3 Initial Stages to Build a Home from Scrap

A home built from scrap might not sound like the most exciting prospect, but for some, building your own sustainable, repurposed and recycled property is one of the greatest challenges that can be taken on board.  Building any kind of home isn’t an easy challenge, and when you add to that the need to use only old materials, you’ll see that building your dream scrap home won’t be an easy ride.  If you’re up for the challenge, here are 3 techniques to help you build your Scrap home.

Fit for Function

The first thing you need to do when you set out to build any home is consider the building’s function and then work to those parameters. If it’s a family home, you’re going to need to source a lot of old scrap metal compared to a home for a single person.  Similarly, you should consider the weather and temperature for where you live.  If it gets very cold during the winter, it makes sense to ensure that you find sustainable ways to insulate the property, and to use materials that retain their heat.   Once you’ve done this initial planning, you’re ready to source your materials.

Scouting for Scrap

Searching for a significant amount of scrap metal of the appropriate quality will be one of the greatest challenges of your home constructing journey.  One great and simple way of building a scrap home is by using metal shipping containers, and many great homes have been built exclusively out of shipping containers.  If you do go down this route, you’ll need a range of tools and other materials to weld the containers together.  Thankfully, however, you’ll be working with containers built to a uniformed size so measurements should be straightforward. You may need to make use of a sheet metal fabricator like the ones available from Clarence Jones, and a welder to help you create sheet metal brackets which you can use to attach the shipping containers together.

Building on Foundations

From the foundations you’ve created, you can start to turn your shell of a scrap house into a real home.  Go to a scrap yard and find piping for water, and hire an electrician to do your electrics.  Next, source old wood planks for your flooring, as you don’t want to be stood on metal, and source soy insulation as it’s much better for the environment than regular glass-based insulation.  When it comes to adding windows to the shipping containers, you’ll need to consult a glass expert to do the hard work, and you’ll also need to think about the direction of the sun as it will provide an excellent source of free heating and light.

There you have it – 3 stages to building your own home from scrap.  Once you have these basics in place, you’ll be able to start working on more decorative aspect of the project.