Lulu’s Shipping Container Home
Kirsten Dirksen from faircompanies.com recently put up a new story about Lulu’s shipping container home. She did an excellent job of video taping Lulu’s story and sharing her home.
This story means more to me because I met Lulu early on when she and Jenine Alexander were building her shipping container home at it original location. It was fun to meet her and her daughter and she and Jenine had fun showing off their work. Jenine Alexander has also been featured on faircompanies.com with her tiny house build.
Lulu is a single mom who’d gone back to school and didn’t have the time or interest in working full-time to pay for rent. So when she had to move out of her more conventional home, she decided to move herself and her daughter into a shipping container.
“I think I’m a little claustrophobic, so the storage container was a little daunting, but I got the container for free.”
With no building experience, Lulu spent just one month cutting windows and a door and installing insulation and a basic kitchen (complete with propane-powered camp stove and on-demand water heater). Then she and her daughter moved into the 8 X 20 sq ft home, fitting a bed, couch, bookshelf, and kitchen cabinets into the 160 sq ft box.
Read her complete story at the faircompanies website.
I have attached a photo gallery of part of the container build below the the movie.
Shipping Container As An Underground Shelter
Disclaimer: You should consult an engineer before building something this complex and especially before building underground.
This video demonstrates the building of an underground shelter, but could also be used as an underground home or office depending how you completed the interior of the shipping container. Here is the description that goes along with this video:
Final attempt to record building of an underground shelter using a 20 ft. shipping container. For those wondering why I didn’t simply pile dirt over it without pouring a concrete cap first….. These containers are mostly sheet metal. Heavy duty as it is, the roof and sides will push inwards from the weight. Eventually the metal will rust through and you’ll be buried alive. My way will insure it is still there a few hundred years from now. Problem is, you’d better keep an eye on your sump pump. If it goes bad or loses power, you’ll go in one day and find it the whole thing flooded. A surface alarm letting you know the water level is above where it should be isn’t a bad idea. Putting the sump pump on a UPS is also a good thing.
Backyard Shipping Container Retreat
Dave contacted me Friday about this article and I fully intended to publish it Friday afternoon but life got in the way and so I’m finally getting it out today.
Oregon Live published this neat article about Mike Corvi who lives in Southwest Portland, Oregon. Mike bought a slightly used empty cargo shell for $2,900 and than with the help of a of skilled builder, and a couple of friends and lots of hard work and in about 6 weeks time, constructed this office retreat in his back yard.
His total cost was about $8,000. He enjoyed building it so much that he is taking the next step and going to create a business where he constructs and sells these and plans on making some with a small kitchen and bathroom also. Continue Reading »
