Lego for grown-ups

OK, so it´s all Randy´s fault who´s been pestering me asking for info on building with containers in Uruguay. I once happened to mention that my brother has a set up with two 40 footers for caretakers home and storage, laid out parallel to each other and with a detached roof covering both of them and generating a covered patio in between, which prompted Randy´s enquiry, and brought the subject up, where it has remained in the back of my mind for a couple of months already.

Now that we have empty land in Barra de Portezuelo (near Punta Negra) and Las Grutas (Punta Ballena), little money, and worst of all, NO ONGOING BUILDING PROJECT, when talking to a shipper this week I remembered to ask about the containers for Randy, and I seem to have opened a can of worms. It just so happened that this shipper was somehow connected to Multicontainer, the Uruguayan company that sells and customizes containers for other non-shipping uses.

The results of the initial enquiry were that a dry, non customized 40-footer costs USD2,600 plus delivery which all the way to Punta del Este is about USD500. Of course, this needs some sort of foundation, connection to utilities (water, sewage, electric), plus all the adaptation work and materials. Because they said that the prices for their finished products depend on the configuration, I have obtained an estimate for a standard 40-footer turned into a 2 bedroom dwelling, with a basic kitchenette (no appliances, this is Uruguay) and bathroom with no water heater.

The design, materials and finishes are pretty horrible if you are design-conscious, and very correct if all you need is inexpensive shelter. With vinyl walls and ceilings, awful kitchen and bathroom fixtures, small ugly windows and doors, and the most insteresting I think, the original wooden floors of the container refinished (more on this later), the price quoted, tax included with delivery and placement on the spot with a crane comes out to about USD12k.

These are pictures from the other company making the containers, Frimaral, but they are indicative of the depressing design that seems to rule in Uruguay container homes... nothing like the www.fabprefab.com fare...

Up to yesterday I was wondering how much I´m able to blow this price to smithereens... I always fantasize about being able to be thrifty-cool, but it happens on few occasions, such as with our kitchen cabinetry, which is thrifty cool, mostly, except for the expensive granite countertop. But then Randy on the Southron forum mentioned this other company, Frimaral, and their website would suggest that a) they manufacture the actual containers, and b) they are able to do with them whatever you want, unlike the other company that told me that joining vertically stacked containers was a problem, and c) my guess is that based on their size and manufacturing capacity, their prices may be lower.

I was further encouraged by the pictures on the site showing openside containers, which come with those sexy looking industrial doors. I had been thinking "too bad, those doors are so cool but they´re located at the end of the container. But no, they can be installed on any side! That means great views potential and full safety/weather protection.


Amazing doors! Am in love....

So now the challenge is to come up with something thrifty cool to dump on the lot where the pool is, to contain a storage room (Barbi´s tool room!), a bathroom and a large room that can be extra guest quarters, or gym/spa area. No, I´m not building a yoga room.

A most important function will also be to serve as wind barrier for the pool lot, which is so windswept that I have referred to it as "the steppes." If we somehow create a barrier that can give trees and plants a chance to grow, then slowly we will be able to expand a green barrier. Another potential use to this is to serve as the support for solar panels to heat the pool eventually. They would face North, which is where they have to face (in the southern hemisphere) and i would not be messing with the actual house´s roof, or just plunking them on the ground, which I´m not too excited about.