Steel Prefab ConstructionThe first day the forklift is missing in action. No matter how tough this crew is, they are no match for the massive steel. Then, Mother Nature makes her appearance on the afternoon of day two in the form of a huge rainstorm to completely halt progress on the build. Now on day three, it's about to get ugly.
The prefab steel and foam panels that make up the walls of the house are supposed to be on a truck somewhere between Monterey, Mexico and Florida. But trying to get anywhere in the area is a nightmare due to another hurricane. Eco Cottage creator Joss Hudson works the phones trying to find out when the panels will arrive. Crew foreman Poncho Arredondo manages to keep his team busy putting in the windows. There aren't many buildings that can have windows installed before the walls even show up (figure A). That is the beauty of prefab!
Joss Hudson calls his design an eco cottage: "eco" because it is made of all renewable materials; "cottage" because it's designed to be people friendly. He swears by his bolted steel approach, metal versus wood is no contest in his book. Not only will steel never rot or decay, it will definitely stand up to the high hurricane winds Floridians are used to. This community won't get their new weather-resistant clubhouse if the missing wall panels don't get here soon. The panels are stuck in Houston and won't be in Florida for another two days. With that news, the crew decides to pack it in and come back when the panels arrive.
After more than three days of waiting for the missing roof, floor and wall panels, they finally arrive on site. Poncho and his crew need to make up for lost time, and get right to unpacking them. Today is the day the crew recovers from all the week's setbacks.
Joss implements his double-time strategy, one group works on the roof while the other keeps moving on the walls and floors (figure B). The insulated steel wall panels connect with ease because of their pre-engineered system. The crew moves fast, and they begin installing weather-proof features on the roof, like the special clips that prevent the panel from being pulled up from the screw head...perfect for hurricane-prone Florida. They also use double-face tape to prevent water from leaking into the clubhouse. And a good thing too because it seems the rain that plagued the first few build days is back.
Once again the job site grinds to a halt. The rain makes it far too slippery and dangerous to be working on the steel roof. Frustrated that the crew can't catch a break, Joss calls it a day.
Later, the eco cottage crew hustles to finish the new clubhouse for the Peace River Shores Community. They've battled weather, missing wall panels and now they're up against the clock.
The crew measures, marks and trims each panel to fit around the steel framing members. Because these are precision factory built pieces, they need very little in the way of adjustments. The team knows the rain could be back at any minute.
The crew installs the last pieces of trim as the residents of Peace River come out to see their new clubhouse (figure C). Everyone is impressed with the look of the structure, but more importantly, with the strength (figure D).
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