My brother lives on 7 acres of land and I'm thinking of building a shipping container home on it.
I'm
pretty minimal. I have my PC and TV for making and playing video games ,
and a bed. I don't really need much more than a single room. Heck, my
bedroom now is pretty bare as it is. So, yeah, a small space suits me
just fine + we're talking about growing vegetables and raising chickens
out at his place and I reckon that'd be pretty sweet to learn how to do.
Looking
at it all, we estimate that it'll cost me about 8-9k to do. That
includes installing a deck out the front and stuff as well.
Anyway, I'm wondering a few things:
-
Is it worth ripping up the floors that come with containers? I can get a
container that has only done the single trip for like 4.5k. I know a
lot of them get sprayed for pesticides and can be dangerous to live in,
but I figure a single trip container should be pretty safe. We're
planning on insulating the floor and putting down vapour guard and
cement sheets and then lino tiles on top anyway.
-
Do you have to de-fumigate these things before fitting them out? For
that do you just leave them open and let them air out for a couple of
days?
- Do you have to use some sort of
sealant on the metal walls both outside and in? The inside will be
plastered and stuff, but the outside is just going to be metal for a
while until we clad it.
Any other tips or advice would be much appreciated.
Non Sequitur
Aug 17, 18 11:11 am
So many questions
Shipping containers are so pasé. Why bother when you could easily make a nice small house using conventional wood stud framing and skip all the damn container in the first place? Do you want to live in a stinking warm corrugated steel coffin?
If you answer to question 1 above is: "fuck-off man, I ain't subjecting myself to your world view, I'm a trailblazer and ain't no unknown online forum member going to keep me from my sexy container gaming castle", then you have far more issues to deal with that simply putting down cheap linoleum tile flooring. Have you considered simple basics like windows and doors? What about heating and ventilation? Cooling? Power? Plumbing?
How old are you? This sounds like some ill-thought out junior high-school club house type scheme.
You only need slightly larger than a prison cell to live? Cool, if that's what you dig, but it sounds just miserable. At least there are amenities and basic creature comforts available in jail.
Location matters. Are detached living units even allowed? What do your local zoning and building codes dictate?
xhaydenx
Aug 17, 18 4:52 pm
1. We figured the shipping container would be good because it'd handle the basic structure for us.
Miles Jaffe
Aug 17, 18 11:30 am
$9,000? Waste of money. You can get any number of large cardboard boxes for free. All you need then is some good tape. Probably do the whole project for under $100.
xhaydenx
Aug 17, 18 5:00 pm
Do they come with windows and doors?
$100 sounds pretty good.
Wilma Buttfit
Aug 17, 18 11:34 am
yeah, you should think through water, sewer, laws before picking your flooring. That stuff costs a lot of money.
poop876
Aug 17, 18 11:46 am
That's some expensive siding!
AlinaF
Aug 17, 18 12:25 pm
'Some advice would be good.'
Here's some advice then:
Don't do it.
tduds
Aug 17, 18 12:59 pm
My advice is also: don't.
Wood Guy
Aug 17, 18 2:05 pm
I'm all for small, simple spaces, and have discussed shipping containers with potential clients several times. My advice is always that if cost is a factor, it will be much more affordable to stick-frame a structure of the same size. If you're committed to the idea of using a container, make sure it's an extra-tall type, and hire someone who understands control layers and ventilation systems, or you will have a mold problem.
xhaydenx
Aug 17, 18 5:00 pm
Yeah, we're going to be looking right into mould prevention and everything.
proto
Aug 17, 18 2:10 pm
don't listen to these naysayers; not one of them has been as bold as you and pursued their dream shipping container designs; they have no idea how these things work
i say just do it and learn along the way
keep posting updates in this thread with pics, and create a series of youtube vids of the big steps in the process. hashtag as many of the materials and fixtures as possible
your vision is worth pursuing; ignore the experts
Non Sequitur
Aug 17, 18 2:15 pm
I.... I loved every part of this reply
xhaydenx
Aug 17, 18 5:03 pm
I appreciate the extra effort you went to in order to just say 'don't do it' haha. Love the youtube vids bit.
Archicore
Aug 17, 18 9:19 pm
Oh.... I can see it now....
All joking aside, I agree with the others. It probably won't be as cool, or as simple as you might think.
Save up some more money, do some research on tiny homes if that's your sort of thing, and hire a good architect. They'll design for problems you never even imagined you'd have, and you'll be thankful for it when 5-10 years down the road the design still holds up just as well.
I'd hate to think of someone living out of one of these things, no matter how nicely renovated, but maybe that's just me.
Miles Jaffe
Aug 17, 18 11:48 pm
Buy an Airstream.
randomised
Aug 18, 18 2:11 am
I'd either go with a yurt, a nice Romney hut, a greenhouse or build my own Earthship if I were in your position and skip the shipping container all together.
Wilma Buttfit
Aug 18, 18 12:07 pm
yes indeed
Wilma Buttfit
Aug 18, 18 9:36 pm
Do a rammed earth structure and blog here about it. Please.
Not a single helpful comment on here, and we wonder why “no one values us.”
randomised
Aug 27, 18 3:48 am
plenty of helpful comments on here, I think this has been one of the threads with the most helpful comments in a while.
JLC-1
Aug 27, 18 11:15 am
with shipping containers you need to shade the exterior and insulate the interior (not just the floor but the walls and roof as well)
Yes, just told him to bury it, you think your comment is more valuable because it has more words?
archi_dude
Aug 24, 18 11:29 pm
So basically with shipping containers you need to shade the exterior and insulate the interior (not just the floor but the walls and roof as well) otherwise it will be an oven. Also the metal siding acts as a diaphragm that provides lateral resistance to the frame. As soon as you start cutting holes in it for windows and doors it loses its structural integrity and you need to reinforce around those openings. Basically in the end you are paying a lot for a prefab tube steel rectangle that needs to be completely retrofitted to work. In no way is it prefab and ready to just have cladding and interiors added. Check out modular walls or units or even just build small instead. Shipping containers are a very unrealistic option that you’ll probably spend more money on just for a look of refab.
JLC-1
Aug 27, 18 11:14 am
with shipping containers you need to shade the exterior and insulate the interior (not just the floor but the walls and roof as well)
Finjohn
Dec 17, 18 11:52 am
This guy is one of our repeat customers and has built some very cool storage container homes and stores. Tim Dean is the owner and he would be able to give you some tips and advice. http://www.preservationtinyhou...
First off, a container house may or may not have the right geometries for a house and the rooms. You can more easily use pre-fab wall panels and some wood framing and build a house that will comply with building codes and possibly still do it for less than the cost of the shipping container and the work you need to do to make it compliant. Shipping containers are designed for use as buildings.
maurz, how are you going to live in a 2 ft. wide by 40 ft. long container? Think about how you word things because that is what your words actually are saying grammatically even though our common sense knows that is not what you meant but make sure you are saying what you think you are saying.
Almosthip
Jun 16, 21 11:33 am
Just say "No" to shipping containers as architecture
Everyday Architect
Jun 16, 21 11:52 am
Additionally, just say "No" to resurrecting dead threads just to spam your youtube channel.
My brother lives on 7 acres of land and I'm thinking of building a shipping container home on it.
I'm pretty minimal. I have my PC and TV for making and playing video games , and a bed. I don't really need much more than a single room. Heck, my bedroom now is pretty bare as it is. So, yeah, a small space suits me just fine + we're talking about growing vegetables and raising chickens out at his place and I reckon that'd be pretty sweet to learn how to do.
Looking at it all, we estimate that it'll cost me about 8-9k to do. That includes installing a deck out the front and stuff as well.
Anyway, I'm wondering a few things:
- Is it worth ripping up the floors that come with containers? I can get a container that has only done the single trip for like 4.5k. I know a lot of them get sprayed for pesticides and can be dangerous to live in, but I figure a single trip container should be pretty safe. We're planning on insulating the floor and putting down vapour guard and cement sheets and then lino tiles on top anyway.
- Do you have to de-fumigate these things before fitting them out? For that do you just leave them open and let them air out for a couple of days?
- Do you have to use some sort of sealant on the metal walls both outside and in? The inside will be plastered and stuff, but the outside is just going to be metal for a while until we clad it.
Any other tips or advice would be much appreciated.
So many questions
1. We figured the shipping container would be good because it'd handle the basic structure for us.
$9,000? Waste of money. You can get any number of large cardboard boxes for free. All you need then is some good tape. Probably do the whole project for under $100.
Do they come with windows and doors? $100 sounds pretty good.
yeah, you should think through water, sewer, laws before picking your flooring. That stuff costs a lot of money.
That's some expensive siding!
'Some advice would be good.'
Here's some advice then:
Don't do it.
My advice is also: don't.
I'm all for small, simple spaces, and have discussed shipping containers with potential clients several times. My advice is always that if cost is a factor, it will be much more affordable to stick-frame a structure of the same size. If you're committed to the idea of using a container, make sure it's an extra-tall type, and hire someone who understands control layers and ventilation systems, or you will have a mold problem.
Yeah, we're going to be looking right into mould prevention and everything.
don't listen to these naysayers; not one of them has been as bold as you and pursued their dream shipping container designs; they have no idea how these things work
i say just do it and learn along the way
keep posting updates in this thread with pics, and create a series of youtube vids of the big steps in the process. hashtag as many of the materials and fixtures as possible
your vision is worth pursuing; ignore the experts
I.... I loved every part of this reply
I appreciate the extra effort you went to in order to just say 'don't do it' haha. Love the youtube vids bit.
Oh.... I can see it now....
All joking aside, I agree with the others. It probably won't be as cool, or as simple as you might think.
Save up some more money, do some research on tiny homes if that's your sort of thing, and hire a good architect. They'll design for problems you never even imagined you'd have, and you'll be thankful for it when 5-10 years down the road the design still holds up just as well.
I'd hate to think of someone living out of one of these things, no matter how nicely renovated, but maybe that's just me.
Buy an Airstream.
I'd either go with a yurt, a nice Romney hut, a greenhouse or build my own Earthship if I were in your position and skip the shipping container all together.
yes indeed
Do a rammed earth structure and blog here about it. Please.
bury it
Yes! Like in the Teletubbies.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4319880/Teletubbies-home-UNDERWATER.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0oFJ2jbkDI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPgjndFqqwY
Guy is a boatbuilder of high-end yachts who travels a lot.
Finally! Something I actually have experience in.
I would suggest you don't, its extremely costly to set up properly, riddled with energy efficiency issues and its just bloody miserable living in one.
Read this
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/art...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/...
https://londonist.com/london/h...
Not a single helpful comment on here, and we wonder why “no one values us.”
plenty of helpful comments on here, I think this has been one of the threads with the most helpful comments in a while.
with shipping containers you need to shade the exterior and insulate the interior (not just the floor but the walls and roof as well)
Yes, just told him to bury it, you think your comment is more valuable because it has more words?
So basically with shipping containers you need to shade the exterior and insulate the interior (not just the floor but the walls and roof as well) otherwise it will be an oven. Also the metal siding acts as a diaphragm that provides lateral resistance to the frame. As soon as you start cutting holes in it for windows and doors it loses its structural integrity and you need to reinforce around those openings. Basically in the end you are paying a lot for a prefab tube steel rectangle that needs to be completely retrofitted to work. In no way is it prefab and ready to just have cladding and interiors added. Check out modular walls or units or even just build small instead. Shipping containers are a very unrealistic option that you’ll probably spend more money on just for a look of refab.
with shipping containers you need to shade the exterior and insulate the interior (not just the floor but the walls and roof as well)
This guy is one of our repeat customers and has built some very cool storage container homes and stores. Tim Dean is the owner and he would be able to give you some tips and advice. http://www.preservationtinyhou...
Have y'all seen this?
First off, a container house may or may not have the right geometries for a house and the rooms. You can more easily use pre-fab wall panels and some wood framing and build a house that will comply with building codes and possibly still do it for less than the cost of the shipping container and the work you need to do to make it compliant. Shipping containers are designed for use as buildings.
maurz, how are you going to live in a 2 ft. wide by 40 ft. long container? Think about how you word things because that is what your words actually are saying grammatically even though our common sense knows that is not what you meant but make sure you are saying what you think you are saying.
Just say "No" to shipping containers as architecture
Additionally, just say "No" to resurrecting dead threads just to spam your youtube channel.
Exactly, walking dead thread & spamming.