Living in a Shipping Container...

[jeepdreamer]

This was sort of suggested via the thread asking about using a shipping container as part of an Expo rig. I didn't know where to put this so I hope this is good...Mods?
I wanted to start a thread about my own personal journey towards living in a shipping container.
Ok...you can all stop laughing now...
anytime.?.....
Let me explain if I can.
Given the state of today's economy and the likelyhood of being able to pay for a house in cash on a soldiers paycheck, I have been looking into some odd options. For those of you that have a home, and a mortgage, have you ever thought it would be nice to keep that money? Every month you send out your check in what seems a never ending succubus of financial "need". Well have you done the math on how much of that money is in the toilet after the 15 years? You DO have a 15 year note...RIGHT? The slave owner that engineered the 30 year mortgage should be flogged...but that is another story.
My thought is to offer an option I have only learned about in the last year. It's not for everybody, sure. But given that often those of us that still find our adventure in ways that don't plug in or perhaps enjoy the things that are naturally beautiful...this may be of interest to you. So what am I babbling on about?
Shipping containers.
Or more correctly ISBUs. Thats what they are called when no longer in service to haul stuff. But we have all seen them....Criminy, they are EVERYWHERE! So...
Why would someone wish to live in one?
Money. Thats why.
Dollars for doughnuts, pound for pound, the cost of erecting a home using a shipping container is less...much less. And even better...Value! The bang for the buck factor is very high when you consider that your house is made of steel instead of wood. Every had a flood? Forestfire? Earthquake?? Wood rots, burns, or can fall down. Not so with a shipping container.
And since I am always tinkering on my Jeeps anyway...metal work is not that big a stretch. But instead of building a trailer or rack to mount an RTT...I'm gonna build a house.!.
Feel free to leave me some thoughts if you read this. I will try and add more in the next couple days. But work calls and then it will be bed time here in the nasty sandbox. Where, coincidentally, the Army houses its people in...
basically, shipping containers!

 

[Hill Bill E.]

I don't see any reason why not.

I watched a show where they took several containers, and made an apartment building out of them. (in Sweden, I think)

It was really cool. You can modify them just about anyway you want.

If you're away a lot, you can even leave the doors functional, building a nice deck door just inside. When you're gone, close and lock the container doors. Cheap security!

And, you can get fancy!!

Or stay more 'traditional'

:coffeedrink:

info found here: http://www.containerhomes-info.com/


Granted, it's not for everyone, but I think it would be cool!

 

[4Mogger]

That thread piqued my interest as well. I have a line on an old quonset hut style building and would like to make the shop design more interesting with a shipping container or two.

 

[toy_tek]

Subscribing. I've been internet researching this on and off for the last year. I'm looking to downsize, as well as build my own. Off the top of my head I believe I might be able to make a nice small energy efficient dwelling for under $40k. I'm talking 2 40' units for about 640sf.

I'm interested in recycling materials & appliances (Craigslist), utilizing wind and/or solar, greenroof (living roof), building it myself, no mortgage, and minimizing monthly expenses.

I have a handful of links I'll share when I get some time. Ronin's book seems like a worthy investment at $10...

 

[UK4X4]

Mario (AT Trailers) posted a thread on this a while back, and even started on one, I seem to remember.

I too looked at it, but there are some issues...........

Shipping they are big and heavy and requires a crane at both ends

remote properties don't usually have a nice wide heavy duty road going to them, you'd have to build one

The plot then needs enough space suitable for a 40ft truck to turn arround space for the crane and the plot for the container

Heat- these things get real hot, in the sun , they would need some sort of roof screen and insulation.

By the time you have paid for all that a standard stick built would be cheaper and easier to accomplish.


Here's an example of a simple efficient stick build, in the woods.

http://www.countryplans.com/nash.html

There are many others on the site, built by hand - most under 20K finished
lots being remote and having restricted access, ATV - jeep trail.

I went to see my property for the first time yesterday ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,access will be a nightmare.

the undergrowth is 2 meters high and thick enough that you physically can't get through it.

The pretty pics my friend took are not my property.......8-(

Mine was further on further up steeper and has a stand of 120-150 ft high Aspens, I could only see about

the access trail is only suitable for a jeep..........and last used about 5 years ago

 

[wanderer-rrorc]

Mario (AT Trailers) posted a thread on this a while back, and even started on one, I seem to remember.

I too looked at it, but there are some issues...........

Shipping they are big and heavy and requires a crane at both ends

The plot then needs enough space suitable for a 40ft truck to turn arround space for the crane and the plot for the container

Heat- these things get real hot, in the sun , they would need some sort of roof screen and insulation.

By the time you have paid for all that a standard stick built would be cheaper and easier to accomplish.

yall are missin one VERY neat thing...UNDERGROUND/berm houses made from shipping containers..partially burry them into a hillside or mound dirt upto and onto them on flatter areas...underground IS the way to go..initally more expensive but heating/cooling costs are 10% of a regular house!!

a 40ftrs weigh from 6-9K..Ive seen them loaded on pickup trailers (gooseneck/5th wheel)...and dragged off with dozers/loaders (not bobcats)..and positioned..ya can crane them to stackem but shouldnt really need them..

they sell them in 20ft'rs too!!

refridgerated ones are insulated!


the truck doesnt need to turn around on the property..just be able to get in and out..some drivers are EXPERTS in backing in!


I just wish I had found this type of house before we built our last one...otherwise we would have done a hillside container home!!

oh..the only REAL problem is that ya gotta get the drainage right..get water AWAY from the house...other than that...GAME ON!!

 

[Dave Bennett]

Very cool IMO

 

[jesusgatos]

This is becoming really popular, and there is a lot of information about this on the internet. But they're just building materials, like anything else. I don't necessarily want to live in a shipping container, but I'm certainly going to use a few of them to build my house/cabin. I bought my first 40footer about a year ago, and right I'm using it for storage, while I'm traveling. Going to keep collecting shipping containers, and other building materials as I come up on them, over the next few years. Whenever I figure out where I want to build a house/cabin, I'll just haul all that stuff out there, and start building. Thinking something kinda ewok-village-ish. Plan on living in My motorhome until then, and I can drop the camper box off the back of the truck, so I'll be able to use my deuce and a half to haul building materials and whatnot.

1) build a motorhome
2) figure out where I want to live (travel)
3) set up camp
4) build a workshop
5) build a home out of the workshop

 

[jesusgatos]

Gotta be really careful about putting shipping containers underground. They're meant to carry all their weight at the corners, and can't handle much weight on the panels. Certainly do-able, but requires some additional bracing.

 

[southpier]

they're beating this to death over here, too:


http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=599868&highlight=container+homes


anyone come up with budget numbers for these things? how much, if anything, are we really saving?

and the earth berm thing apparently doesn't work, either

 

[kai38]

At a retirement party last month another firemen mentioned about shipping containers converted to homes. They are sold pre plumbed and you move them were you want to visit/live. They are shipped say to Australia, Singapore, South Africa etc. There are communities were people live in these. They are delivered, set in place, plumbing hooked up and plugged into the electrical grid in the park. You then base out of this home and stay in the country as your visa says then off to the next spot.
Anyone heard of this? I can't find anything on line close to the description.
Sounds interesting though.

 

[mrlocksmith]

I have been researching this idea for a very long time. It is not that practical for me at the moment but I would consider it among my top choices.

Here are a few of the web pages that I have found on the subject that may help but the “fabprefab” website has the best collection of links. Also I have herd that there is some type of high R value paint that that acts as insulation or has a high reflective quality that can be used to cut down on the heat.

http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/containerbayhome.htm

These guys are about 60 miles from my house in Santa Rosa CA. I went and saw the homes they had on their lot about 4 years ago. They are a great “ready maid” solution. However they are not up to code in CA so they “officially” cannot be used as dwellings.

http://www.globalportablebuildings.com/


I think the trick is to find an area where no one would mind if they were used as a dwelling or see of kept a trailer chassis under it and qualified as an RV like a Park Model home.

 

[jeepdreamer]

What have I begun...?

Wow! This thread sure kinda took off!?! Didn't really expect that...but Yea!
Thanks for all the input guys. I will have to ask your forebarance with me when I post here as I am not the greatest orator and organizer of my thoughts. I have a tendency to ramble and occasionally go tangent hunting... Sorry in advance.
One of the greatest sources for my info searching has been Ronin.
http://renaissanceronin.wordpress.com/author/renaissanceronin/
His writing style and humor make learning easier and he has been doing this a long time. Worth checking out if you'd like more experience and a better, in depth look at building with these metal monsters. I hope that this thread will not lend the air that I know much about these things. I don't. I am learning and have a great interest...but I am at the begining.
There have already been some fantastic points raised on here...stuff I myself have wondered and thought of and head scratched over.
Why containers? Without getting to indepth here I will try and answer from my own perspective. Most of the sites dealing with building out of recycled or "green" or alternative stuff will bury you in dogma. They "why" it is better usually is a veil for a political or enviornmental stance. Thats fine I suppose but I just want info...not have someone elses beliefs accost me. So I will attempt to explain why I am interested in building a "Connex home" for my baser, less saintly reasons.
Money.
Yes, that great root of all things evil is my prime motivator. I've owned houses. I've BUILT houses. I've financed them and rented them and bought and sold them. But to be honest I have never felt...happy(?) with what I had, what I spent, and what it was supposedly worth. And with the cost of everything rising I wonder how long it will be before people can no longer afford much more than a tent? So I looked around at strange things that could be purchased cheap to use to build a house. Honestly, I kind of just stumbled across the ISBU idea. No, its not mine (I'm nowhere near that smart!) but the idea is a good one! First of all they are EVERYWHERE! Seriously...next time you are just riding around think about one and you are sure to see one within a few minutes if you look. On the back of a truck, in some warehouse parking lot...a construction site maybe.. But what does that mean? Well, Supply and demand. Here in The good ol' USA we IMport a LOT of stuff. Much of this stuff comes from China, Korea, Japan, India...where ever. But these countries send them in containers on a ship and they arrive in a port. Since it is not very cost effective to send an empty container (or even an entire boat load of them) back to the original country...what happens to them? They get stored, right? Well, we are not talking about boxes of matches...these things are big! And heavy! Even stacked as high as they can they take up a great deal of real estate when not being used. And they have to be inspected and certified to be used for comercial applications. If you had say 500 containers in your yard and only used about 100 of them, would you pay to have them all inspected and or repaired? Not likley. Niether do they. But after a while they have to do something with them....So they sell them. Cheap. Well, they used to be REAL cheap...but as more and more people find other uses for them the price goes up.
But it is my opinion that buying a couple containers and setting them on pilings is far cheaper than pouring a slab or piers and stick framing. The actual $dollar$ amount may not be that far appart but when you factor in labor (speed) and strength ( amount of material required) and endurance (cost of upkeep/repair) I think the container wins hands down.

 

[jeepdreamer]

Warning...!

yall are missin one VERY neat thing...UNDERGROUND/berm houses made from shipping containers..partially burry them into a hillside or mound dirt upto and onto them on flatter areas...underground IS the way to go..initally more expensive but heating/cooling costs are 10% of a regular house!!

a 40ftrs weigh from 6-9K..Ive seen them loaded on pickup trailers (gooseneck/5th wheel)...and dragged off with dozers/loaders (not bobcats)..and positioned..ya can crane them to stackem but shouldnt really need them..

they sell them in 20ft'rs too!!

refridgerated ones are insulated!


the truck doesnt need to turn around on the property..just be able to get in and out..some drivers are EXPERTS in backing in!


I just wish I had found this type of house before we built our last one...otherwise we would have done a hillside container home!!

oh..the only REAL problem is that ya gotta get the drainage right..get water AWAY from the house...other than that...GAME ON!!

This was one of my first ideas...and to be honest it won't work. I hate to admit defeat but if you want an under ground swelling you should pony up for concrete. Why? Well as mentioned...the ISBU is engineered to carry load a very certain way. That does not...NOT, include the pressures that would be found in a submerged and buried house.
COULD it be done? well...yes. But the cost of reinforcing the steel walls would quickly outdistance the cost of concrete. Seriously...I had hoped to do the same thing for the same reason but I have had to look in another direction for savings and saftey!
Please do not bury your Connex!

 

[jeepdreamer]

Subscribing. I've been internet researching this on and off for the last year. I'm looking to downsize, as well as build my own. Off the top of my head I believe I might be able to make a nice small energy efficient dwelling for under $40k. I'm talking 2 40' units for about 640sf.

I'm interested in recycling materials & appliances (Craigslist), utilizing wind and/or solar, greenroof (living roof), building it myself, no mortgage, and minimizing monthly expenses.

I have a handful of links I'll share when I get some time. Ronin's book seems like a worthy investment at $10...

* I'm with you sir!*
My goal is to find some land in Colorado and build my own during my free time and as money allows. The hardest part is deciding what you can/are willing to "live with" size wise. I already own 2 40' HC containers but my intent is to space them appart about 16 feet. Thereby doubling my sq. footage. I can also go up if need be but I need to finish my thinking first. How much house I need is only relevant to what I feel comfy in...right? I could live in a tent. I could live in an empty warehouse...but what is the most suitable for me and the most cost effective? I'm still working on that part...heehee.
Some of the ideas and "trends" out there are appealing to me...some not so much. The "green or living roof"...uh, I don't know. Sounds interesting but much like burying the container I don't know how cost effective it would be long term? I may just use SIPs for the roof and do metal roofing on top for that log cabiny feel...?
One thing I can appreciate is Craigslist! Following along behind the "popular" people that are selling last years "trendy" stuff cheap...is great! "Oh...stainless steel is not IN anymore"...so they sell it, cheap. And I get a great deal on an almost new appliance that is efficent and works well. Yea!