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So many love this U-shaped modular home. It started out as a modular wood home 10’ wide as you can see here, but now it has morphed into a U-shaped light guage steel frame or shipping container home. The steel frame option is less expensive than using shipping containers, can be financed much more easily, and does not rust as easily as shipping containers can. With this option, you can make each module any width you desire, or design a totally different home style. The shipping container option is made of 3- double wide sections comprised of a total of 6- 40’ hi-cube shipping containers. Each section is made of two containers sandwiched together and cut out for a 16x40 space X 3 for a total of 1920 sq ft not including the massive central lanai. You can enclose the lanai, or put up a retractable awning. You can, of course, choose to make it from single-wide containers. The sq ft of that option is 960 sq ft plus the lanai. We enthusiastically recommend light guage steel frame with OSB siding or similar for the reasons clearly stated above, in this paragraph. We design-build anything you want. You must check out our latest home- The Lava Runner.
Some possible modular configurations
This diagram above shows some possible configurations using our modular structures made from light guage steel frame and osb siding, or shipping containers.
Details on our modular light gauge steel frame structures
If you can imagine a common wood frame home whose walls are framed with basically 2x4 wood studs, our steel frame homes use 2x4 steel studs instead of wood, and elsewhere in the steel frame, we use steel frame members that are engineered to be the same strength as their wood counterparts. Why steel? Well, the main reason is termites don’t eat steel, at least not yet! Secondly, the steel framed walls are much lighter, so we can build sections at a common facility, and they are more easily lifted and loaded onto a truck or trailer and trucked to the home site. From there, we assemble the floor and walls very quickly, leaving little or no materials on the job site that could easily be stolen. Thirdly, assembly is faster, with much less mess and noise at the assembly facility or on the job site. Think about it!
There are, of course some significant disadvantages to steel frame homes, rust being the main one. We do not recommend using steel where there is significant salt spray. Read about the pros and cons of the major building systems here on this website.
OSB siding- is a wood-based siding made from different sizes of wood, which is vastly superior to masonite, which is all the same small size particles. The OSB wood pieces are baked under pressure with the strongest wood glues on the planet to make 4x8, 4x9 or 4x10 panels (smart panels), or horizontal siding, which comes in different widths. The 4x smart panels that we prefer are the cedar textured lap edge panels. Termites do not like OSB, the product can withstand rain and humidity really well, and is affordable. T1-11 siding is also an option, and is soaked thru to the center with non-toxic borite termite treatment, but we don’t like the appearance of those deep grooves every 6 inches. They make a rough sawn siding panel, which is much prettier than the deep groove option,
and we much prefer that with vertical battens. Both siding materials arewidely used by many contractors. We can side your home or structure with any siding you want.
Roof options- you can choose any roof option you want, here is what we recommend:
For water catchment folks- Steel roofing with factory applied ceramic paint which helps significantly to reflect heat. You can apply this coating to reflect much more heat, but you lose your 20 yr warranty by doing so. Another option is to sheet in your roof with plywood and cover with this coating using a special polyester fabric. This option will not give you that cozy plantation look like the steel roof will.
We prefer to ventilate the attic air space really well with solar powered fans, and also like to ventilate the interior living space with ventilating skylights or simply vents to let hot air rise straight up out of your interior living space. We also recommend windows that give you close to 100% ventilation. Those sliding vinyl windows are a little bit cheaper, and are quicker to install, but we greatly prefer glass jalousey windows, which are every bit as secure if you epoxy glue the glass into the frames, and snap shut those windows when leaving your home. Snap shutting jalousey windows is almost as fast as sliding a vinyl slider, and the jalousey window is so much nicer to look through.
Many folks say they look “ghetto” and that they attract thieves; the final decision is always yours. Allow us to meet with you, free of charge and free of any pressure whatsoever, and we can go thru all the details and answer all of your questions. 953-2005.
Details on our shipping container structures
Our shipping container homes can be partially built at our Oahu facility and shipped/trucked in, or built entirely on site. Our homes are built to last 70 years or more. No particle board is used anywhere. Hi-tech elastomeric waterproof coating with ceramic-titanium crystals is recommended on roof and entire exterior to reflect heat for a much cooler interior temperature, and for superior protection from water and moisture damage. Insulation within the walls is also recommended. We use steel studs welded inside the containers to provide a solid place to secure drywall or other wall materials to. These steel studs are only 1 3/8” deep so they don’t take up much interior space like conventional 2x4 studs do.
We prefer to not use siding on the exterior, it is expensive and the homes look nice when the windows, doors and roof is in place.
You can put down any flooring system available. Ceramic tile is by far the best value because it can be laid down with thin set and no prior leveling is necessary. Wood floors would require a vapor barrier applied, leveling and finally the wood flooring.Roof options include metal roofing, with or without heat reducing coating, or membrane roofing that can be fixed onto just a framework attached to the metal container roof. Most designs will incorporate custom brackets to hold photovoltaic panels (PV panels), satellite dishes, solar hot water systems, etc. The PV systems are optional and custom designed for your needs. Ventilating skylights are highly recommended, and loved by the County.
There will be options in the kitchen, but particle board cabinets should not be an option. Some value rich counter top options include laminate on plywood, trimmed with hard wood and featuring granite or marble on the back splash pieces. Higher cost options are of course also available, but our aim is affordable, with intelligent design and lots of value.
We will offer septic system options such as flushing composting toilets with a gray water processing system, and also traditional septic systems using low volume toilets. Water catchment systems will also be an option, with the homes being designed to catch water.
Click here to read about our exciting, low cost homes made from recycled shipping containers. You cannot tell they are made from shipping containers. You must see what Bob Vila did in Florida building incredible homes with shipping containers for those Katrina ravaged Floridians. Go to chapter 4 if you don’t have the time to take in the entire video. We recommend viewing the entire video if you can. Keep in mind that the way they did this in Florida would be cost-prohibitive in Hawaii. It is certainly worth viewing, especially the segments on hurricane proofing. Check back periodically.
Email us or call us at 808-953-2005 for more information.