"Those hangar doors work better for what the Pirkls wanted to do. And they're also much less expensive than residential doors. It's hard to get a door that's 20 feet wide and 18 feet tall. That door's normally going to cost $35,000. We're doing two of them here, for a quarter of the price."
The main stairway to the second floor will be enclosed in a translucent box of lightweight acrylic panels, usually found in greenhouses. Precisely finished, formaldehyde-free plywood will be used to form internal walls and partitions, and to lend some warmth to counteract the industrial look of the containers' walls. Prefabricated concrete-board sheets will sheath the climbing wall, saving labor and maintenance costs.
THE Pirkls had hoped to be living in their new house by now, but delays in obtaining permits and in construction have pushed their move-in date to mid-August.
With their previous house already sold, the Pirkls need a place to store their furniture and belongings. The solution is simple --and one fully in keeping with the philosophy of reusing industrial castoffs to create innovative, entertaining forms.
One more used, 40-foot container has been delivered to the backyard to shelter their possessions until the house is done. They will then dig a hole in the yard, cut the top off the container, drop the container into the hole, and fill it with water. \o7Voil\f7a: an instant lap pool.
Sven and Anna's housewarming party is likely to be a memorable affair. Guests will be advised to dress casually. To wear their bathing suits. And to bring their climbing shoes.
Dexter Ford can be reached at home@latimes.com
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Smoothing out the box
Using recycled shipping containers may be a less expensive and environmentally responsible way to build a house but it requires plenty of research and expertise. Here are some things to consider.
The basics: You can buy a container measuring 40 feet long, 8 feet wide and 9 1/2 feet tall and have it delivered to a building site for as little as $2,000 (www.containeroutlet.com). The walls and roof are made of corrugated steel; the floors are thick marine plywood over steel (the wood often is mahogany or other exotic hardwood, depending on where the container is built).
The construction: Though containers are strong and essentially weatherproof, they are more complicated to use for housing than traditional frame structures. Local building-and-safety departments generally are not familiar with container building and may ask for results of engineering tests before approving. For more information on container-based design in California, go to www.demariadesign.com.
The aesthetic challenge: Though the interior and exterior walls can be covered with conventional materials -- wood, concrete board or stucco on the outside, drywall or paneling on the inside -- extra materials and labor inevitably erode the savings in using containers. At www.fabprefab.com, there's an entire section, called containerbay, devoted to container-based architecture.
-- Dexter Ford
