Home Sweet Shipping Containers

i am sort of surprised myself. i think if done nicely it would work. if not they look like crap. my guess is they would look like crap here unless someone with mucho money was backing t

its sort of goofy americans are. if you live in mfg housng like a mobile home you are trailer trash jajaja. But if you build a home in a truck trailer liberals think its cool and eco friendly jajaja fickle humans.

One of the things I'd like to built out of containers are sanitation stations. Stack three containers with the second at ground level. The top one is a grey water reservoir, the second is a public toilet/shower with an attendant to pay for use with all fixtures using minimal water(such a shower with a pull chain.) The bottom container is buried and emptied from its existing door to a compost every six months to a year or made into a septic tank and emptied with pumps.

People scoff at living in the containers, but I worked in two converted containers that were made into an extension for a commercial kitchen. One was a walk-in cooler/freezer and the other was a prep area. When I was living in the Pacific Islands it would have been a big step up from the tin shack I was living in. No one says you have to put the container in the direct sun...

This looks like it could be containers, but I'm not sure. I think the original site in Thai:

that just looks like a rendering not actual building

PeterInBrat said:

This looks like it could be containers, but I'm not sure. I think the original site in Thai:

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you will spend about 24,000 usd to put up about 1500 sq ft in a single home. In the usa its is cheaper tp frame a home. Just think. One 20 ft container is avg 2000.00 next is delivery say 500. ok now you have 2500, times 4 for a small home.
10,000 so far.
no foundation
say 5000 for foundaton
now 15,000
now you have to have a crane to lift two on top of the others. ok about 1500 min just to bring it out.
so 16500 and you have them sitting on the ground and not even on the foundation. .

Try to convince my wife to live in one and I will build one in Camu.

I've posted these photos before on other threads. I certainly wouldn't mind a container home like this:





And I think you can get a much better deal on containers than that. $2500 would be fair price for a new one and there are millions of used ones in the US. Ship one full of household goods from the US and just keep it for half the building. I'm seeing prices of $1000-$2000 on Ebay for 20' and 48' ones are being listed for $2500.

Why would you need a foundation for a container?

Instead of the fancy sides, I'd prob put in lattice and a hibiscus hedge to provide screening from the sun.

mbgmike said:

you will spend about 24,000 usd to put up about 1500 sq ft in a single home. In the usa its is cheaper tp frame a home. Just think. One 20 ft container is avg 2000.00 next is delivery say 500. ok now you have 2500, times 4 for a small home.
10,000 so far.
no foundation
say 5000 for foundaton
now 15,000
now you have to have a crane to lift two on top of the others. ok about 1500 min just to bring it out.
so 16500 and you have them sitting on the ground and not even on the foundation. .

Click to expand...

$24,000 for a 1500 sq ft home in the US is completely bonkers. That's less than $20 sq ft. $50-$75 is about right for an inexpensive house for new construction if you go cheap pre-fab. I worked on a 25'x25' single bedroom prefab about year ago (625 sq ft) and it was about $30,000 with delivery, without the foundation, septic or finished roof.

Derfish said:

I believe they are in actuality only 8 ft wide instead of the 20 ft wide your article claims. On El Choco Road they are finishing a house with 2 containers built into it. I'll try to figure out how to upload pics since i have a couple of them of that house in socstruction. They seem more like secure rooms withim a regular house instead of container hice. Nope, I tried copy and paste and didn't work. If any one wants tgo drive out El choco road about 3 miles the house is being built therw and ya can't miss it!
Der Fish

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Standard 20' container dimensions (External):

Intermodal Length (feet)19’10″
Intermodal Width (feet) 8’0″
Intermodal Height (feet) 8’6″
Floor Area (sq feet) 1,160
Door Width (feet) 7’6″
Door Height (feet) 7’5″

For a high cubage container, the height is 12" higher.

For posting the photos, try to right click the image and then open it in a new window. That's what I always do.

I recently talked with a guy who saw my affordable housing thread and wanted to discuss container turn key cost. Given that this person has priced containers when we crunched the numbers and added in the costs of preparation is was more expensive than the block and mortar structures with a corrugated metal roof.

There are various considerations such as the treatment the structure would need to have a decent R value, which is important given that metal is very conductive and thus will get hot. One such recommendation is paint that supposedly has an R value but I have done research on products like these and by all accounts the claims are false. The other costs and considerations are:

1. Fitting doors and windows.
2. Fitting sloped roof for drainage and ventilation.
3. Building a foundation to meet wind loads and accommodate plumbing
4. Poured concrete floor.
5. Interior treatment that is water resistant.
6. Exterior and interior wall treatment.


There are also the very real issue of these units being placed in close proximity to the sea and the fact that if the metal is not completely protected it will corrode. That becomes a challenge especially when their exterior and interior panels, etc. that do not adequately protect the metal from moisture. Over time this salty moisture will attack the iron so one would have to remove the panels every so often to treat the metal.

In summary, given all of the considerations for this to be a viable system, it would end up being more costly and thus less practical in tropic climates compared to existing building systems.

Hostos Education Project in Hig?ey:

Hostos Education Project | Improving the quality of education in the Dominican Republic

"The Hostos Education Project, formerly known as the Hostos Dream Project, is preparing to build the first shipping container school on recycled land in Higuey, Dominican Republic."

Lucifer said:

Hostos Education Project in Hig?ey:

Hostos Education Project | Improving the quality of education in the Dominican Republic

"The Hostos Education Project, formerly known as the Hostos Dream Project, is preparing to build the first shipping container school on recycled land in Higuey, Dominican Republic."

Click to expand...

I wish them all the best. I hope they have a knowledgeable contractor:

Shipping Container Homes and Corrosion ( Rust ) Issues - Shipping Container Homes - How to Plan, Design and Build your own House out of Cargo Containers

PeterInBrat said:

$24,000 for a 1500 sq ft home in the US is completely bonkers. That's less than $20 sq ft. $50-$75 is about right for an inexpensive house for new construction if you go cheap pre-fab. I worked on a 25'x25' single bedroom prefab about year ago (625 sq ft) and it was about $30,000 with delivery, without the foundation, septic or finished roof.

Click to expand...

i was just speaking of framing one in versus just bringing and installing the containers. I did not make this very clear I realize. I was just trying to make the point it was less expensive to build by framing in a traditional home. I DR wood i very expensive however

PeterInBrat said:

I've posted these photos before on other threads. I certainly wouldn't mind a container home like this:

And I think you can get a much better deal on containers than that. $2500 would be fair price for a new one and there are millions of used ones in the US. Ship one full of household goods from the US and just keep it for half the building. I'm seeing prices of $1000-$2000 on Ebay for 20' and 48' ones are being listed for $2500.

Why would you need a foundation for a container?

Instead of the fancy sides, I'd prob put in lattice and a hibiscus hedge to provide screening from the sun.

Click to expand...

unless you had a firm surface to build on like rock, depending on the soil their are settling issues. Almost everything has a foundation or pilings. these things are heavy. plus you do not want to just lay steel down on the ground without some way to treat the steel. I would not want that. You could always Poor boy any construction. I have seen people do it for years but that don't make it right. I have been in the eng/construction business for 40 years. I would do a foundation.

If i could convince my wife to live in one i would build one on the land we own in Camu.

PeterInBrat said:

Why would you need a foundation for a container?

Instead of the fancy sides, I'd prob put in lattice and a hibiscus hedge to provide screening from the sun.

Click to expand...

That thing isn't all container, it has extensions built onto the container. So whats the point, why not just build something?
To do what they did you need a foundation so everything is on the same elevation.

Even just living in a single container, you still need site prep, gravel prep etc.

If you do the math, it's cheaper to just build using local materials and proven const. methods.

mbgmike said:

i was just speaking of framing one in versus just bringing and installing the containers. I did not make this very clear I realize. I was just trying to make the point it was less expensive to build by framing in a traditional home. I DR wood i very expensive however

Click to expand...

Ah ok, $20/ft^2 would be about right for framing and sheathing, not including the roofing system.

I would recommend anyone still considering doing a container home to read the link I posted. Here is a photo of the rust after just 5 years: