3 ms·

If you are not concerned with the difficulty of running plumbing/electric, you still have thermal bridging through steel at 400 times the conductivity of wood.

If you are not concerned with the difficulty of running plumbing/electric, you still have thermal bridging through steel at 400 times the conductivity of wood. The people who use steel framing often thermally isolate thin strips of metal, not the entire wall. The insulation job the guy says he hasn't done yet, he's going to find out he'll need to insert a cavity air gap. If he chooses to stick it with a gap as external sheathing to save space he'll still need to contend with condensation on this very conductive surface. If he goes for passive house level air tightness and internal smart vapour barrier he could be fine but somehow I think he's just winging it which means water vapour will condense inside his house and not be able to dry out. Hello mildew and everything he owns will rot. You can build with shipping containers, but you've got to really know what you're doing. tldr; A guy spent 50k+ to put his house inside a heatsink. This looks environmentally friendly but with the probable dehumidifier requirements it is probably much worse than regular building.

TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
Indeed! I kinda meant "just slap them together and to hell with the consequences", probably should have written that. I recently bought a house, built in 1964 needs some maintenance but generally okay. Has a heat pump. The idea of buying land a little way out of town and constructing my own dwelling using reclaimed materials crossed my mind a lot. Fortunately I work in the structural steel fabrication industry, so I've got enough building experience to be dangerous, but the wisdom to know better. We're at 41 degrees south, old mate in the article I linked is a bit closer to the bottom of the mountains, so probably cops a bit more of the cold air drifting down the snow caps. When it's been -4 degrees every morning for a week in the middle of winter going to work with cold steel is finger-snapping. I wonder how they make it through the winters. Probably crawl up inside their refrigerator where it's warmer.
- internaut 10y ago
  > Indeed! I kinda meant "just slap them together and to hell with the consequences" I think he proceeded with that plan, I looked up some other photos of that build. He nailed some tarp with the containers into a kind of gable roof. I try to be as positive and constructive as possible with people's projects but sometimes it is very clear there exists a species of person who never had the thought "huh, maybe I should google that" or "this must have been done before, I wonder what best practice is". I suppose there's something to be said for being fearless. > The idea of buying land a little way out of town and constructing my own dwelling using reclaimed materials crossed my mind a lot. I've said before that you can theoretically reclaim an entire house if you have enough time and employ your own labour. That is commendable, especially if you're stuck with few opportunities to work for money, but it is not the easiest path. You'll need a place to store large items secure from thieves and rain/sun. > When it's been -4 degrees every morning for a week in the middle of winter going to work with cold steel is finger-snapping. I wonder how they make it through the winters. Probably crawl up inside their refrigerator where it's warmer. I've been soaked to the skin with water in winter so I know how that feels. They'll just spend a fortune on electricity. In their place I might have buried the containers to alleviate the temperature change. There is also a nice new/old technology called PCM - phase change material which would allow you to average out the temperature shifts from night to day by storing thermal energy like a battery. It releases heat from the walls when the temp drops and basically acts as artificial thin thermal mass. I think it's an Ozzie company too that does it.

TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago

Indeed! I kinda meant "just slap them together and to hell with the consequences", probably should have written that. I recently bought a house, built in 1964 needs some maintenance but generally okay. Has a heat pump. The idea of buying land a little way out of town and constructing my own dwelling using reclaimed materials crossed my mind a lot. Fortunately I work in the structural steel fabrication industry, so I've got enough building experience to be dangerous, but the wisdom to know better. We're at 41 degrees south, old mate in the article I linked is a bit closer to the bottom of the mountains, so probably cops a bit more of the cold air drifting down the snow caps. When it's been -4 degrees every morning for a week in the middle of winter going to work with cold steel is finger-snapping. I wonder how they make it through the winters. Probably crawl up inside their refrigerator where it's warmer.

internaut 10y ago
> Indeed! I kinda meant "just slap them together and to hell with the consequences" I think he proceeded with that plan, I looked up some other photos of that build. He nailed some tarp with the containers into a kind of gable roof. I try to be as positive and constructive as possible with people's projects but sometimes it is very clear there exists a species of person who never had the thought "huh, maybe I should google that" or "this must have been done before, I wonder what best practice is". I suppose there's something to be said for being fearless. > The idea of buying land a little way out of town and constructing my own dwelling using reclaimed materials crossed my mind a lot. I've said before that you can theoretically reclaim an entire house if you have enough time and employ your own labour. That is commendable, especially if you're stuck with few opportunities to work for money, but it is not the easiest path. You'll need a place to store large items secure from thieves and rain/sun. > When it's been -4 degrees every morning for a week in the middle of winter going to work with cold steel is finger-snapping. I wonder how they make it through the winters. Probably crawl up inside their refrigerator where it's warmer. I've been soaked to the skin with water in winter so I know how that feels. They'll just spend a fortune on electricity. In their place I might have buried the containers to alleviate the temperature change. There is also a nice new/old technology called PCM - phase change material which would allow you to average out the temperature shifts from night to day by storing thermal energy like a battery. It releases heat from the walls when the temp drops and basically acts as artificial thin thermal mass. I think it's an Ozzie company too that does it.