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AND SO WE BEGAN….Beginning the build!
First of all a MASSIVE apology to our followers …this blog is WAY behind the actual build….I honestly [apart from the fact that most of them are youngsters compared to us] don’t know how all these other self-builders manage to build, eat, sleep and blog/YouTube while managing to keep sane …. So, on our last post the base had been done and was finally passed by the authorities so we could carry on. We then got our amazing crane driver to come back and put all the containers in place – he was absolutely incredible as always getting them exactly next to each other as we only had a 5cm…
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OFF-GRID INSTALLATION! [so far!]
I saw an advert on Facebook for Off-Grid Installer and got in touch with Leigh who was actually in Corfu at the time and he came and had a chat about what we needed for what we wanted to have power for. We then kept in touch and when we were ready Leigh also helped us organise not just the installation, but the actual container and shipping to Greece as well! The container he purchased from the UK company Cleveland containers and this particular one had the new “easy open” system …. and the shipping was done and organised by Kuehne and Nagel.…. I can happily recommend all of the…
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WHICH CONTAINER AND WHY?
I thought to do a post about the sizes of container we chose and why as it is one of the most common questions people are asking now …When we first started on this “quest” and looking at shipping containers as a way to get a home we got a bit carried away LOL… One of our first plans was 4 x 40ft containers in a square with a courtyard in the middle … Another was them all stacked at angles … then as time moved on and we REALLY started looking at them we realised quite a few things …..some of which may or may not apply to where…
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KEEPING BUSY…WHILE WAITING….
RECYCLING, REPURPOSING, REUSING...
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GETTING THE PERMIT AND LAYING THE BASE!
Well…. 2020 is over and I am sure everyone will never forget it… So here in Greece, we were in lockdown from March for a good few weeks until it was started to lift in May … and on May 26th we got our license [permit] finally to build the container home. The permit office asked a load of questions while I was there and so I have promised them we will have an “open day” when it is done and they can all come and see …. Obviously, without Lockdown we would have had it the end of March as it was literally 99% ready as we went into…
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LET THERE BE LIGHT – a skylight that is !!!
Now to be honest apart from the whole planning the layout thing this has to be my most favourite part so far! As a family we are all quite lucky in the way that when we talk about ideas the others get it [mostly!] and understand what we mean. As I have worked in the property market I can see that sometimes people are not so lucky and just cannot “see” the vision when you say to them “oh but you can do this and this and imagine it would be like this” etc – and you just get a blank stare, until you get on Pinterest and show them…
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WELDING EQUIPMENT AND KEEPING YOUR WELDER HAPPY!
So if like us you are going to do a lot of the welding for your containers yourself you need to invest in decent equipment. There is going to be a LOT of welding in a house made of metal, plus it helps that your welder is kept happy – happy welder gets more work done, especially when he is a teenager and can still get distracted easily!!!….Obviously being made of metal the welding is one way to cut down the cost if you can do it yourself! As the welder was going to be a major part of the build we bought a decent…
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SANDING/ SPRAYING – and MISTAKE number 1
So “Arnie The Trial container” has landed and obviously we have our first mistake. We knew Arnie was not going to stay where he is for now but we should have made some kind of properly flat area for him or at least some cement squares as there is actually only 4 corners of about 20×20 cm touching the ground. There is some jacking up etc and he now sits on 4 “makeshift” corners but is still slightly “off”…Still he won’t be part of the end house so not overly worried. So major point – make sure you have properly prepared the area where your container will sit! Yes it…
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ARNIE ARRIVES!!!
So part of the land is cleared – the money is saved and our first order for our first “trial” container goes in. This trial container is literally just that as when we do the other containers they will be our home and we are not planning on ever moving again so they need to be right, so we are going to try the ideas we have and see if they work and we are happy with them. We don’t have the finances to get it wrong and have to redo it all…. Obviously we have done tons [and tons!] of research about this and one of the things we…
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ENGINEER / ARCHITECT AND THINNING OUT !!……
Probably the most important new best friend you will need! That is the person making your plans…. It is amazing how difficult it suddenly becomes when you are thinking of getting 3 rather large human beings to live in a very very very small space – the beauty of where we are though being that 90% of your life you can live outside. Now don’t take that as me saying that 90% of the weather here is sunny and hot – it is not!! We just have thick English skin and are quite prepared to sit outside even with thermals, thick blankets and a fire pit – and hot chocolate……
