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Man builds shipping container house after he loses home in Irma

A St. Augustine man who lost his home during hurricane Irma is doing something innovative to replace it. He is building a new home with cargo shipping containers.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A St. Augustine man who lost his home during hurricane Irma is doing something innovative to replace it. He is building a new home with cargo shipping containers.

Rob DePiazza said his new house, built with nine shipping containers. It will be a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house.

DePiazza says this house of steel will be stronger than another house he could build and could withstand hurricanes better, but that's not why he's locked into containers.

"It has nothing to do with strength of durability. It's purely the aesthetic," he said.

Container houses have popped up around the country and the world for years now.

While there are a few known container homes in St. Johns County, this one certainly is elaborate. So it's something different for the county. And it's certainly something different for this middle-income neighborhood in St. Augustine.

"All my neighbors love it. They're really excited about it, yeah," he said.

He says it's not really cheaper to build using containers. "It's a wash, I think," DePiazza said. "It's the ultimate up-cycle."

There will be a bit of architectural flair, such as a green roof, which plans will grow.

Also, "one of the cool things is they have plywood floors, which is mahogany. So you have this beautiful floor," DiPiazza said.

For DePiazza, a disaster has turned to opportunity.

"I like that process of creating things and this is really unique," he said with a nod.

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