Cargo with Color

This week we spent some time working on our color scheme for the interior and exterior of the container. Below are the final colors for the project, which are pretty high on the scale of awesomeness. We will be sealing the plywood this weekend and working on finalizing the interior details. We will be using a no VOC paint on the interior to minimize the potentially harmful fumes resulting from off-gassing. We are also planning on using a ceramic additive manufactured by Insuladd on the exterior. This will reduce the heat gain on the steel exterior by as much as 40% and in turn lower the energy costs for cooling and heating the unit. These small decisions add up and help to make our project more sustainable. The finished product is around the corner...






A new rendering with the proposed color scheme. Just
threw this together a short while ago.

Plywood Anyone?

Another late night at the container produced 3/4 of our wooden box. The drywall is in, the wood sheathing is in, now we just need to do some caulking, priming, painting, sealing, and numerous other items and we are...OK, so there is still a bit to accomplish, but we'll get there. The plywood is a nice touch and should help to soften the space. Once we get a color palette picked out we are in good shape. The next post will include some shots of our sliding perforated door.

Sheetrock Rocks!

Last week was a rewarding yet taxing week on the container project. We finally started some of the interior sheathing, namely drywall and finished up our last electrical inspection. We spent many a late night at the container but the results are great. The project is moving at light speed these days. We have many other great pictures and further progress to post, so check back soon.

Wes, beat down after a night of sheetrock-ing out.

Greg fastening the drywall at approx.

1:30 am. The neighbors love us!

The container at night can be a bit sketchy. The other night at 1 am a woman came by and startled us. Wes thought she was a witch, but it turns out she just wanted a jump for her car.

Insulation Day

Today we had the spray insulation installed. Gale Insulation of Tucson installed Demilec foam insulation to the walls and roof cavity of the container. This type of insulation has the equivalent of an R-19 in a 3” cavity, being the perfect choice for our project. The installers taped off the doors and windows and opening and went to it.
After the foam set up, in about a minute, they shaved off the excess with large blades.

The ceiling looks like it’s been frosted like a cake.
Now the inside will be nice and comfortable to live and work in.

CargoModern creating some Buzz!

So, it looks like our project is generating some interest. A nice article was posted on Container Life: Thinking outside the box, Living in it.

We will be looking for other news about the project and what we are doing. We are very glad that interest in these types of projects are being seen and becoming more acceptable.

Container Life: Thinking outside the box, Living in it

Check out the post here.

This week's Progress: HOT!!

This week's progress was one word………HOT! The temps were up and the humidity was high. It was a scorcher.

We made progress with the landscape by the use of a small backhoe. Tom and his father came out and made short work of the electrical trench that needed to be dug from the house to the container. Then, with Greg pointing out the locations, boulders were placed on the site and arranged per the landscape design. There will be a nice gathering area where people can come together around a backyard fire pit and sit on the large boulders acting as seating. Tree holes were dug as well.

We framed out and hung the bike storage window. A little window cleaner and it will be pretty sharp.

We added some sheathing to the interior wall to separate the bike storage room from the studio. The finish in the bike room will be the exposed OSB. Tom got in on the action with the nail gun.

One last note this week, Greg and his wife welcomed a new addition to their family. A new baby boy. Congratulations to you both.

It's Electric!!

This week and last week the rough electrical has been worked on. Greg ran wire and placed the boxes last week and this week we built the light boxes for our ceiling lights and finished the rough electrical work. Tom, the owner, ordered an awesome exterior light that we drilled holes for the mounting location. The light reflects the industrial feel of the container and will look great out by the front porch. We are getting the main circuit box to mount on the container and the trench will be dug this week to connect the container electrical to the main house panel. After inspections and the hook up we will have power!! Then it’s on to insulation.

The project is moving forward nicely. We have been designing the interior look with materials and colors that we think will reflect the overall design intent.

Here is Greg pulling wire to a receptical box.

This is one of three light boxes we framed out.

Wes drilling holes for our exterior light at the door and porch. Again, the style and look of those lights are a favorite of ours.

This is Tom, the owner, giving us instruction on how he is planning on using the space. "The pool table will go right about here" he exclaims.