Containerhouse Vandalized

I arrived Sunday morning to unfortunately find that my containerhouse had been broken into and vandalized. 15 bullet holes were on the south side of the container and items had been stolen including some important papers. I contacted the sheriff's office immediately. They came out shortly, inspected the premises and said I may pick up a report tomorrow (Monday). I went to the the sheriff's office this morning and a lot of important information was missing, such as some stolen items. None of the evidence found at the site was included in the report. When I pointed this out, I felt like I was being dismissed. The deputy finally agreed to add an addemdum to the report. I'm still in shock, and the response that I am getting from the sheriff's office is very discouraging. I will contact the appropriate finacial institutions to make sure no one is using my identity to defaud me. I was afraid and did not stay in the container last night. Not sure what to do next..need to pause in order to make some rational decisions.

Spring Weather

Finally getting warm weather after two months of weather well below normal. Had snow accumulation two weeks ago. First time I had seen snow here. Temperatures all this week in mid 60's to 70 degrees. Woopee!! Had not been able to install insulation because the glue required warmer temperatures. No excuse for being lazy now. Took some pictures that I am posting.

Insulation Arrives Today

I ordered Foil/Foam/Foil type insulation for the container last week. The huge roll of insulation arrived today. I went to Home Depot yesterday and bought the wood furing strips which will be glued to the container walls and ceiling. The insulation will be stapled to the furing strips. Don't know if the storm will let me get to this task before the next cold spell or not.

Window Installed

Phil installed a window next to the door of the container. It is 5' tall, 26" wide. We are expecting a rainstorm/snowstorm tonight or tomorrow and wanted to get the door installed before cold weather sets in again. The frame of the window was completed in Phil's workshop at home last night and brought to my property for installation. Work was done using the truck headlights since I don't have electricity for lighting. The window looks great. Now the entire front of the container resembles a regular house. I now need to paint the window side of the front. I will send pictures later.

Winter Arrives

Returned from Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. It is unusually cold here. Thursday temperature high only 53 degrees F. The night temperature went down to 17 degees F with a wind chill of only 5 degrees F. My container still is not insulated. I did NOT stay in the container thursday night - stayed in a motel room for the night. Today it is a little warmer but still well below average. Used the portable heater for first time last night. Set it on floor and then on table. The heat escaped as soon as it was produced. I then set the heater in the ceramic pot that I had intented to used as a fidge - fridge was not needed last night. That setup worked a lot better and got the container warmer. I bought a 0 degree sleeping bag yesterday and did not feel the cold until I had to get up to go to the toilet -- BRRRRRRR! When the sun came up the container warmed up quickly, but a lot of condensation formed on the ceiling. Need to figure out an inexpensive insulation system to prevent the condensation.

Water for the Containerhouse

Tested the drainage pipes for leaks with a small amount of water (so far so good). I glued the drainage pipes, calked the drainage hole, and covered the hole dug in the ground for the outside portion of drainage pipe and homemade greywater tank (made out of a 5 gallon bucket).

I finally cleared a path on the lot for the car to park beside the container. Up to this time the car was parked on the side of the road. Now that the vegetation is dormant, clearing was a lot easier than if I had attempted the clearing when I first arrived in September. I had to fill the ditch along the road in front of the lot with rocks so the car would not get stuck in it. I picked the rocks (one by one) from the property instead of ordering a truckload of gravel.

Filled the water tank yesterday for the first time. Now I don't have an excuse for not showering and cooking in the container. Up to now I had been showering and hand washing laundry at the State Park, and eating out a lot.

Got a couple of propane bottles for (1) the portable space heater and (2) the steel camp water heater. The night are getting quite cool now. Frost was on the car windows a couple of nights last week.

Now prepared to begin the containerhouse lifestyle as envisioned - as soon as I go grocery shopping!

Drainage Plumming

I did not know how to drill a hole in the heavy steel wall. I have a 12v battery powered drill that I bought last winter at the pawn shop for $15. I went to a tool sale and asked if my drill had enough power to drill thru heavy steel. They said I needed at least an 18v drill, preferably 24v. The cost of an 18v drill was over $100 plus I would have to buy the hole bit adding about $25 more. I did not want to spend that much money to drill one hole. Next I checked at a tool rental shop. Their only battery drill for rent was a 14.4v at $15 per day and I still had to buy the hole bit. I was getting discouraged at this point.
I then called Phil (the man who put in the door for me last spring). He suggested that I get a regular 3/8" or 1/2" bit for my drill, trace the outline of the pipe where I wanted the hole, and drill small holes along the traced circle. Then I could snip out the hole. It took 17 small holes, five battery charges, and five days to complete the circle. I got the drill recharged each time by a friend in town. What a great feeling to finally knock the hole out. However the hole was very ragged and the pipe would not fit thru. Aghhh!
I called (bothered) Phil again. He suggested that I get a round file and file the metal. The file worked great. The pipe went thru the hole. Now I went to work laying out the piping inside and outside. Its been a long day and week. Tomorrow I will do a test and pour water thru the piping and if everything is ok (no leakage), glue and calk. Wish me luck.

Bedstand Built

I completed the building of the bedstand. It looks like a bunkbed with the legs cut off the bottom bunk. I'm using the bottom part for lots of storage. Now I can store the 18 gallon Tote containers like drawers instead of stacking them. Much more convenient.

Still need to get the hole drilled in the container wall for the drain pipe. The man that installed the door used a hand drill to drill screw holes through the metal wall. I'm still thinking of buying a hole bit to drill the 2 inch hole myself. Hesitating because I'm not sure it will work.

I bought material for the custom curtain dividing the bath area from rest of container. Will start sewing soon.

Traffic - Window vs Skylight

I thought that I was "out in the country". However there seems to be more traffic on this road than I thought there would be. As I was returning home one evening, I saw a curiosity seeker on an ATV stopped in front of my property looking at it from the road. He speed off when he saw my car turn onto the road. I am reconsidering whether to put a window on the south wall of the container for light and free solar heat. A window would attract even more curiosity. What do you think of a skylight instead?

Bed Stand

I finally bought a mattress to sleep on. I had up to this point been sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor. The mattress is laying on the floor now. I had such a good time building the shower platform and the curtain pole for the container, that I decided to build a bed stand. I've got the measurements for the wood needed. I will have the lumber yard cut the wood to my specifications, so all I have to do is screw it together. I plan to pick up the material and get started this week.

Container Plumbing and Pole

I have been working on the drainage system for the container. I have been to the plumber store at least a half dozen times buying and returning parts needed. This is a learning process for me. Hopefully I'm closer to getting it right. I've got the PVC pipes cut and laid out (but not glued). I still have to get someone to cut a pipehole in the steel container wall. You can only buy PVC pipe in 10' lengths. The shower stall required 2" pipes, but the sink required 1+1/2 pipes. Since I'm joining the sink pipe indoors, I only needed 2 feet of sink pipe. I had to buy 10 feet.

What to do with the other 8 feet? Viola! Since I needed 8 feet of pole for the curtain between the shower/toilet area, why not use the extra 8 feet as a curtain pole? Perfect solution. It makes a very fat pole for which you can not buy curtain holders. So I had to make a pair of pole holders from wood left over from the shower platform that I built.

Police Visit

Last week I got some visitors. I was working inside the container at the time when I heard a car drive up and honk. They were two State police officers. They wanted to know if I lived there. They said that they had been by many times before but no one was there. I told them "I am camping here,-is that ok?" and showed them my ID. They said "sure" and left. I am not too sure of what to make of this, but at least I am reassured that someone has been "watching" the place, and especially that I am "not afowl" of the law.

Lots of Rain in the Desert

We've been having lots of rain here in the desert since I have returned. One evening we even had a halestorm. I've been told that this summer had been a lot wetter than normal. No wonder everything is so green. The rain has been good for the vegetation, but not so good for the dirt roads. Lots of ruts and washboard areas.

Shoestring Thief

Last week I made a bit of progess with making the container homelike. I painted the floor, set up the storage system (including the steel shelves, totes, and garment rack). I added an inch and a half to the platform for the shower stall. Also set up the homemade pot-in-pot fridge and homemade toilet. Finally unpacked the car of its contents and arranged them in the storage space. I was opposed to carpeting initially, but after walking on the cold floor in my stocking feet, I compromised and bought two small indoor/outdoor rugs (4'x6' which I cut to make a 2'x12' runner in the center of the container, and a 2'x3' in the shower/toilet area).

I'm having problems with the table I bought last spring. One to the legs has caked paint in the screw thread holes. I could sent the leg back to the manufacturer and WAIT 4-6 weeks for a new part. First I will take it to a mechanic and see if they can clear the threads as suggested by an auto parts store.

I still have not gotten an bed. I have been sleeping on the floor in my sleeping bag. It is not as uncomfortable as it may sound. Under the sleeping bag and thick comforter, I was quite confortable even though the thermometer read 40 degrees F in the container at 6:30 am this morning. It warms up quickly once the sun comes up. By 8:30 am, it was 60 degrees in the container. As you may guess, the container is still uninsulated.

The tasks scheduled for this week is to begin work on setting up the sink, shower stall and drainage pipes.

There has been a bit of mystery happening this week. After I painted the floor, I take my shoes off and leave them outdoors before entering the container. The first night I left my shoes outdoors and discovered a shoestring completely gone on one shoes and part to the string on the other shoes chewed off. I wondered what happened. I put an old replacement shoesting in the shoe. The next night I decided to leave my shoes outdoors again to see what would happen. This time the replacement shoestring is almost completely gone, and the other shoestring chewed on more such that it could not be tied. I had to replace the shoestring in both shoes this time. The mystery continues. I have not figured this one out yet. I don't know if I will leave my shoes outdoors overnight again. I am running out of shoestrings.

Door, Floor, Water Tank, etc

After a week, I have accomplished a few things even though it seems like a snails pace to me.

The door that I finally got installed last spring still needed to be weatherproofed. I got a can of spray foam to fill in the gaps. My inexperience with this material was evident. As I sprayed the foam, it had a mind of its own. It would not stay in the gap like it was supposed to. Curles of foam was flying in the wind every which way. I tried to catch some of it. The result in the end was a gap that looked like a dog fight had taken place in it.

The floor of the container is not finished hardwood. It is nailed plywood with exposed recessed scews. The scew holes were collecting dust like crazy. I filled the screw holes with wood filler. I needed to decide what to do with the floor. Should I cover with carpet - no it would collect even more dust. What about topping with hardwood flooring - too expensive. Or kitchen tile - no still expensive and too much work. Considering the mess I made of the spray foam, I am not willing to take on any task involving skill. A $5 spray can is a lot different from hundreds of dollars invested in do-it-yourself flooring. I finally decided to just get a can of combination floor primer/sealer/paint. That will be a task I take on this week. The paint required 3 days to completely dry. I will need to do the job in two sections since I have stuff in the container to be moved around. Stay tuned.

I finally removed the shipping wrap from the water tank and modified a tarp to cover the tank. It looks like it was made for the tank! I felt good about that. The water tank still has not been used. It needs a spigot to fit the bulk head fitting. I searched for the item at Walmart, Kmart, and all the plumbing stores in town with no success. The last place I visited today was an RV store thay may have it but the lady manning the store was not familiar with the item. I will return there after she "talks to her husband" who was not there today. In the meantime I have been going to the State Park for showers.

I will also need to spread some gravel from the road to the container. I don't want to take a chance on sinking into the soft ground with a full water tank. I will pick up PVC piping once I have completed the flooring. So much to still do.

Back From Colorado

I left Colorado around 9:30 am Sunday morning with my utility trailer and empty water tank in tow. The tow was harding noticeable. I stoped every 100 miles or so to make sure everything was ok. Good thing, I might have had big problem if I had not stopped to just to check. I made it to Santa Fe about 8 pm Sunday night. I stayed at the Santa Fe International Hostel. The $15 rate provided a dormatory room, a community kitchen and free food in the refrigerator if I wanted it. No eating was allowed in the rooms. They required that I pick from a list of chores to do before I left. I initially planned to get a real early start, but found out the Hostel office did not open until 7 am...after which I had to do my chore, eat something, shower after cleaning, and turn in my room key. I finally left Santa Fe about 9:30 am.

I arrived in Deming about 4:00 pm Monday afternoon. I was surprised to see how green everything was. Last year at this time everything was brown. I was anxious to find out if my containerhouse was ok. As I turned the corner of my road I could see the white top of the container (RELIEF). The ground which was bear when I left is now full to plants. I unpacked the car, took some pictures, rested a bit and headed to town to give you my report. Unfortunately all the computers were occupied when I arrived and the library was soon to close.

I spent the night in the container and was awakened by a truck driving west down my road. I was preparing to leave when the vehicle came back heading east. The man in the waved. When I returned the wave, he stopped and got out the truck. He was friendly and started a conversation. I found out that he was a retired neighboring property owner, but was staying in one of RV parks at present.

I went to Walmart to pick up supplies, then came to the library to give you this report and some pictures I took yesterday.

Old Posts

I lost the old posts on March 6 when I found my Blog's link on the (create new post screen) gone. I created a new link to update my blog. Big mistake. I have been able find some of the old lost posts on the Internet. I am currently trying to reconstruct the old links. Have not been able to get help from Google.

While Working on the Door

While working on getting the door problems solved, I managed to complete several other tasks.
(1) designed and bought items needed for a simple storage system, that uses off the shelf items and does not involved building closets or adding doors,
(2) built a homemade sawdust toilet,
(3) ordered and received the plumbing appliances (sink and freestanding shower stall),
(4) built homemade platform for shower stall so that plumbing pipes can be installed inside the container,
(5) went to Mexico and bought a HUGE ceramic pot for use as the pot-in-pot homemade "fridge",
(6) began digging for rain drainage system around container, and
(7) located spots for greywater mulch basin, and compost bins.

The Entry Door

Finally completed installation of entry door. Since the shipping container only has two huge trucklike doors that locks only from the outside, it was necessary to add an entry door that has the capability to lock from the inside for security. This could be done by either cutting a door on the side of the container, or adding a recessed door inside the container. I chose the recessed door option.
My idea was to add a sliding glass door that extended from wall-to-wall in front of the existing container doors, to provide lots of light and alleviate the boxed-in feeling of a small container. As soon as the container arrived, I began shopping for both new and used doors. A used door about this size could not be found. A standard door closest to the size I needed was 7'6" which I was told was too large for the opening in the container. To get a door of the exact size required a custom order which was ruled out - much too expensive. I then began shopping for a 6' door. I found a new cheap one a Home Depot for $350, which when delivery($125), installation($350), building framing for door($300) amounted to over $1100. I decided that was too much for a cheap door.
My desire was still for a sliding door even though they are less energy efficient, and are more prone to problems. However, I began considering swinging doors which are much more energy efficient, and have better locks for security, even though a swinging door takes up more space if it swings "in". My requirements for the door were: (1) glass for light, (2) screen for ventilation, (3) interior lock for security. I looked at commercial doors (no screens!), modular home or RV doors (very flimsy!), and regular storm doors (only swings out, which I anticipate could interfere with the exterior container doors).
I finally found a swinging door that fit my requirements. It is a prehung stong metal swinging door with combo built-in window and screen, at Lowes in Las Cruces. Unlike the sliding door, it was small enough to fit on the cargo rack of my car (no delivery fee!).
It was more difficult than what I anticipated, but I finally found someone local to install the door.
It looks great!