You might remember that the Time Lord theme appeared in this blog previously, because of the weird clock system that twisted time during the development application process. Well it’s back again but this time in a good way. My little house reminds me of the Tardis in that it looks bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Not that I’m planning to go and paint it Police Box Blue, but you’ll see what I mean from the pictures below.
The core structure is all done, which includes the steel modifications and reinforcements, plus supply and installation of all the glazing. I went up to visit the containers all mocked-up into the shape of my house, and I’m totally chuffed with the light and spacious feel of it. The footprint on the ground is only 60m2 but it doesn’t feel that small due to two things: the decent amount of glass doors and windows; and also “The Void” – the 6m tall double-height ceiling section over the combined lounge/dining area. That design element has turned out to be a fine plan, it opens up the whole space. If you’re designing one of these container houses, I would highly recommend you include a Void if the budget allows. You lose some floor space but you also lose any potential for claustrophobia.
It’s been a long and winding road to get to this point, a road that felt about the same length as the Eyre Highway (the longest road in Australia) but right now it was mostly worth it. The start of the quoting process by the container modification company, Port Shipping Containers, was way back in April 2016 and unlike the mind-numbingly straight Eyre Highway it has not been a simple or a predictable journey. There have been quite a few speed humps and potholes along the way. In fact occasionally the potholes got so big they reminded me of the giant ones you get in some places in Africa, where you need to drive off the road to get around them, or occasionally someone parks a truck in them so that you can use the truck roof as bridge to drive over the hole.
I am very glad this fabrication stage is nearly done. The house is looking fabulous and I’d love to just be happy with it and move to the next build phase; the finish looks great to me and the engineer I hired to inspect the steelwork seemed impressed with it. But there are still a few final things to sort out before the containers are ready for transport, including one more correction for Port Containers to do (moving a window) – and the end of this road is getting bumpy again.
I think the container company has had enough now too, they have had to fill in all those giant potholes and they say this job has come in at close to cost for them due to a range of errors they’ve had to remedy plus some unexpected developments. To their credit until now they have fixed every mistake and stuck to their quoted price (as they should) despite increased labour and material costs on their side. The main cost to me has been a lot of time, and a bit of sanity. However, there is increasing reluctance in the air from them now – I hope they hang in there, we are so near to the finish.
On the up side it is exciting to see a building come to life from my paper design, and I’m really pleased that it looks big enough to live in. The dog sure looks content in it. In fact he settled in right in front of where the fireplace will be. I am looking forward to seeing this structure tucked away in the garden on my mountain block.
The next step is organising delivery logistics, which is not so simple as I need a very clever truck driver to get these three large containers into my driveway, plus some smaller than average trucks. Whoever built my street forgot to make it full width, it’s more like a laneway, so the opposite neighbour’s garden is alarmingly close. After the delivery hurdle it is onto the fun stuff like electricals, plumbing, insulation, plasterboard, scavenging some recycled cabinetry and putting in my hobbitsy faux copper vintage/contemporary shower recess (which I have not built yet). And some stairs. Things will get very interesting when it comes to the interior…watch this space. Oh, and the exterior – the western side of the building is one big 6m x 12m canvas just waiting for an interesting cladding pattern.
Well done. Grand Designs here you come. It looks great and will look fab once it is furnished, cladded and on your land. Many thanks for sharing your adventure with us all 🙂
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Thanks Robin! Too small to be grand I think, but perhaps cosy with style 🙂
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WOW nearly there Kellie, I hope the container company stick with you to the end they seem to have done a great job to date. xxxxxxx F&S&I
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Thanks Sylvia. Unfortunately they are not, they’re now trying to blame me and make me pay for their last round of mistakes, very stressful! Anyway, nearly there.. xox
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It’s looking so exciting Kellie…..well done and here’s looking forward to the next creative chapter xxx
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Following with avid interest. Looking forward to future news and how the interior will look. Such an amazing and brave thing to take on.
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Thanks Naomi!
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Kell – I wouldn’t have imagined that you’d have the same kind of building problems as one seems to do when building a ‘unique’ ordinary house!! But still, it’s really taking shape. I’m sure you’ve thought of having an outside ‘patio”? Well, not quite, but you know what I mean … It must be just lovely to have got so far – that it is well and truly nearly there!! Patti
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