Here are two grandmothers building a house from an old trailer and papercrete on a sloping lot. I've seen trailers and modular houses on craigslist for free, so you would only have the cost of hauling it to your site. But then you would have the basic plumbing and electricity already installed. That's not a bad idea. You could live in it while you're building the outer shell. Just cover up that awful tinny trailer look. I think I would still want to do slipform stone walls and maybe build the masonry fireplace into the hill.
Very interesting. I wonder how safe and durable a house built in this way will be...
ReplyDeletethe truth is that old trailers are to be taken on an individual basis. I have rebuilt two POS trailers, both 1970. both had aluminum wire, galvinized pipe and no insulation to speak of. the basic framing of the pair was less than good but they have no weight on top so they see fit to use 1x4 for sills and top plates. other than that its really not too bad. the trusses up top are numerous and although light, very strong. my point is this, the trailer they used looks newer than mine and also built for a different climate (me in AZ). I have complete confidence that with common sense and a smallish handful of cash you could use these old crappy trailers to build somthing wonderful. it looks to me that the ladies are well on their way.
ReplyDeleteI was just at this house the other day, you should see how it looks now! You can't even tell that it was once a trailer, and yes, it's very safe, I'd wager it's even safer than the cheap shoddy new houses they build these days. Carrie & Elisia told me that they will be adding more pictures to builtfromtrash.com as soon as the snow breaks. You can also look for this house on Discovery channels extreme homes sometime this fall (09)!
ReplyDeleteHi! This post was written in 2007 and it is now May 30, 2010. Please look at the website http://www.builtfromtrash.com now to see the progress we've made since then!
ReplyDeleteYou have introduced us to some of the most amazing houses made from throwaway materials.
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