What's next?

So what's next for BaHa Ranch? First, we'll be moving the box onto the foundation. It's gonna look kind of like this (side view):

To do this, we'll have to hire a crane. Unless anyone out there can think of another way to move it? Next, metal straps that were poured into the foundation will be welded to the bottom of the box to keep it in place.

After the box is securely up on its foundation, we'll be installing the windows.

Only the tallest one, leaning on the wall behind the other one on the right, is going to go on this section of our house. The rest are for later. We got these windows, used, for $15 each. We'll also be adding one of two smaller windows that are not pictured here to this section. We got the smaller windows, also used, for $5 each at a Habitat store.

The windows will be framed by a friend of ours so that they are ready to go once the box is on its foundation. A neighbor of ours has graciously offered to do any welding that needs to be done in exchange for loaning him a Bobcat that we had rented. Saves us a lot of money! And to save even more money, we are going to try to make a door from the metal of the box itself; basically, we want to cut out a doorway and then frame the metal that was cut out and use it as a door. We'll see how that goes. We also plan to insulate the inside soon, since the framing is already in place for the walls. Any environmentally-friendly ideas on insulation? Spray-in looks easiest, but that icky pink cotton-candy stuff looks most cost-effective. We're also pondering old-fashioned clay and straw insulation. Does anyone have any experience with that? What are some other options that we could consider? 

Catching up...

I need to get ya'll caught up on what we've done so far. Basically, we are trying to go from this:

To this:

And eventually to this:

OK. The first pic is of our first actual shipping container, which we refer to as "the box." The second pic is of the interior design of the first box, which we are working on right now. We will live in the first box for about a year before continuing construction. Why? We are paying as we go - we don't want to take out any loans for this house. 

The third pic is of how the house will look when we are completely done. We'll be adding four more boxes to the first one, and a roof over most of the structure that will be designed to direct rainwater into our rain catcher. Part of the structure will be left exposed and made into a "green roof" - a roof which will be covered with sod and plants. Additionally, a windmill will be added to generate electricity when we can afford one. We are also taking advantage of the hot, bright, ever-present Texas sun by utilizing solar lights where possible, and putting windows in optimal locations to provide light without adding too much heat. 

So what have we done so far? 

We've poured a foundation:

And framed out the inside:

And we've built a shed to put things in:

 Yay! So now we're all caught up on what's happened so far. We're kinda winging it here - there's not a lot of info out there on how to construct something like this. Sure, a lot of people are getting into building with shipping containers, and there are some great pictures out there for inspiration, but practical information (like how to frame out a window on  a structure that's naturally wavy) is hard to come by. So I hope documenting all of this will make container home building more accessible for anyone who wants to try it. AND I'm hoping to hear from people who have done this type of building before, cause we'd love some advice!