January 23rd
The siding is going on the back and is nearly finished. Think it looks great !

The doghouse to the basement from the outside is complete with a matching hip roof. We need another egress from inside to the basement, so we are using another spiral staircase from the laundry room side of the atrium down. 

originally we had intended for stairs to go up to atrium and down to basement from the side but layout changed a bit. 

We had the wood milled locally so that the battens would be the right thickness to match the metal sides of the containers and need a few more long boards to complete the back and the road side between the containers. Once that is done, it is just the finishing inside and our carpenter is done. Setting the stairs, additional rafters in the atrium ceiling, window trim. We have the cement floor guy on deck once the plumbing is complete. Had problems with the first plumber and he is no longer welcome on site so now having to hire someone to come in where he left off. Not always ideal to have someone pick up someone elses job.  Think we have found someone. The issue for most plumbers was the drilling thru the steel that made them nervous. While it does ruin many a drill bit, it really is no big deal. Out of all the contractors, plumbing has been the biggest challenge when it came to working with containers. 

January 17, 2014
Today the front porch was started. The house needed  that as it looked to flat to me.

We also had foam insulation put in on all the outer walls of the containers. He put in an inch for now and when we have another warm day, he'll come back and add the rest to complete 3 inches. 

Here is a close up of the siding on the wood parts. As you can see, we used board and batten to mimic the look of the sides of the containers. I think it looks great ! It actually felt warmer in there !

looking for a new plumber as our last guy left us hanging. Once plumbed and the wiring is done, we'll lay the tube for the radiant heat in the floors and when we get a few warm days in a row, we'll have the trenches dug for the geo thermal.

Jan 7, 2014. We had our first field inspection by the town. All went pretty well. Even though we are grounded by having steel posts from the container corners, he wants the electrical bonded. Easy fix my electrician says so we will also be covered in the unlikely lightening strike.

Needed to prove that the bolts tying the containers to the atrium are "what is needed" however since none were actually needed, we plan to argue that.

Finished width of the containers needs to be 7ft. We are OK with that.

Any wiring going thru steel has to have a plastic fitting around it so wire won't rub. We already knew that are are doing it.

He needed to see how the roof trusses are connected but didn't climb a ladder !

this shows the view from the side looking at the back. all sliders are now in.

here you can see the start of the siding going on. We are using board and batten on the exterior for all the wood parts to mimic the container sides. I love the way it looks !
Spiral staircases are still a challenge. We have our side in but the ones to the upstairs on the other side still just won't sit right. My carpenter is a wizard, he'll figure it out.