Container Home Builds in DR...

chico bill

chico bill

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JD Jones said:
I made a training center/office out of a 52' container many years ago. Nothing special, but it worked pretty well.

The only thing I didn't do was apply insulation to the roof and it was too hot to touch. I had the top sealed with aluminum foil-backed tar paper sealer put on it, and it was still hot to the touch, but that did help.

I had tossed the idea of a trailer-based home for a few years before that, but it convinced me I didn't want to make a house out of 3-4 of them.
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If you did a container home it would be best to frame a cut and stacked roof over it and even place a tile roof above to not be subject to direct sun
 
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Ecoman1949

Ecoman1949

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The only container used for accommodation I ever saw is in a expats friends house in Luperon. He built a concrete block house and incorporated the container as part of it. He used it as his office where he sold real estate and boats. It was always hot as Hades in there but it was his escape from the noise and confusion of daily DR family life.

Another container I came across is used as a bar on the Luperon beach near the old closed resort.
 
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JD Jones

JD Jones

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MoJoInDR said:
Do you know if building laws for homes in the DR would allow it?
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I can't think of any that would prohibit one. Once you get out in the country away from the land of towers you can pretty much build anything you want. Many folks who own land in the country use them as a semi-permanent structure to store things. They can be difficult to break into.
There are lots of used containers for sale here.
 
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Squat

Squat

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Ecoman1949 said:
The only container used for accommodation I ever saw is in a expats friends house in Luperon. He built a concrete block house and incorporated the container as part of it. He used it as his office where he sold real estate and boats. It was always hot as Hades in there but it was his escape from the noise and confusion of daily DR family life.

Another container I came across is used as a bar on the Luperon beach near the old closed resort.
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Was that Gilberto, the Canadian guy living in front of La Yola?
 
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windeguy

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johne said:
Without me sounding like a wise guy, troll or trouble maker let me answer your question with a few questions of my own:1. Have you ever seen any signs of zoning restrictions i,e residential mixed with commercial? Mixed by zone or mixed within the confines of one building.2. Have you ever seen a notice of a stop work order in the DR? 3. Have you ever seen a white sedan that drives around slowing in the neighborhoods with the words "CODE ENFORCEMENT" stecilled on the car door? 4. Have you seen hundreds of partially built homes or house (or chicken coops) that have been standing in the face of the elements for years on end and wonder can their fountaintions be sound? 5. Have you heard about the thousands of cases of deed or property line dispute? 6. Have you heard the story about he 3 little pigs that could't blow the house down until he blew the four sheets of rusted corrugated tin that were nailed down with four half inch nails? 6. Or, on a tragic note, more than 30 people killed in an explosion in a factory building that was a ticking time bomb?
I'll leave your question on that note. My answer is not snide in any way it just requires you to look a little harder as to what the facts are here in the DR.
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We have had building projects and have had government officials come by and inspect them. So the basic answer is yes to that question.
 
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colmcb

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Although not a home, I'm impressed by the Food Court Bellamar built on the highway outside of La Romana. I know nothing about containers but the concept is very nice and seems to work. Each container serves a different purpose and they are all air conditioned. There are maybe 7-10 containers, one has an rooftop patio with seating, 2 containers are modern bathrooms, one serves as a grab and go type convenience store, and another is set up as a hot food area complete with fryers/refrigeration, steam trays, ventilation and exhaust systems, etc. The containers are all built around a central courtyard with seating, umbrellas. In my opinion it is cleaner, more modern, and nicer than many rest areas I've seen in other countries. I have no idea how "secure" it would be in the event of a hurricane, but personally I'm impressed by it. Just my two cents.
 
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MoJoInDR

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colmcb said:
Although not a home, I'm impressed by the Food Court Bellamar built on the highway outside of La Romana. I know nothing about containers but the concept is very nice and seems to work. Each container serves a different purpose and they are all air conditioned. There are maybe 7-10 containers, one has an rooftop patio with seating, 2 containers are modern bathrooms, one serves as a grab and go type convenience store, and another is set up as a hot food area complete with fryers/refrigeration, steam trays, ventilation and exhaust systems, etc. The containers are all built around a central courtyard with seating, umbrellas. In my opinion it is cleaner, more modern, and nicer than many rest areas I've seen in other countries. I have no idea how "secure" it would be in the event of a hurricane, but personally I'm impressed by it. Just my two cents.
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Shipping containers have been very much used in commercial building development...

Here are some famous brand examples...

commercial container buildings - Google Search

www.google.com
 
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JD Jones

JD Jones

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Have you investigated the cost here?
 
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MoJoInDR

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william webster said:
It’s a big business
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Comparatively speaking, it's still just a small aspect of the whole construction/building development industry... But it is certainly in the millions.

Here's a large company that has brought container building into their modular (another type of building development) building business...

Take a look at the whole website, it's quite impressive.

Modular Construction Projects Portfolio: Pictures, Examples | VESTA Modular

Browse our modular construction case studies. View modular projects for education, commercial, government, medical, religious, disaster relief, and housing.
vestamodular.com vestamodular.com
 
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MoJoInDR

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JD Jones said:
Have you investigated the cost here?
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No... Is that something you could do?

As I indicated in my intro to dr1, my wife and I are looking at farmland somewhere in a low mountain range area of northwest-ish DR, and I'm not sure if getting a shipping container to such an area would be doable (country roads being what they might be).

I'm thinking more of a tiny home-type construction is what we'd need to look at for our specific needs.

On the other hand, the non-profit that I referenced, Project Esperanza, a container-type building may work for their schooling needs, and they are just a little east of Puerto Plata, on a flat and more accessible land area.

But I like to cast a wide net when researching matters as you never know what can pop up that wasn't being considered and yet be very helpful.

I've also been reading many of the older threads on this website and one in particular, on business possibilities, caught my attention. It seems that many people on this website struggle with the thought of starting a business because of all the hurdles, and even roadblocks, that they have either experienced or seen others experience. My professional background is in product/business development, and I can't say I've come across an impossible environment in which to develop a business and so I've been looking at the DR's business development possibilities and tiny homes/shipping containers was a thought I had.

From experience, I can say that some people often start looking at business development in a very narrow way (personal preferences, opinions) and this usually impedes forward progress. I started my first business at age fourteen, the Radical Riders Skateboard Club. It lasted a summer and then all members — maybe thirty — needed to get back to school. Yet in that time we got on TV sports news, and hosted the first downhill competition ever held in Jamaica.

There's always opportunity for business... You just need to properly suss out the situation, thoroughly plan accordingly, and be willing to roll with the punches and not lose sight of your vision's goal. But not all people are cut out to be business developers/owners, which is a problem in and of itself.

Anyway, I just thought that opening up this topic would produce interesting and useful feedback. And it has.
 
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