'. Great progress and love the detail! You'll be a plastering expert with all those extra internal and external corners on the beams etc. 'Hamper corners' I was advised they are called. I elected to do mine myself after seeing the quote! - you are saving a bomb doing them yourself, as the hours just shoot up exponentially for that detail! (Not to mention everything else you've DIY'd, of course!)

Hey r3nov8or - good to see you on here.

A builder told me that shadowline edges are not more popular because of the extra time and money involved in putting them in. I have a lot of the former and not much of the latter!!

I'm getting some practice in on the wall of the kitchen that will be mostly hidden by cupboards, fridge, rangehood etc. So if it looks crap no one will see it I have just put on the top coat - what a beautiful silky plaster it is. And great to sand. I found an unusual sanding pad at the Big Green Shed which has a sheet of what looks like fibreglass mesh instead of glasspaper and it works amazingly well.

Once I get going a neighbour has said I can borrow their electric plasterboard sander they swear it makes the job so easy,

Bathroom is moving along.

Screed down:
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Floor tiles:
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Tile up close:
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I grouted them Tuesday:
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Today the wall tiles went up and I will grout them tomorrow:
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Outside ceiling painted:
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Kitchen wall sanded, and 2 undercoats and 2 top coats:
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Temporarily installed kitchen cabinets so I could cut out the sink hole and line it up with the floor waste ready for the plumber to connect, and tomorrow I will cut out the hole for the cook-top - I put the range hood up so I could line up the cook-top position (no it isn't blue!! That's the stainless steel protection)
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The window reveal still needs sanding and painting.

I set up a panel for the electrician to mount the main circuit board. I will build the cupboard around it later:
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And apart from this there has been copious amounts of plastering and sanding happening when I haven't been teaching!!

7am greeting this morning:
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The first time I saw large tiles I fell in love with them; particularly wall tiles. When I saw them close up I noticed the space between was narrower than standard. Loved that too.

I like your kitchen cabinet. I used to have a place that had a timber top like that. Really nice and I miss it. There seems to be a trend for stone tops (or fake stone). It’s just the thing to chip or break your jam jar if you strike it badly. Wood has such a great feel.

I also find it depressing the number of new houses that have their kitchen wall against a sold/blank wall. What happened to the window? Architects seem to be lacking foresight at times. Glad you have a window there. There’s nothing quite like looking outside when peeling spuds or the like.