Southern Tablelands Shipping Container Build

[turnstiles]

Thought I'd kick off this section with a new thread about my Owner Build saga which has been going on for years!

I am building a shipping container house in the Southern Tablelands in a small place called Bungonia (some may know of it through the Gorge and caves.)

I bought 25 acres 10 years ago and started building after getting council approval around mid 2015.

This is a 'Pay As You Go' build, meaning I need to earn the money in order to build. It has been a fine juggling act balancing working enough to buy materials, but not too much so that I have energy to do the actual build.

I have been doing everything I can by myself. Apart from electrical and plumbing, I paid to have the steel roof put on, the concrete pumped into the foundations I prepared, the dam dug, the water tank built, the drive gravelled, the solar panels installed (on the frame I made) and I needed help to lift the (208kg each) big windows at the front of the house. Everything else I've done by myself.

It's been a huge adventure as I'd previously never built anything more than an Ikea bookcase. But I finally feel like I am getting close to being able to move in and give up being a renter forever!!

Here is a quick recap of the journey so far in 10 pics for those who are new to this build:

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[Camelot]

Very impressive views from those windows and now it's clad you wouldn't guess there were shipping containers behind there, well done

[turnstiles]

Currently at the gyprocking stage.

Here's a few pics of different areas that I have sheeted. Haven't begun the arduous task of plastering yet - just a few trials in the bathroom and 2nd bed.

2nd bedroom:
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Bathroom:
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Kitchen with cabinets temp. placed to check spacing:
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Main bed west wall:
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Lounge/dining south wall:
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West end of lounge:
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Main bed - corner bead and shadowline bead placement:
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Currently waiting on ceiling batten clips - waited 3 weeks for them to arrive only to then find they had sent the wrong type So now another 2 - 3 week wait.
The 2nd bed and bathroom do not have battens, only the lounge/dining, kitchen, and main bed.

Also have been mucked about by the tiler. After accepting his quote and declining the others I pressed ahead and lined the bathroom walls ready for him to start. (I am not allowed to waterproof myself so to make it worth a tilers while, i asked for them to also do the screed and tile the floor and I would do the walls.)

Once ready, I contacted him and he has since ignored my calls. So now I am in a position of having to find another tiler - awkward as I already rejected two others. I don't feel comfortable re-approaching them.

[turnstiles]

Very impressive views from those windows and now it's clad you wouldn't guess there were shipping containers behind there, well done

Yes I am really fortunate with the views - and better still, the windows are north facing so theys not only encompass the view, they capture the winter sun for passive solar heating.

[jack620]

Impressive job. Well done.

[turnstiles]

Impressive job. Well done.

Thanks Jack!

[Bushmiller]

turnstiles

That is looking good. I am not really familiar with the climate in your area, but I can appreciate the value of those windows for the winter sun. Do you anticipate any further structure to prevent the summer sun heating the house as I see there are no eaves?

What is the exterior cladding: It looks a bit like a tilt up concrete wall but I doubt it is. It is striking. If I ever built another house, which is unlikely, I think I would go down the container path. I did dabble with a container for a studio a few years back.

Regards
Paul

[Mr Brush]

Awesome job, and a spectacular location too !

Is the cladding that Hardie Architectural fibre cement boards? We used their Hardiedeck planking system for outside deck on our rebuild after bushfires, very happy with it.

[ErrolFlynn]

Just wondering - I presume you had a crane to lift the containers onto the foundations. The containers don't look new. I imagine they might have received a few knocks during their life and may have bent a little. Did the containers wobble when placed? If so how did you fix that? Are you relying on their weight to keep them in place or have you fixed them in position somehow?

[turnstiles]

turnstiles
Do you anticipate any further structure to prevent the summer sun heating the house as I see there are no eaves?

What is the exterior cladding: It looks a bit like a tilt up concrete wall but I doubt it is.

Regards
Paul

Hi Paul - the exterior cladding on three sides is a fibre cement product called (Hardie) Easylap which has an expressed shiplap join.

It was tricky to manoeuvre them by myself as they are 3600 x 1200 and weigh 52kgs each. Not only did I have to get them from horizontal to vertical - I also had to lift them by hand up around 400mm off the ground and then screw to the external studs. Not a job for a windy day!
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The panels on the front are a similar material - 1200 x 1200:
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They also have a 10mm expressed joint.

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There is a small eave on the front which cuts out mid summer sun. Down here in the Southern Tablelands it is the cold that is the main concern not the heat. But the house has double insulation on every side including under and over the containers. All the windows and glass doors are double glazed. This is a schematic of the container walls:
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I haven't finished all of the internal insulation or draft excluding on the doors and today we hit a maximum of 12 deg and I was working all day in the house with shorts and a singlet!

[turnstiles]

Just wondering - I presume you had a crane to lift the containers onto the foundations. The containers don't look new. I imagine they might have received a few knocks during their life and may have bent a little. Did the containers wobble when placed? If so how did you fix that? Are you relying on their weight to keep them in place or have you fixed them in position somehow?

Hi ErrolFlynn - Yes - I hired a Franna crane to lift the containers = when it arrived I didn't think it was big enough for the job but it made light work of it!
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The concrete piers had metal plates set into them on which the containers were welded when in place:
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The containers were at the end of their life so there were a few dings in them but nothing severe.

[rwbuild]

Very impressive!!! You insulation is gold standard. Look forward to more WIP photos

[Bushmiller]

turnstiles

Thanks for the extra information. You have certainly done your homework and I had not appreciated how cold it is down that way. You did well to manhandle those Easylap sheets.

Regards
Paul

[turnstiles]

Awesome job, and a spectacular location too !

Is the cladding that Hardie Architectural fibre cement boards? We used their Hardiedeck planking system for outside deck on our rebuild after bushfires, very happy with it.

Thanks Basil! Yes Hardie Easylap. I'm really happy with it.

[turnstiles]

With the long weekend over I realised that I have now been working 7 days a week for 2 years straight except for 3 days off for Christmas (the one before last!) No wonder some mornings are hard to get out of bed!!


Here's a few update pix - most of the walls are now gyprocked and all the metal beading too.

Main bed window:
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Lounge-room windows:
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Here you can see the original reveal, reveal extension and the shadowline bead in place.
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battens up for the kitchen ceiling:
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I need to 'box in' the kitchen ceiling beam before I can start putting up the gyprock. This is still a WIP.
The large gap between the white timber form-work is because I have to somehow fit a 600mm wide 3 bar down-light in there.
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Here's a pic of my poor old workbench (Looking tidy for once!) and its surface - so battle scarred! (The hole is where, in a fit of anger, I attacked a staple gun with a hammer because it wouldn't staple!!) I found this table outside the neighbours on the grass verge 2 weeks after moving into my rental and just as I was about to start the build. Was meant to be.
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Lovely clear winters day today - early this morning:
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