shipping container house - insulated, cheap and quick!

[paul wheaton]

I visited this last summer and finally got around to mashing all of the pics and clips into a youtube video ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csNeFYs8qpg

[poppy]

Now that example actually makes some sense.  $1700 for the already insulated container that looked to be 40 feet long; although if I recall correctly Sealand had some odd lengths as well.

These reefers used closed cell expanding foam I believe.

Not sure why they had to install a floor; cargo containers usually had a pretty good floor.

[MountainDon]

That's the first cargo container "house" I've seen that makes sense and that's because of the pre insulated walls; floor and ceiling too.  The price was good too.

[bayview]

   Sorry, I just don't see the fascination with these things.  They might be practical for temporary or emergency living.  Setting them up quickly after a disaster.    (Tsunami)

   The initial cost seems inexpensive.  But what is the real cost?  They refurbished the container, built the foundation and the addition for the bath, plumbing, wiring, etc. 

   All this work and its still an eyesore.  I can't imagine being a neighbor.

   They are living in about 500 sq. ft.  Seems more constructive and cost efficient to build a small home or cabin from scratch.


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[NM_Shooter]

No snow load for the roof though.  All the weight has to be on the walls and corners.

[speedfunk]

Thanks for posting paul and welcome 

[Pox Eclipse]

Not sure why they had to install a floor; cargo containers usually had a pretty good floor.

Depends one what you mean by "good".  I have loaded hundreds of refrigerated trailers, and they all had 1" grooved metal floors that are great for sliding cargo around, but not so good if you have to keep them clean or walk around barefoot.  Are insulated containers the same as this?

[speedfunk]

Those would make good holders for a raident pex tubing system would they not?  Run tubing in groves, cover with plywood or pour concrete, insulate under container...done 

[glenn kangiser]

That was cool, Paul.  Thanks.  Reminds me of my old days trucking.  I would want the reefer still hooked up for A/C - that would be really cool....hmm

[rick91351]

I am the last person to tell a person what to live in and what to put on their property.  The county, state and feds just can't seem to generate enough THOU SHALT NOTS.  That said, there is a definite down side to this type of housing and lets face it 'curb appeal'.  They are way, way down on the eye candy list.

If you find them attractive you would love those 150 stack car trains we run.  You know the ones where they stack two containers on top of each other that are loaded on a special built rail-car.  Wow that would give a whole new meaning to 'Well there goes the neighborhood.'  

I do think a 20 footer could be made into a very practical metal shop, or storage unit especially in a ranch / farm / homesteading setting however.  

[glenn kangiser]

I dunno, Rick.

You could lease the whole Cannonball out as condos, and we'd let you be the engineer.... and I want one with a reefer, please.... [ouch]

[poppy]

I stand corrected, Pox.  My memory is a little fuzzy; it's been about 35 years since I've been inside a cargo container and it was probably a standard model instead of a reefer and had a hardwood floor.

I remember some slotted floors that were aluminum extrusions.

[Freeholdfarm]

I've been doing quite a bit of research on using shipping containers for housing.  The reason is that I hope to eventually move to a small village in Alaska which is accessed only by air or by shipping stuff in in barges.  All building materials would have to be shipped in, and after considering that for a while, it occurred to me that it made sense to use the containers rather than just shipping stuff in them and discarding them.  Aesthetics isn't much of a consideration in that particular location, at least not nearly as much of a consideration as practicality. 

One thing I discovered was that a lot of shipping containers have held toxic chemicals at some point in their career, with the possibility of spills having soaked into the floor, so they need to be pressure-washed, and then the floor sealed and covered with some impervious flooring.  Another thing to consider is that all shipping containers are not created equal.  The ones intended for ocean shipping are much more rust resistant than the over-land ones. 

Figuring out how to turn one, two, or more twenty-foot shipping containers into a home for two people (the village doesn't have equipment to handle larger containers) is definitely a challenge!

Kathleen

[ak_rob]

Free
Most of the reefer cans didn't hall chemicals in them (i.e.food).
Next if the village has barge service I'll bet there is equipment to move it not your standard forklift and truck ,but cat,backhoe or bunch of four wheelers and snow machines. I seen some in some very remote places up here. Where there's a will there's a way

[Freeholdfarm]

Rob, I'm sure you are right that reefer containers probably haven't hauled chemicals, but how many of them are used for cross-ocean transport?  That's what I would want, for the rust resistance.

The village I'm looking at (contingent on how the economy does over the next few years) probably does have a forklift, as they have a fishing fleet and (used to have) a cannery.  But it's good to hear that there are other methods of moving the things!

Kathleen

[ak_rob]

The cans you are looking for are the sameone's they use to get frozen food to Alaska in gotta have our icecream.

[Freeholdfarm]

Well, I guess since they shut Matanuska Maid down, all the ice cream does have to come in from the Lower 48, doesn't it, LOL!  I hadn't thought about that!

Kathleen

[Pox Eclipse]

Rob, I'm sure you are right that reefer containers probably haven't hauled chemicals, but how many of them are used for cross-ocean transport? 

Thousands of tons of frozen Alaskan salmon get shipped to Japan every year.

[paul wheaton]

Sorry for the delay in responding - I was pushing another video up to youtube.

I'm glad some of you like the video.  It's great to get lots of credit for other people doing the work of building something cool! 

eyesore:  I think that was the point - if it's ugly enough, nobody will think to look and say "hey, that isn't up to code!"  And then when you get into your "real" house, the shipping container makes for great intern habitat ("this is way better than staying in a tent!").  If you made the place look too nice, then you might call it a "mother-in-law" house because it comes complete with a ... gasp!  .... mother-in-law!  But if it looks a bit rough outside, it keeps the mother-in-laws away!  Genius!

Snow load:  not really an issue in puget sound.

Glenn:  I know you want me to upload the footage of oehler's ridgetop house.  Take a look at the view count of the shipping container video (817 views in 4 days) vs. mike's videos (336 views in 12 days and 1201 views in 75 days).  I have about 20 different videos to push up this winter and lots of folks chomping at the bit for all of them.  I'm about to push up a tour of six cob homes, and another about a rocket mass heater for a greenhouse.

[bayview]

eyesore:  I think that was the point - if it's ugly enough, nobody will think to look and say "hey, that isn't up to code!"  And then when you get into your "real" house, the shipping container makes for great intern habitat ("this is way better than staying in a tent!").  If you made the place look too nice, then you might call it a "mother-in-law" house because it comes complete with a ... gasp!  .... mother-in-law!  But if it looks a bit rough outside, it keeps the mother-in-laws away!  Genius!

   Thanks for the tip!  I have been getting way to many family members coming to visit . . .   Mostly in laws!


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[glenn kangiser]

Sorry for the delay in responding - I was pushing another video up to youtube.

I'm glad some of you like the video.  It's great to get lots of credit for other people doing the work of building something cool! 

eyesore:  I think that was the point - if it's ugly enough, nobody will think to look and say "hey, that isn't up to code!"  And then when you get into your "real" house, the shipping container makes for great intern habitat ("this is way better than staying in a tent!").  If you made the place look too nice, then you might call it a "mother-in-law" house because it comes complete with a ... gasp!  .... mother-in-law!  But if it looks a bit rough outside, it keeps the mother-in-laws away!  Genius!

Snow load:  not really an issue in puget sound.

Glenn:  I know you want me to upload the footage of oehler's ridgetop house.  Take a look at the view count of the shipping container video (817 views in 4 days) vs. mike's videos (336 views in 12 days and 1201 views in 75 days).  I have about 20 different videos to push up this winter and lots of folks chomping at the bit for all of them.  I'm about to push up a tour of six cob homes, and another about a rocket mass heater for a greenhouse.

Whenever you have time to fit it in is fine with me Paul.  Thanks.

[RainDog]

 
Thought y'all might enjoy looking at Jimmy Lee's work with container homes featured in Tiny House Blog.

http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-house-concept/jimmys-container-home-update/#more-9979

His business, ContainerHome.net, in Costa Rica's website:

http://www.containerhomes.net/

[Pox Eclipse]

Not surprisingly, there is quite an extensive article on container architecture on Wikipedia.  Here is some pictures of a small house in Minneapolis that includes two containers:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roludsgn/1036204298/

[bayview]

Not surprisingly, there is quite an extensive article on container architecture on Wikipedia.  Here is some pictures of a small house in Minneapolis that includes two containers:

  Another eyesore . . . Is there a reason these containers can't be painted or sided with something?


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[RainDog]

  Another eyesore . . . Is there a reason these containers can't be painted or sided with something?

Eye of the beholder, I guess. That particular one doesn't really work for me either, but hey.

People that use unconventional materials in building often, understandably, want to showcase what they've done, and many of the homes featuring unfinished containers are good looking in an industrial, edgy sort of way.

In any case, they can be gussied up too. Here's an article and photos about a 3000 sq. ft. home built with containers, though I have to kinda doubt the stated pricetag.

http://www.lowimpactliving.com/blog/2009/07/07/affordable-shipping-container-house-in-quebec/#more-2445

Also, here's a link to a Georgia-based company that produces shipping container structures for multiple uses. Professional and serious looking website, though they do commit the cardinal sin of loading a very brief, looping sound file without permission when you open it.

http://www.idscontainer.com/