Bob Vila recaps the construction done so far of a storm resistant home in St Petersburg, Florida, where abandoned shipping containers have been converted to modules for affordable housing. Bob stresses the importance of building storm ready homes in Florida, where hurricanes are an annual problem. Bob recounts how America has become a nation that imports more goods than it exports, leading to an oversupply of abandoned shipping containers. Technology has been used to convert these steel boxes into modules for building homes. Bob recounts how Bartlett Park in St Petersburg is undergoing a revitalization, leading to a need for affordable housing for first-time homebuyers. This project demonstrates how shipping containers can be converted for building affordable, storm-ready homes. This house uses four steel sections, called Intermodal Steel Building Units (ISBU's), that were trucked to the site. The units were specially modified at Tampa Armature Works, lowered into place, and welded onto plates installed in the concrete foundation. The conventional truss roof system was bolted to the containers. The roof is secured with special hardware recommended by FLASH (Federal Alliance for Safe Homes) to resist hurricane-force uplift.

Bob talks about the vast number of steel shipping containers abandoned in America's ports. Because America is no longer an exporting nation, only an importing nation, it is too expensive to return the 700,000 containers clogging American ports. Tampa Armature Works (TAW) converts these containers to intermodal steel building units (ISBU's) for use by the military and as durable, affordable installations throughout the world. David Cross of TAW explains how they have developed a skeletal frame system that brings the container down to its most elemental structural elements from which anything can be built. Cross shows Bob "the world's largest toolbox," which is an ISBU converted into a series of bins, cargo holds, and roll doors that can organize, store, and protect all kinds of tools, gear, and equipment in a military setting. Once modified, these containers are perfect as storm-ready housing units, or "container homes", with corrugated sides, a bottom steel channel and flat-bar toprail functioning together like a steel I-beam. Inside, 1 1/8-inch marine-grade Apitone flooring is a huge and standard benefit in every ISBU. TAW can cut the openings for doors and windows, finish the exterior with heavy gauge steel, wrap it in a sheet-metal skin, spray it with SuperTherm insulative ceramic coating, and deliver it for $40 to $45 per square foot. The foundation and roof are then supplied on site by the contractor. With 17 million of these containers in circulation world-wide, this is a salvage, recycling, and green business initiative that can create heavy-gauge steel, hurricane-resistant housing fast and for about the same dollars as a light-gauge steel home. Cross and TAW are just looking for consumers willing to jump on board with the technology and opportunities ISBU's present.

Bob is in St. Petersburg, Florida, to tour a finished affordable home after completing projects in other parts of the country. The St. Petersburg container-built homes are part of a pilot project involving the use of idle steel shipping containers converted for use as housing units. The goal of the program is to create structurally sound homes that can withstand hurricane conditions. St. Petersburg contains an amazing variety of home styles that developed as people settled from all over the country during the early 20th century. The streets are lined with modest to medium-sized bungalows, Mediterranean-style homes, prarie-style cottages, two-story Dutch Colonials, and some Federal revivals to go with the true Florida bungalows. Along North Shore Park and Coffee Pot Bayou there are grander versions of the same styles. Most of these developments were built out during the 50s and 60s and the character of the housing has been well preserved. Bartlett Park, just south of downtown, was built as a working class retirement neighborhood in the 1920s. It has had a period of decline and problems with crime and poverty until a few years ago when the city and St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services took action. With the Home Depot Foundation and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, the houses were adopted as pilot homes to see if it is feasible to use this technology to build affordable and storm-ready housing. Bartlett Park was once a depressed neighborhood, but is now experiencing a dramatic revival. Affordable housing and support for first-time home buyers is creating the "pride of place" needed to keep a neighborhood healthy and sustainable. This house was trucked onto the site in four sections, or "intermodal steel building units." These ISBU's are modified to meet the needs of the plan. The ISBU's were craned onto the foundation and welded to steel plates installed in the concrete. The conventional truss roof system was bolted to the containers. Each truss is attached with special hardware to resist hurricane-force uplift. The space between the ISBU's has been filled in with conventional construction. Steel sheathing was put in place, windows were cut, and the edges of the steel were ground down. The exterior walls were primed before stucco with a super-insulating coating called SuperTherm. SuperTherm prevents the walls from conducting heat, keeping the building comfortable and energy-efficient. On the last visit here, Bob talked with the architect for the project to get a feel for the space.

Bob talks with David Cross formerly of Tampa Armature Works, now of S G BLocks, the company that has taken these abandoned shipping containers and converted them into home-building units. This building technology has a bright future. Since the units first aired on the show, Cross has received well over 500 inquiries about building with ISBU's. There are two more orders in production for military systems in the Caribbean islands, the Redondo Beach house in California, and a possible 600 unit development in southern California. These units are all intended to be affordable. The construction being planned is intended for multi-family and stand-alone housing.

Bob talks to Steve Armstrong, the project architect and engineer, about converting old shipping containers into houses. Armstrong recounts how he was approached by Tampa Armature Works to get approvals from the city for the project. When completed, it will be a four-bedroom, two- bath home occupying around 1,600 square feet. The interior is very open, allowing for a high ceiling and lots of flexibility in layout. Bob reviews which sections of the home are part of the original steel containers and which are new steel partitions. The roof is a traditional truss system. The floor is a steel joist construction with traditional plywood decking. The challenge of building a home like this is marrying new methods of construction with traditional methods to create a conventional-looking family home. Armstrong reviews how the steel containers' corner posts form the backbone of the home, holding it all together. Bob and Armstrong review the future interior layout of the home. Armstrong emphasizes that this solves the problem of extra shipping containers while creating much-needed affordable, storm-ready housing.

Bob talks with David Cross from Tampa Armature Works. Cross reviews the versatility of designing houses with shipping containers. Both traditional and contemporary models are available using this method of construction. Cross presents multi-story contemporary buildings under construction in Redondo Beach, California, using shipping containers. Bob and Cross review several possible designs for homes using shipping containers. The first is a large multi-story family-sized home using eight shipping containers. The second is a row house-style multi-family building, where each is 1,280 square feet with three bedrooms. The last is a smaller modernist one-story which has lots of windows and light. This method of construction is designed to provide a range of pricing options, from affordable to luxury living.

Bob is back in Bartlett Park in St. Petersburg, Florida, where they are helping to revitalize the neighborhood by building a new home out of four steel shipping containers. Bob recaps the shipping container story from the previous episode and tells how the stem-wall foundation was poured especially to receive these steel building units that are welded in place for maximum connection. On this show, Bob will explain how the roof truss system is constructed and tied down onto the structure to resist wind uplift and damage during a hurricane or high-wind event. He'll also learn more about the PGT impact-resistant windows being installed to combat damage and building failure from wind-borne debris.

Bob meets Buba Barrow of Barrow Construction, the general contractor for the container-built housing project, and Ray Price of SPNHS, the project manager for the job. Barrow, a former engineer turned builder, explains how the stem wall foundation is constructed first with 20-inch by 8-inch footings reinforced with rebar that are poured to support a concrete block wall reinforced with #5 rebar set 32 inches on center. The cells are filled with concrete in a continuous pour to make a monolithic slab and foundation. This type of foundation, known as a stem-wall foundation, is the sturdiest possible support for a home built in hurricane territory and subject to wind, storm surge, and uplift. Bob talks to Price about the site clearing on this shaded lot covered with Florida Live Oaks. Once the central oak and the brush were cleared, Price supervised the pouring of the footings during a challenging set of delays in Florida's rainy season. The rectangular foundation is ready for the intermodal steel building units (ISBU's) that will arrive on site and be welded to the steel plates set in the concrete as weld points around the perimeter of the foundation.

Bob talks to Derek Mercer and Delwin Carter of Tampa Armature Works about how to treat the steel exterior of the building to make it look more like a conventional house. The steel panel is a 16-gauge sheet metal which has been cut and grinded to fit the house. A recess has been cut into the sheets in place so the new sheet fits flush against the structure. Holes have been cut into the sheet at regular intervals which will serve as weld plugs through which the sheet can be secured to horizontal steel strips on the other side. A MIG welder secures the sheet through the weld holes, reducing the amount of vibration during high winds and preventing buckling. Then stitch welding is done on the inside. Then a grinder is applied so the wells will not be visible when the surface is finished. A plasma cutter is used to cut a window opening into the steel. In effect, a steel partition has been installed, creating a new outside wall and porch, while the original shipping container still provides structural integrity to the home.

The front of the home is complete and looks like the exterior of any home in the American suburbs. Bob talks with Ray Price, the project manager for St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services and Steve Armstrong, the architect. There were some speical issues in this project due to the four different types of materials used for the building exterior. The challenge was to find a finish that would blend the surfaces and textures together. The garage and foundation use concrete block construction; four ISBU's or converted metal shipping containers make up the four corners of the home; conventional framing connects the ISBU's; and plywood makes up the gable ends. To blend and transition these four types of material, a horizontal band is used as a design element to separate the two types of materials. A water table band was placed near the base of the home to solve the problem of closing the joints. The stucco face of the house is actually a stucco coating that is applied over the 16-gauge sheet metal. It is a smooth finish with a traditional stucco look. The insulation behind the stucco is SuperTherm, an insulating ceramic coating. SuperTherm is an energy-efficient thermal coating with an R-factor of 19 and is similar to the substance used to coat the space shuttle. SuperTherm is becoming more available for commercial and industrial applications. Around the back of the home, much of the original vegetation, including the big oak trees, is still in place. The neighboring lots have been cleared but great pains were taken to preserve old growth. The garage door is accessed by an alley around the back of the home. The neighborhood was originally designed with alleys between the blocks so people could have their trash picked up and deliveries made. The alley system is being cleaned up and brought back. Having a back alley for the garage entrance allows for a front porch on the main street. The roof overhang is made of sheet metal, aluminum fascia, and a soffit which gives it a nice clean look. This overhang is low maintenance and meets hurricane code requirements. Right next door to the home, a second prototype follows roughly the same setup and construction. Using lessons learned from the first home, the detailing around the windows will be refined in the construction of the second home. All the windows are made of impact-resistant glass made by PGT. Although this second house will follow the same wooden roof truss system as in the first house, there are some alterations. Different types of insulated panels are being investigated as a possibility for the roof. These insulated panels are very strong and work well with the tie-down to the ISBU's.