The Lower Myrick Container Project - 4 May 2022 and December 17, 2023

The structure will be Mississippi's largest Home and Work Office container project currently (according to Google). The next largest container project is a two container (2x 40 HC) structure near Jackson, MS.

Currently we have 960 square feet on each level for a total of 1920 square feet plus a covered parking area for 2-3 cars under the second level. A third level could added to create additional such as for ia sunroom, bedrooms and/or bathrooms. Each individual container adds about 320 square feet. However, we will lose about 8 square feel in each container since there will be an interior wall built behind the existing steel doors. The steel doors will be kept functional since it provides a great way to move stuff in and out of the containers as well as structural integrity. That said, if we had to do it again, we would only leave one operational large steel door on each group of containers. The second level will be equipped with an emergency exit in the case of the very remote chance of fire in the kitchen area.

All containers are of 40 foot long high cube (also known as "HC") design with a empty weight of over 9000 pounds each. There are three 40 foot twelve inch tall I-Beams on the top of the lower containers to allow the change of direction of the second level. The additional height of the HC container means the inside height is 9.5 feet tall inside compared to the older standard of a 8.0 foot high interior. The current plan is to frame at the 8.5 foot level to give a reasonable feeling of room height. This additional height (1 foot) allows for the HVAC ducting or electrical conduits to be in the upper space or to have taller interiors to give the impression of more room. As the containers after framing, insulation, and drywall are less than 8 feet wide, you need to be creative about giving the impression of room size.

Due to it's considerable weight and steel construction material, it should have a greatly reduced chance of any damage by the wind or rain during a hurricane or tornado event. The structure is currently 40 feet deep (front to back) and 56 feet wide and about 60,000 pounds less contents. It is now considered to be a one piece building since it is all welded together. Located where it is on the property, there are no trees that can directly fall on it and the chance of any structure damage of something airborne hitting it is greatly reduced. In addition, the dirt pad is above the average ground level so chance of flooding in very reduced.

It took weeks for it to be all welded together with a crew of 2-3 welders each day when possible. The team at Coastal Containers here in Mississippi did a great job on the initial fabrication.

The floor is currently 1.25 inch marine plywood over steel cross members (you can see this in the photos) to provide a very strong floor. You could drive on it without a problem. That said, the final floor with be another layer of plywood and then most likely, a engineered wood floor. The existing floor is very strong but not great to walk on in your bare feet.

The pad it sits on is roughly 500 cubic yards of Mississippi red clay (25 truck loads) and another 60 cubic yards of gravel for the driveway and parking area. The dirt was being compacted after each truck load. The concrete pads for the containers ends were then dug into the dirt pad.

The structure is designed to support a 4th (or 5th) container on the second level and it could support even a 3rd level in the remote chance that someone wanted the additional space. Container structures have been known to have built up to seven levels high without additional support. The key factor is having enough support at the ends of the container as that is the load bearing area. The third level would be accessed via a staircase inside of the #5 container (middle one) on the second level. It would be like having a private space away from the noise and with a great view of the tree tops and the local area. The best return on investment would be to add a third level container and a 4th container on the second level. The additional 640 square feet would provide a nice three level home with a shop-office-storage on the ground floor. It has not been mentioned but the first level is about 1 foot above the gravel pad. This provides considerable protection against any sort of flooding.

The key tasks to be done in the next few months are the basic framing inside and then the installation of the closed cell foam insulation. Then we can start on the electrical and plumbing (fresh water and waste lines). The septic system is already done.

The insulation will also be sprayed on to the open areas underneath the second layer of the containers. This will help reduce the outside air cooling or heating the interior. Due to the actual walls being steel and non porous by its very nature, we need to use closed cell technology to reduce the chance of moisture buildup on the steel. We want to keep the moisture off the interior steel walls and roof and of course, the closed cell technology provides a much higher resistance to conducting heat or cold.

Dixie Power has installed the new electrical service to the structure. To accomplish this complex task, they rerouted the local 9.6 KV power line for the area to a more direct route down Mollie Boutwell Road. This required them to install two new poles and they added additional safety protection on the new line since the original path used older equipment. The Dixie team then installed a new pole near the container area to support the three transformers (the service is three Phase 200 Amp connection). Their crews were outstanding. I have worked with many electrical service providers around the world and I think that Dixie is right at the top in terms of teamwork, quality of the work done and, most important, in their safety protocols.

Sandblasting has been started to remove the old paint and rust starting this week. After the grey undercoating is done, the containers will then be painted with a color similar to "moss green" to blend into the summer tree colors. The final finish will be a semigloss epoxy finish which will have a considerable life span. The color on the office container will be very similar to the one that will be used.

One of the last steps will be for an elevated deck to be installed on the rear to provide an outside area for the 2nd level. We had planned on a steel deck but found the price quote on that was more than the cost of the existing project. A bit crazy we thought. We will be using more traditional approach for the deck.

A HVAC system for each level will be installed. We are using a local company, "CAS", to do the HVAC work and the primary interior electrical work. The plan is to use two smaller systems (mini-splits) on the ground level and one system for the upper levels. As the containers will be insulated using closed cell insulation, the HVAC load requirement is greatly reduced. We are planning for one ton (12,000 BTU) units for the ground level and perhaps a 1.5 ton unit for the upper level. We are hoping the HVAC work is done by the end of May, 2022.

As mentioned above, we have installed Three Phase power (200A) and we will then have a sub-panel located in each of the container clusters. This would include the upper level, the shop and storage containers, and the CDC room.

Once all the larger individual projects are done, we will create a retaining wall on the East and South side of the structure pad to help reduce any soil erosion. The wall will be built using old railroad ties. In addition, a concrete pad will be extended outward from the lower level walkway to allow for better parking. There will be a short wall (8 feet high) built to act as a wind and rain break into the parking area. It will also provide protection when using the stairs.

There will also be a steel ladder installed to the top level to allow for access to the roof area and for additional way to exit in case of a fire.

Of course there will be considerable landscape work done to include a large garden area in the front.

Thank you.