Crane Day #2 – Making It a House

Last week we brought the rest of the containers to make the Trammel Container Home.  If you missed the first part of the process, check out our earlier blog here. 

Since the first floor went into place, Justin at MJF Contracting and his team have been hard at work.  They cut down a container to be a stairwell. They finished a lot of the site work for the home including back-filling the foundation.

Dick's Valley Service drivers showing how soft the ground is

We had to adjust our delivery date because of road restrictions. Since the Trammels are building their home in March in the Midwest, it is road restriction season. For those of you not aware of this, it is when certain roads have restricted weight limits. This is because during this period, the ground is thawing and it makes the roads more susceptible to road damage. Road restrictions were announced and went into effect before our scheduled date for bringing out the remaining containers. We were able to change the delivery date quickly to accommodate this.

However, to do that, we did have to bring one container out the day before the crane came in. It was a good example of why this is a tricky time of year for container deliveries. The ground is frozen, but that top layer freezes overnight with cold temperatures and then thaws during the day. You could see where the truck was sliding around during the delivery of the container. Dick’s Valley Service is our go-to for ground-level delivery and they did an amazing job. They came back with the remaining 2 containers while the crane was there.  The drivers were joking around about how much they were sinking into the ground.

The crew really made the second round of container placements look so easy! MJF Contracting’s crew was ready to place the containers exactly in place and weld them to the bottom level of containers as we moved through the containers. Kuehn’s Crane Service was so precise in their placement. It was great to watch.

The big excitement was with the 7th container. We brought that container out right after the first level of containers were set down. Sam, the welder, cut off the nose end of the container including the corner posts. He then cut the container down and welded the end back in place. There was a height restriction that didn’t allow for the full 40’ of container to stand on end, but the plans call for the container to serve as a stairwell going all the way to the roof where there will be a terrace.

Container end welded back on

Welded edge

Once the 6 containers were in place, the 7th container was lifted up to an angle and set on supports so additional welds could be done to the floor of the container. Then the whole container was lifted upright and then swung into place. Great Lake Superior Walls had a perfect foundation set in place to accommodate the door end of the container.

Now that all 7 containers are in place, MJF Contracting will start cutting into the containers into rooms, building in support and finishing off the container.

Check out the pictures and videos below to see how everything came together!

Here are some pictures from the day

Here are more videos from the day

Crane Day for Container Home

Drone view of 3 container sitting on the foundation of a house with the crane next to the house

Last week we had a bit of crane excitement at Super Cubes!! We delivered three one-trip 40' high cubes containers to the Trammel Container home. We worked with MJF Contracting LLC and Kuehn's Crane Service to offload the containers from our trucks. Kirk and Leigh Trammel have put together a fantastic team to build their custom container home.

MJF Contracting is the general contractor for the project. Justin and Eric have been coordinating everything for this Midwest winter build.

First they had M.R. Excavating prep the site. Then, MJF worked with Brad Weiss at Great Lake Superior Walls for the pre-cast concrete foundation. That was all set in place so the containers could come out and close in the foundation.

Kuehn's Crane Service was onsite to lift the containers off of the chassis. They swung them into place and then working together, the team set the containers down precisely on the foundation.

They got the first container set down perfectly on the back end of the foundation. Precision was key because if they set the container too far out, it wouldn't seal up tight. If they set it in too far, it would create a ledge for moisture to sit. Here is a video of them working through getting that set just right.

Once they got that one set down just right, the second container backed onto the property and they lifted that off and set it right down. That went more quickly since they had the first one as a guide. Even still, they needed to pull the containers together to remove any gap between them. Here's a video of the container going from truck to foundation.

The third truck backed in and they quickly got that one all hooked up and set into place. Here's a video of that.

Even with the second container to use as a guide, the third one needed a little more work to get it in place. They worked together to snug that third container in as tightly as possible. You can see how they strapped the first containers to each other to pull them together before setting down the third one.

As you can see, the last container was still hanging over by about half an inch. They strapped all three containers together and kept working at it to pull them all on perfectly onto the foundation. What is so amazing is that Great Lakes Superior Walls was able to make the foundation down to the 1/4 of an inch to be an absolute perfect match. At it is a testament to Justin and Eric's determination to make sure it fit that perfectly in the end.

Once they had all three containers in place, they were able to start heating up the foundation to make sure that set well in the cold weather. They are going to start cutting into those three containers to make the first floor of the house.

We delivered a fourth container the following day. That one will be cut down and reinforced. Ultimately that will be set on its end to become a stairwell. When they are ready, we'll come back with the last three containers to be the second story of the house and the crane will set the stairwell in place. 

We'll be sure to keep you posted on the project as it progresses. In the meantime, here are some pictures we took as well.

If you want more information on any of the companies mentioned, just click on their names where they are highlighted to be brought to their websites. If you want to reach M.R. Excavating, email them at mrexcavatingllc@gmail.com.

4 One-trip 40' high cubes in Sterling Heights, MI Available on Consignment

2 ends of 2 of the one-trip 40' high cubes available in Sterling Heights

We are so excited to have 4 one-trip 40' high cubes available on consignment in Sterling Heights, MI. Detroit has not been getting many one-trip containers in the past year, so this is a great opportunity for someone looking for one-trip containers without the hassle of bringing them in from Chicago.

Check out the pictures below of the containers and a video. If you click on the pictures, you can see them a bit larger.

The customer selling these containers purchased a total of 5 one-trip 40' high cubes for a project, but are taking up so much space, they are slowing down the project. All of them are still in great condition and are in a protected warehouse. Due to a lack of space, the pictures are all very close to the actual containers.

Please call (877-374-5452) or email (sales@supercubes.com) if you are interested in pricing. We can help with delivery if needed.