SHIPPING CONTAINER HOME

How To Build Your Dream Home Using Containers. Everything You Need To Know. The Most Complete Guide For Beginners With Amazing Ideas, Plans And Designs.

Thomas Grant

Copyright © 2021 Thomas Grant

All rights reserved. The content contained within this book may not be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the author or the publisher. Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held against the publisher, or author, for any damages, reparation, or monetary loss due to the information contained within this book. Either directly or indirectly. Legal Notice: This book is copyright protected. This book is only for personal use. You cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part, or the content within this book, without the consent of the author or publisher. Disclaimer Notice: Please note the information contained within this document is for educational and entertainment purposes only. All effort has been executed to present accurate, up to date, and reliable, complete information. No warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaging in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice. The content within this book has been derived from various sources. Please consult a licensed professional before attempting any techniques outlined in this book. By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances is the author responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, which are incurred as a result of the use of information contained within this document, including, but not limited to, — errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. History

The Inventor of the Shipping Container

The World Before Shipping Container Home

Shipping Container Architecture

Shipping Container Home Trend

The Modern Transformations

Chapter 2. 7 Benefits of Shipping Container Home Design

Affordable

Easy to Use and Construct

Sooner, The Better

Let Your Imagination Go Free

Get Them Where You Want Them

Environment Friendly

Personal Style Statement

Chapter 3. The Shipping Container Pros and Cons

Chapter 4. Steps to Build a Container Home

Decide Your Top Priority for Your Home

Estimate How Many Square Feet You Will Need

Find Yourself the Perfect 20' Shipping Container

Zoning & Permits

Planning Your Build

Setting a Realistic Budget

Site Preparation

Rust Treatment and Prevention

Chapter 5. Design Your Shipping Container Home

Inspiration

Size And Layout

Positioning and Orientation

Floor Plan and Site Layout

Topography and Drainage

Access

Chapter 6. Examples of Plans to Design Your Home

Plan 1

Plan 2

Plan 3

Plan 4

Plan 5

Plan 6

Plan 7

Plan 8

Plan 9

Plan 10

Plan 11

Plan 12

Chapter 7. Site Preparation

Marking and Staking

Clearing and Grubbing

Grading, Cut, and Fill

Erosion Control

Road Building

Fencing and Security

Chapter 8. Types of Foundations

Concrete Piers

Pile Foundations

Concrete Slab-On-Grade Foundations

Wooden Beams (Railroad Ties)

Metal Foundations

Chemical Contamination

Chapter 9. Some Things to Keep in Mind When Constructing a Shipping Container Home

Chapter 10. Openings and Modifications

Adeguate Windows/Doors

Reinforce Openings

Front Entrance Door Frame

Chapter 11. Framing and Partitions

Partitioning

Thermal Barrier

Pre-Treated Timber Studs

Interior Walls

Insulation

Installing A Ceiling

Chapter 12. Electrical And Plumbing

Electrical Wiring

Plumbing

Air Conditioning

Phone Line

Lighting Point Terminal and Power Sockets

Chapter 13. Insulation and Temperature Control

Why Your Container Home Needs Insulation

Your Container Home’s Climate

Heating, Cooling, Or Both

Top 8 Insulation Materials

Spray Foam

Glass Wool Insulation Blanket

Insulation Panels

Plastered Finish

Eco-Friendly Insulation Materials

Recycled Materials

Reflective Roofs and Walls

Living Roofs and Walls

Chapter 14. Roof and Flooring

Different Roof Styles

Shed

Gable

Flat

How To Put a Roof?

Creating A Rooftop Garden

How To Cover Your Container Floors

Plywood (Sub)-Flooring

Bamboo Flooring

Fiber Cement Board (Fcb)

Ceramic Flooring

Wood-Strand Cement Board (Wscb)

Impact Of Condensation

Chapter 15. Interior Design Ideas

Sliding Doors

Convertible Couches

Mirrors

Rooms Without Walls

Creative Lighting

Less Is More

Chapter 16. Exterior Cladding and Finishing

Visual Harmony with Surroundings

External Insulation

Chapter 17. Building Regulations for Shipping Container Homes

Container Home Building Regulations

Property Zoning

Building Codes and Permits

Mobile, Modular, and Manufactured Building Codes

Tips to Get Your Container Home Permit

Chapter 18. Alternate Ways to Use Shipping Containers

Chapter 19. The Future for Shipping Container Homes

Chapter 20. How to Find A Shipping Container?

Chapter 21. Frequently Asked Questions

Can A Shipping Container Survive a Tornado?

How Do Container Homes Get Water?

Central Heating — Warm Air or Radiators?

Is Cork Insulation Good for Container Homes?

What Is the Standard Size of a Shipping Container Home?

What States Allow Shipping Container Homes?

Do Shipping Container Homes Rust?

How Long Will My Shipping Container Home Last?

Is It Dangerous to Live in A Shipping Container Home?

Chapter 22. The Most Original Realizations

Conclusion

Introduction

There are many things to consider when building a container house. This book will provide you with some of the most important information needed to start your project with confidence.

Before building a container house, the most important thing to consider is to determine what type of materials you need. If you plan to use metal, please make sure that it is approved for use in your area and has a good ventilation system installed, and does not rely on windows as they can easily break. Natural insulation from straw or hay should also be considered, as well as the cost of insulating all those walls and ceilings yourself.

The second most important thing to think about is your home's ventilation. If you're planning on using plastic for your walls, make sure they're built to last and have a good ventilation system in place that can provide enough airflow in the summer. If you decide to use metal or wood for walls, make sure they are strong enough to withstand the movement of the house, and all doors and windows are large enough to pass through. The best ventilation system is a continuous one in which there is no dead air space between any of the materials like in a window or door, so you must plan wisely.

The construction cost of your project is the third most significant factor to consider.

Building a shipping container home can cost as little as $2,000, while others may easily exceed six figures. If you're thinking of building a more expensive container home, make sure that you have a way of transporting it to your location and that it's structurally sound. Shipping containers are built to withstand a lot of damage and can be reused, but if they crack or tear in transit, they'll need to be replaced.

The fourth most important thing to consider is how much time you have to build your home. Some shipping container homes are built in a matter of weeks while others can take years. If you're planning on building a small shipping container home on your own, it will likely take at least several months before you'll be able to move inside.

The fifth most important thing to consider is whether or not local building codes allow the use of shipping containers in residential areas. There are some places where using a shipping container for anything at all would be considered illegal, and there are other places where the use of metal for buildings is welcomed but not wood or plastic. Before starting your project, make sure everything is legal by checking with your local government.

The final most important thing to think about is whether or not you want to build a home or an office. Some people don't mind having a separate room for the container, while others prefer to live in it and keep it completely open. If you've decided on building a separate area in your container, make sure that space isn't being wasted by making it too small and ugly.

Chapter 1.   History

The Inventor of the Shipping Container

In the early 1960s, Malcolm McLean came up with the idea of a metal container that could be loaded onto a ship, carried across the ocean, and then transported by truck to become a building — an idea that became known as the shipping container.

It wasn't just any old container though. This was no ordinary box for moving around heavy goods. It was an idea that would change everything.

McLean saw the potential in these ports and set about convincing people that his ideas were worth investing in; to some, it seemed like madness at first, but he convinced them all eventually.

The first of its kind was the Ideal-X, a tanker built-in 1962. It had been constructed without the use of rivets and a new way of welding containers together had been invented to make the ship watertight.

It took 18 months for it to be constructed, but it was completed and soon put into action. After only two years though, it had been scrapped and all future ships were built with this new method of construction.

In 1964, McLean founded Sea-Land Service Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee, to transport containers. In the same year, he persuaded former naval architect Paul Siple to come on board, and together they created a design for a new type of container.

The new container was made of steel and welded together into one unit with its own racking at the sides. It had sliding doors so that it could be stacked on top of each other, making it much easier to transport. This also enabled containers to be moved about by forklift trucks which were used extensively in ports around the country at this time.

The first use for this system was by Sea-Land, who accepted their first order in 1966 for 20 containers from New York docks and shipped them all over the world.

The container was very much a hit with the public and Sea-Land as the company's cargo handling business increased through the late '60s. The container was then used by other shipping companies and by port authorities to transport goods including water, heavy machinery, coal, and oil.

In February 1969, McLean proposed a much larger container called the intermodal container (IMC), which could carry many different types of goods such as oil, gas, and chemicals. This quickly became successful worldwide.

The IMC was made bigger and stronger than the previous container and could carry more cargo, making it more efficient. The first shipment of this type of container left in May, 1969, with 150 containers from Europe to the US.

McLean's design became an industry standard for the transport of goods all over the world by road, rail, or sea. It meant that products could be shipped faster and cheaper than ever before, which led to huge businesses being set up to transport goods over the years.

In 2007 Malcolm McLean passed away aged 90, but his invention is still affecting business and trade today as we can transport goods much faster than before thanks to his bold new idea.

The World Before Shipping Container Home

Before the days of the container home, people used to house themselves in small apartments with featureless walls. There would be a shared bathroom and kitchen for everyone living in that space. Many families lived this way because it was affordable yet not very desirable to live in a tiny apartment together with your whole family. The popularity of shipping containers is just one recent development that has caused this simple lifestyle change in many communities on Earth.

One of the most popular developments is installing shipping containers as homes for families when they bought out their local real estate market and now have more money than they need to spend on a new home — at least one which has features like private rooms.

Shipping Container Architecture

The origins of shipping container architecture can be traced back to the 1950s when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey created a new system for container traffic. This system was designed to relieve congestion at Newark, Elizabeth, and other ports by managing the volume of containers entering and leaving these ports on time. The first implementation of the system was in 1953 with its rudimentary design consisting of two straight tracks, each with a pair of handling arms attached to it so that trains could transfer containers between them.

Although the track design is still used today, this early implementation did not feature specific dimensions or locations for all types of cargo. Since then, designers have spent decades developing new designs based on alternative specifications around dimensions, crane heights, and capacities. In the mid-1950s, engineers began to consider the practicalities of using shipping containers for modular buildings. The idea was largely dismissed due to a lack of standardized design and a need for a larger crane to transfer and stack containers even though the components of container buildings were smaller than traditional units.

According to some reports, architects from the firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) were responsible for developing the first iteration of modern shipping container architecture. In 1981, they converted two intermodal steel modules into temporary offices while constructing their corporate headquarters in downtown Chicago. This is commonly attributed to being the first instance of shipping container architecture in the United States, although earlier examples of their use in this manner were already being produced in Europe.

The development of shipping container architecture took a significant leap forward when architect Richard Buckminster Fuller began using them as a means of developing inexpensive emergency housing following devastating natural disasters. In 1976, he led an initiative to build a hospital in Sudan with his own design, which was later comprised of three discarded containers. The resulting structure was able to provide basic medical services for the local population. Later he constructed another prototype called Fuller Domes that were used as the main venue for Expo '67 that served as an experiment for the Montreal Biosphere built 10 years later.

In 1984, the Container Home Corporation developed a prefabricated housing unit with standardized dimensions and modularity to address widespread issues with the housing market. They went as far as to publish a technical instruction manual for building large units that were suited for various uses and climates.

Going into the 1990s, shipping container architecture had become popular enough that its use was being made by architects who were focused on the environment. These architects saw that shipping containers could be used to build new communities instead of further driving up the ecological and social devastation caused by global settlements. The first examples of this movement occurred in Australia where a group of various architects built their homes around steel containers.

Shipping container architecture has been implemented in a variety of different ways, however. This diversity ranges from residential housing to office buildings and even the World Trade Center (WTC). The major difference is that shipping container architecture is typically implemented as a direct response to an already existing problem, and there is no guarantee that this will lead to the betterment of the overall environment. It is a practice that usually involves reusing materials and utilizing readily available means, as well as the ability to scale designs up or down, depending on needs.

Shipping Container Home Trend

Shipping container homes are a trend that could be on the verge of taking off. This is a concept that has been in the works for many years but is only now starting to see real traction. If this movement takes off, it would be an excellent way to make use of the plenty of cargo containers around the world with each being built as a single-family residence within one or two days.

The concept was first explored by Michael Reynolds in the 1980s before the idea started to gain momentum in New Zealand, and has since started to spread throughout the rest of the world.

In New Zealand, around 30% of all houses are built from shipping containers due to their low cost and ease of assembly. These containers have made home building affordable for many people who otherwise could not afford to buy a house. To help promote this movement, Reynolds created a non-profit organization called WikiHouse Foundation that makes plans for shipping container homes available to everyone at no cost.

The Modern Transformations

The shipping industry has been in demand for decades now, and it's an industry that continues to grow. Along with the growth, many people are looking for solutions to not only make their lives easier but also look better and improve the way they live. And who could argue with the idea of a modern transformation? If you're anything like me, you've seen your share of shipping containers made into lofts or restaurants. This trend is becoming increasingly prevalent all over the world as cities like London start adopting this as a new construction process.

Chapter 2.   7 Benefits of Shipping Container Home Design

Affordable

The average cost of this sort of home or office is very affordable. It is cheaper to purchase a container and turn it into a secure and comfortable home than to buy a normal property in a cheap town area.

A used container can currently be picked up for about $1,500USD. This is the base cost for 305sq feet of floor space. When you compare it to the expense of more conventional building forms, it's a pretty good deal.

Used container homes are more economical to produce than traditional methods of construction.

Easy to Use and Construct

Shipping Container Homes are easy to use and construct. All you need is a property and a pile of shipping containers to get started.

Sooner, The Better

Shipping Container Homes are living better than ever and will only continue to grow in demand as time goes on. Right now, living in a shipping container home is considered glamorous by some, but others are still amazed by the idea of the container home. Some people have been skeptical about whether or not these homes meet all of their needs and requirements for housing when you consider that they offer such luxury living while getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Let Your Imagination Go Free

Container homes are a cost-effective alternative to traditional buildings. They provide a healthy, safe, and warm living space. Learning about how the shipping container home functions will help you decide if this is right for you.

Get Them Where You Want Them

Container homes are a growing trend in many real estate markets. They offer cost-effectiveness, exceptional insulation, and energy efficiency. In addition, the walls of a container house are typically about one-eighth the weight of conventional construction materials such as concrete and steel. Shipping container homes can also be shipped fully assembled to any location on the globe by truck or ship which makes them the perfect solution for people who want to move their home to a new location but don't have time for a long-distance move. Evidence of the rising popularity of these homes is seen in the media, where not finding a container house to move into on HGTV is considered a "home-flipping" disaster, with the homeowners' dilemma usually being one of too little time and too many moving boxes.

Environment Friendly

So, how green can vibrant shipping containers be?

Response: They can be as green as you would like them to be.

Think of your home more like an 'eco-pod' if you want to go down a very green path. By placing a few solar panels on the roof, you could generate your electricity. If you're close to a river or a quick-flowing stream, you can use hydro.

A 'Green/Living Roof' can be added to the top of your containers to help separate and drastically reduce heating and cooling costs in the winter (in the summer).

Personal Style Statement

"Shipping Container Homes are quickly becoming a popular trend in architecture. Shipping Container Homes have many benefits that include affordability, durability, and eco-friendly materials. This article will explore the top 5 benefits of owning a shipping container home."

A shipping container can be used as a house because they are made to withstand the elements. They are durable, strong, and water-tight. The material used to make them is not toxic to humans, so you don't have to worry about harmful chemicals being around your family when you live in one! They're also extremely affordable when compared with other building materials such as wood or concrete blocks which require skilled labor and premium prices for construction.

Shipping Container Homes are built of sustainable materials, which means they can be recycled and reused. "The containers are made from high-density, highly-water resistant corrugated cardboard, and fiberboard. These materials make up the walls, floors, ceilings, and roof. The stackable containers are placed on top of each other to form the 'house' — all their sides fit together." Shipping Container Homes can also be built using inexpensive local materials like steel and fiberglass insulation, which would make them even more affordable.

Shipping Container Homes come in many sizes for all types of people from tiny one-room homes to large multi-bedroom structures. There are also different styles for you to choose from so you can have that home of your dreams.

Shipping Container Homes are, indeed, eco-friendly. They're made from recycled materials and they save the land from use in building homes and other structures. They are also very easy to install, so there is no waste of material while working on the house. These homes can be built in several complex environments, like on stilts or hillsides, where space is limited, and they can also be connected together in clusters into one large home that fits your family's needs.

Shipping Container Homes are also safe. They are fireproof and water-tight, so there is no danger of your house catching on fire. These homes will also be able to withstand earthquakes and other natural disasters because they are strong, with all the walls made out of a single type of material. These houses can easily withstand wind gusts as well as other weather hazards that may damage traditional homes.

Shipping Container Homes have many different uses besides being a house. They can be used as a storage unit, a studio apartment, or even an office. The possibilities and ideas are endless when it comes to Shipping Container Homes.

Chapter 3.   The Shipping Container Pros and Cons

They are many advantages of using shipping containers to construct a home. Shipping containers are versatile, durable, and are ecologically responsible. In this list, you will discover some of the reasons that shipping containers are enjoying a surge in popularity as building blocks for contemporary architecture:

 They are a perfect building material. They can be stacked, moved, cut, and molded into any type of home, building, or office that you may have in mind. They are equally at home, at the beach, in the woods, or in a crowded metropolitan area.

 Additions are easy. It is not difficult to add to a house made of shipping containers. Due to the modular nature of their design and the standardized sizing, houses constructed from shipping containers can be modified or expanded using more shipping containers. 

 They are stackable. You can have a two-story home at a relatively inexpensive cost due to the stackable nature of these containers. They can be stacked, or placed side by side. You can even set them perpendicular. The possibilities are endless. 

 They can be transported or moved. Shipping containers are designed to transport goods across oceans on ships, and then from the ships to be transported by land on flatbed trucks. Due to their design and size specifications, shipping containers can be constructed and then transported to a building site or moved from location to location far more easily than a traditional house. 

 They have aesthetic appeal. Some people enjoy the contemporary and modern appearance of shipping container architecture, and the houses constructed from shipping containers have clean lines and a sleek look. Depending on how you complete your shipping container house, they can appear to be traditional, or they can be painted eye-catching colors that really emphasize their geometric shape. 

 Shipping containers are inexpensive. The price of an average shipping container is $1000–$5000 per container. Depending on how you customize your shipping container and the type of house that you are building, this can lead to substantial savings.

 They are incredibly durable. They are designed to protect goods and cargo on long ocean voyages. They are even waterproof. The durability of their construction means that they have the potential to last decades as a residence with a little bit of routine maintenance.

 They are strong. Shipping containers are made out of galvanized steel and are stronger than wood construction. 

 They are resistant. Termites and mold may be concerns in traditional home construction, but not when you build your house from shipping containers. Containers are also incredibly resistant to fire. 

 Shipping container homes can be built in a short time. One of the greatest advantages of shipping container construction is the relatively short time that it takes to convert one into a habitable home. Whether you are working by yourself or have a team of contractors, you will find that construction time is greatly reduced. Depending on the complexity of the design and the creature comforts that you would like to install, a shipping container can be converted into a home in as little as three days. 

 Shipping container construction is good for the environment. Upcycling shipping containers is a fantastic use of shipping containers that would otherwise be rusting at ports all over the world or would have to be melted down at considerable expenditure of energy.

Why Use Containers?

Despite there being a lot of issues with using the containers, there are also plenty of reasons why you should use them as well. 

 The idea of using a prefabricated structure can save on construction costs. These boxes are already the right shape and size, especially if you only plan on using only one. Buying a readily shaped container is a cost-effective choice over having to build from scratch using conventional building methods.  

 There are thousands of containers across the world literally standing and rusting away because they are no longer useful to the shipping industry. This is poor for the environment and a waste. Socially wastefulness isn't selling anymore. It's eco-friendly because it's upcycling. 

 These abandoned containers are also a problem because they take up space. Lots and lots of space in fact. There are literally miles of them stacked up since it isn't cost-effective for companies to ship them empty, they just wait until more cargo needs to go in, which leads them to pile up in countries that import more than they export. 

 Shipping containers are very durable. They're meant to withstand sea, sun, and travel, which means they will last a long time. They're strong and have a good structure for building projects. 

 They're a convenient shape for stacking. Just like building blocks shipping containers are life-sized to be stacked. Modular concepts are easy to build on from, and these are ideal for modular building. 

 Their ready-made shape also means that they're quick to build with once delivered since they are ready-made and just need modification. 

Container Designs to Research

Before designing your own home, it's a good idea to understand the limitations of what is possible when using containers. Whether you're planning a tiny one container home or a multi-container mansion, these concepts are the basis for how most are created. 

In 1987, the first patent for converting a shipping container into a home was filed by Phillip C. Clark. It was granted two years later as patent number 4855094 if you want to look it up. His diagrams were the groundwork that many architects today use to create these homes. By 2006, Peter DeMaria designed single-family units using two stacked containers that were incorporated into the Uniform Building Code in California. 

In fact, if you're looking into plans for any shipping homes, I recommend looking up Clark's patent on Google. It's a simple design that removes all the inner walls except for a pair of flanges and then uses a dropped ceiling to support the mechanical workings. The difference with Clark's design though is that it actually doesn't look like a shipping container. He uses exterior walls to hide the design into something that looks like a regular home, so you might wonder what the point was. The reason you should look at this design is that his patent is the basis for how most container homes are still designed, even if you're only using one container instead of two. The cut-outs for the windows and the raised floor are still almost identical even if the aesthetic element is different. It's the best place to start when looking into actual plans.

Puma City

The most impressive design to date has to be Puma City by Lot-EK. The low cost of the design itself is what has attracted so many to the concept of shipping container architecture. The design is three stories and has 11,000sqf, including two deck areas, and is made using a total of 24 shipping containers. It won the 2009 International Architecture Award, as well as several magazine awards. The structure has retail space and office space along with storage and an open terrace on the roof. It is made entirely of 40ft shipping containers and connectors that are fitted with coverings to cover the open areas when the unit is dismantled and shipped to reconnect the interior spaces. It is revolutionary in that it's the first mobile shipping container building. 

The thing with the Puma City building though is that it isn't meant to be a habitable full-time home. It is meant to be a transportable events center that can be assembled and disassembled. This, architecturally, is pretty revolutionary, but other than being an interesting concept doesn't make it any different than the ugly portable office units that have been around for decades. It's not a permanent living space. The Puma city design is what you need to look into if you want to have a portable home. It provides more than adequate space with the beloved modular design but does not require a permanent foundation. While this might seem rather expensive for a mobile home concept, it's also far bigger than your standard caravan. 

Mill Junction

Mill Junction was created by developer Citiq as a way to add apartments and facilities to a converted grain silo construction. These were used for adding additional floor space to an existing structure. Now, this concept is something that should be explored for those interested in shipping container homes but who might be skeptical about the construction viability — it allows you to still get that iconic look but does not limit you to using them exclusively. Unlike the hive-inn, this isn't a concept; it's a real building in Johannesburg. 

The containers sit atop and beside the original silo structure and are actually the second structure like this in the city. 

The reason you should be looking at Citiq's design is that you can use it to modernize and innovate an existing structure. Much of the appeal of shipping containers is their aesthetic rather than their material properties. This would actually work better for someone trying to design a larger home as you could use the shipping containers as statement accents in the design rather than the entire construction, and this would make it much more cost-effective and much more flexible than using a design entirely of containers. 

The Hive-Inn

OVA studios recently came up with this commercial concept for a shipping container hotel. The concept is based on the PUMA city building, but it's also equally unfeasible when it comes to actual housing. It is designed as a high rise of catty-cornered containers stacked like a Jenga tower into a high-rise. The concept was intended on having a building that was wholly flexible so it could be added to or taken away at any time. Such a design for a permanent house would be useless, especially when incurring the crane and delivery costs of moving and removing containers, but on a commercial level, it might just work. 

Like the dwell design, it's actually the only elements you'll want to look at when designing your own. 

The hive features two styles of the unit using two containers — those side by side, and those slightly ahead of each other. You should look at this design because it gives you two separate ways of structuring a two-container home that is both innovative and functional. 

Now that we've looked at the commercial projects, what about the private ones. Private homes obviously have to deal with completely different requirements than commercial hotels, student accommodations, or event spaces. A home has to be something that you can live in. 

Dwell By G-Pod

The dwell concept, however, is as feasible as the Hive-inn is unfeasible. Dwell is considered to be ideal in self-sufficient and transportable homes. The pod has a combination of folding and pull-out sections to enlarge the home on an as-needed basis and give it three times the usable space of the shipping container itself. The design is perfect for those who want an environmentally conscious choice without a need to hook up to water mains or even a main power grid. Now, while you may be looking at building on a much grander scale, this model is something that could well be adapted to work for humanitarian purposes. 

The dwell concept uses cantilevered slide-outs on three sides of the unit which makes the container “grow” by about 75%. This means that while you're technically using the single container as a structure, you're not limited by its original footprint. This is a unique way of going beyond the confines of what is a rather small box and creating a viable living space. Another thing about dwell is that this can be a good concept for someone who likes the concept of the shipping container home from the perspective of having a ready-made box delivered already assembled. 

Pv14 & Manifesto House

For those who want more of a mansion than an eco-home concept, the PV14 house by Matt Moone provides a rather blockish design and an impressive 3700sqf of house space. There are 14 containers used, but like the Mill Junction concept, it also uses elements from standard building too. There are 3.5 bathrooms and a pool, but it's also stacked with other design features to make it a comfortable and luxurious home. His house is a great model to consider when you want something big, modern, and using containers as a basis. 

Manifesto House is also pretty big and impressive, but unlike PV14, the emphasis is on recycling rather than opulence. The house uses pallets as a way to deflect a lot of the sun from the containers, and while this completely removes the ability to see the containers, it does provide a cheap material for exterior insulation from the sun. This is also a significantly sized home, but 85% of the construction is either recycled or eco-friendly. This uses three containers in total but also has exterior space and a balcony. The difference with the Manifesto House is that the emphasis on the shipping container design is on the inside of the building rather than out. The interior of the container walls is bare and visible, both on the walls and ceiling while the insulation is entirely outside. This allows the unit to be insulated properly without cutting into the already limited space and allows it to retain the industrial feel without sacrificing covering the container structure entirely. 

You should look at manifesto house if you like the idea of a shipping container but find the concept of being limited by the size constraining since this will give you the elements you need without being forced into a tiny space.

Chapter 4.   Steps to Build a Container Home

Decide Your Top Priority for Your Home

Shipping container homes are now on the rise and have been for some time. These types of homes have a huge number of benefits that make them ideal for people who need a cost-efficient solution to where they live. One of those is that shipping containers are easy to transport, which means you can change your home location so easily when needed. If you would like to purchase or build a shipping container home, this will help you decide your top priorities for your home by identifying what type of things are most important in it and how much effort should go into each one.

Estimate How Many Square Feet You Will Need

This calculator is intended for estimating the size of a shipping container. If this is your first time purchasing a shipping container home, try to order the smallest size possible as this will be more efficient and may save you money on your project. The calculator is not intended for calculating the square footage of finished construction or home layout and design.

Find Yourself the Perfect 20' Shipping Container

If you are like most people, a shipping container home seems like an unattainable dream. After all, how can a humble steel box ever become the perfect place to live?

But once you start looking into the idea of shipping container homes, you'll quickly find that it’s actually not so crazy after all. In fact, many people living in rural areas or foreign countries, they've been using these containers for years as houses!

Zoning & Permits

Zoning rules are one concern that arises while designing a shipping container home. Because of the material being used, you need to know whether or not the area in which you intend to build is zoned for shipping container homes. To do this, you need to research the zoning laws in the area in which you intend to build.

Typically, urban housing development areas are usually areas in which building shipping container homes are harder to build. For example, you may have to get a “variance” on using a shipping container for residential use. Or, you may run into opposition from your neighbors who are thinking of the effect on their own property value that a shipping container home in the neighborhood will create. While shipping container homes are gaining in popularity, older mindsets still exist along with misconceptions regarding what a shipping container home will look like. Spreading awareness of the value of shipping container homes within your chosen location can help alleviate this.

Other locations to consider as a possible site for your shipping container home are zones on the fringe of industrial zoning and rural zoning. Realistically, the best location for a shipping container home is moving out of the confines of city limits into rural areas. Rural areas usually have fewer zoning laws. Even with this being said, you need to do research. It would be a waste to purchase land for a shipping container home to find out that you can’t build it there.

Permits

You will also need to research the types of permits you will need to secure to build your shipping container home. Depending on where you build it, you will have to consider land rights, water and sewer access, and other types of building permits. Local and state governments will be clamoring for a piece of the pie. Even if you're building your own house, you must adhere to municipal and state construction codes. Actually, because you are building your own home, you will need to conduct additional research. Typically, an experienced builder will already be familiar with permits and codes. You, as a first-time builder, will have to familiarize yourself with this information. To gain such information, you will want to speak with local government offices, local builders, and real estate agents. Doing the research upfront will save you time and money during the process and on the backend.

Planning Your Build

Before going much further with planning and preparing to build your shipping container home, you will need to be sure of what your needs and wants are for a home, as well as the resources you already have to hand.

At this stage, you do not need to be too specific with your plan, but you should take the time to write down how many rooms you will need including office space, lounge space, bedroom space, and kitchen and bathroom space. On top of that, you will have to determine where you need to live and where you want to live.

Write down lists for the amount of space you think you will need and consider mapping that out in your current home to see how large that really would be. Then, determine the kind of funding you might be eligible for and how quickly you would need to get a home built.

You may want to do this as you go along reading this book and other resources; but having the basics of where, how big the house needs to be, and your rough timeframe will help you start mentally planning.

Setting a Realistic Budget

Once you have your plan designed, you’re now ready to begin the process of budgeting for your shipping container home. You really need to create a budget to effectively control costs. While you want your home to look a certain way, you have to accomplish this within the price range that is affordable for you. Even though shipping container homes can be cheaper than building traditional homes, the costs can add up if you do not follow a budget. Budgeting allows you to get the most of the building process while saving you money throughout the process.

Site Preparation

Building any home begins with having land on which to place your home. Before you begin to build your home, you need to decide where you want to build it. There are several things to consider regarding the site of your shipping container home.

Rust Treatment and Prevention

Rust is a serious issue for any metal surface exposed to water and outdoor elements. The rusting process starts with the absorption of water into the metal’s pores, followed by oxidation of iron, resulting in the formation of reddish brown-colored ferric oxide, also known as rust. Water, oxygen, and heat initiate this process.

Rust particles are attracted to paints causing them to lose their protective characteristics. Rust is a catalyst for corrosion of other metals and may cause structural damage, leading to failure or malfunctioning due to weight increase caused by corrosion over time.

Commercial products such as galvanizing, paint, or coating containing anti-rust chemicals and recoating can delay the rusting process, but it is not a long-term solution.

Rust Removal:

The best way to prevent rust is to maintain an outer layer of protection against the elements. Preventive measures include installation of protective coatings, and areas that cannot be protected by application of protection should be sanded or wire brushed to remove loose particles, then use Rust-X® brand product to help prevent future rusting. If the existing rust has already penetrated through the surface layers, it may be necessary to remove all surface rust to attain a protective coating.

Paint Preparation:

Surface preparation is the first step. Rust-X® brand products will not adhere to oily or rough surfaces and will not adhere to surfaces that have been treated with waxes, oils, or silicone-based cleaners. Remove all dirt, grease, oil, and burned on food particles from freezer doors, refrigerators, and ranges before painting. Use a wire brush or paint stripping pad to remove surface rust. If the existing rust has penetrated more than the surface layers, remove all surface rust to attain a protective coating.

Rust-X® brand products contain an oxygen scavenger that prevents cold galvanizing type reactions associated with volatile metals such as zinc from contaminating food or drinks.

Use the appropriate paint. Do not attempt to use other paint types, coatings, or products in food preparation areas to avoid cross-contamination.

Chapter 5.   Design Your Shipping Container Home

Inspiration

Small homes are all around us. From far and wide, containers are being repurposed into personal residences. Whether your ideas are in the form of a houseboat to be used as a vacation home or you've always wanted to build that treehouse you've been dreaming of, this article can help get you started on your container home design.

In particular, will suggest how one design company went through with transforming an old shipping container into a home for his family. You'll see that the design work involved making modifications to the original container to make it more livable and comfortable for his family.

This is an example of "doing it yourself" and having a lot of fun building your own dream house. You'll learn that you can use containers not only to build your dream home but can also use them as a home office or a storage shed.

Size And Layout

Please keep the following in mind when designing your Shipping Container home:

•         Trucks and trailers must not be longer than 24 feet.

•         Your house is limited to a maximum of 8 feet wide but maybe up to 16 feet long.

•         Your shipping container will have a door opening at least 8 feet from the end of its side, with your walkout porch on that side.

•         You cannot exceed 200 square feet in total living space (including an open floor plan). This is based on exterior dimensions for standard-size precut containers.

Positioning and Orientation

Many people aren't aware of how important location and orientation are in terms of home design. However, being aware of this issue is critical to create a practical and visually pleasant living area. To have a considerable quantity of natural light pouring into your house throughout the day, it's also critical to consider the views from different areas.

Floor Plan and Site Layout

Containers come in various shapes and sizes, which makes it difficult to accurately estimate what size and shape your container will be, but we'll work out a rough idea of the floor plans later on. This layout is going to be set out using a rectangle with around 8ft ceilings (2m) to work out the different measurements for each wall:

 Width of Container: * 2 + 18in (1 1/2m) = Width of Side Wall - 1ft (0.3m)

 Height Of Container: * 2 + 8in (2m) = Height of Ceiling Wall - 1ft (0.3m)

 Width of Room: * 2 = Width of Each Room - 8in (0.2m)

 Room Length: (Length of Container - 1ft)/2 = Length of Each Room - 8in (0.2m)

 Room Width: ((Width of Container - 18in)/2), then divide the answer by two. Example: 9ft 9 inches divided by two = 4ft 4 inches, so that's the width for each room.

After that, we'll need to figure out how long the hallway and toilet are.

 Length of Hallway: (Width of Container - width of each room) + 2in (0.5m) = Length of Hallway - 6in

 Length of Toilet: This is taken by adding the widths, and then subtracting the width of a single door (1 inch).

 Width of Toilet: * 2 + 18 inches = Width of Toilet - 1 inch (0.3m)

Next, we'll take a look at different floor plans for your container home. Keep in mind that this is just a rough outline and should be used only as rough guidelines.

Area Calculations:

Different layouts will require different amounts of area. For example, if you plan on building a 2-bedroom home, the amount of area you need for each bedroom could be as much as 80ft2. This is based on the above measurements and considerations. Depending on your container's dimensions and desired floor plan, the amount of area needed can change drastically. We'll go through the various floor plans next, and explain how they use up different amounts of space per room.

A Typical Home (2 Bedrooms, 1 Bathroom) — Uses 34ft2 (0.36m2) for each bedroom and 22ft2 (0.24m2) for the bathroom and hallway.

A Large Home (3 Bedrooms, 1 Bathroom) — Uses 48ft2 (0.49m2) for each bedroom, 22ft2 (0.24m2) for the bathroom, and 21ft2 (0.22m2) for the hallway.

The Final Touches:

Once you've figured out the plan of your container house, you'll need to add some finishing touches like a ceiling, flooring, and wall panels to complete it.

The simplest method is to use plywood or OSB panels, which are both inexpensive and simple to deal with. Plywood panels are preferable as they're more durable.

You'll need to cut the panels to fit each wall and ceiling. The easiest method to accomplish this is using a table saw; but if you're cautious, you could also use a circular saw or even a handsaw. The length of each panel will depend on its width and the desired height of the ceiling. The height of each panel won't be fixed, but rather depend on how tall you want your ceilings to be. For example, if your container's total height is 15ft (4.5m) high, then your ceiling panel height should be 12ft (3.6m).

After you've cut all the panels, they'll need to be connected to each other. This is easily done by using some wood screws and some brackets made out of scrap wood. You should use at least four.

Now that you've finished constructing the walls, floors, and ceilings; it's time to start thinking about insulation. Of course, adding insulation will depend on your climate and the amount of heat loss you're expecting; but if it's a cold area, then high-quality insulation is vital as it will save you a lot on energy bills in the long run.

Topography and Drainage

The container must be able to sit on a level and well-drained piece of land. This means you need either a small hill or good drainage in the surrounding area. It can also mean relocating existing landscaping that may be too close to the foundation of your new house. Make sure there are no trees close enough to stick their roots in your foundation under any circumstances.

If you want to prevent foundation difficulties, a basement is not a smart choice. Basements mean the container is sitting directly on soil and moisture.

For this reason, container homes are built with four walls and a wooden or concrete floor. This takes the load off of the bottom of the container so it does not soil as easily by having to support itself all the time.

It may be a good idea to have a crawlspace under your home as well. This would allow for plenty of room for storage for lawnmowers, shovels, and equipment that you may use in your yard without exposing them all to humidity from below ground.

Often, the future homeowner will not know how to properly maintain this type of home. This means your container may get moldy and wet, especially in humid regions.

So, cleaning out your container regularly is a good plan to keep rot at a minimum. When you are done with the container home, you need a place to store all of your junk from the old house. Be sure to move into or rent an indoor storage space when you are done with the container.

And finally, make sure you keep clean records for all of these materials moving into and out of your new house. A mail-in service can help ease any concerns about removing building material if needed in the future when it comes to selling your property.

Access

The shipping container home is a solution to the housing shortage in some of the world’s poorest countries. Containers are durable and can be reused in many different ways. They can be converted into schools, clinics, or even homes. In this article, we will see design ideas for converting these containers into homes.

Some people want to travel more than they want to stay in one place, while others crave stability no matter where they go. There are many different reasons why someone might consider living out of a shipping container — accessibility being one of them. Many people have voiced their desire to live in containers, and several cities have instituted strategies to encourage this kind of living. Singapore is home to the “cargo village” concept, which features container-occupied homes that are designed for sustainability.

Perhaps you are interested in remote living and need a place to store your possessions and keep your things secure when you go out into the world. There are some options available for these needs: sea-turtle relocation centers at sea islands, underground storage units, or space stations. The latter option might not appeal to you, but it may appeal to some others. Read on for more information about space stations and container homes.

Chapter 6.   Examples of Plans to Design Your Home

Here are several sample plans which offer a wide range of different designs. 

Sample Plans

These are just a few of the designs we could show you to showcase the potential for customization in shipping container homes. Have a look and let inspiration strike! 

Plan 1

Plan 1 is ideal for a small, one-person dwelling. It offers 139 sq. ft. and is designed from a single 20-ft container and features a combination kitchen, dining room, living room, and bedroom. The ultimate in space efficiency and tiny living space.

Price Range: Under $15,000

Plan 2

Plan 2 is another example of a single 20-ft container dwelling. It has been customized to offer a spacious bathroom and kitchen. The living room doubles as a bedroom and features two pull-out double beds, offering comfort whether sleeping or sitting. This economical design can comfortably house two people within 138 sq. ft.

Price Range: Under $15,000

Plan 3

Plan 3 has been designed as a hunting lodge from a single 20-ft. container. It features a large open-plan living room with a small kitchen and bedroom off to the side. A full-length deck lines the front of the house, making it ideal for relaxing comfortably and taking in the night air. This offers a luxurious space for a single-person dwelling and can offer a comfortable space for two if a sofa bed is placed in the living room.

Price Range: Under $15,000

Plan 4

Plan 4 shows another design for a single 20-ft. container. This design combines spaciousness with efficiency, featuring a luxurious bathroom and master bedroom with a combined kitchen and dining room. This design is perfect for a single person or a couple, offering all the amenities necessary for a wilderness love nest within 135 sq. ft.

Price Range: Under $15,000

Plan 5

Plan 5 is designed from a single 40-ft. container and boasts a spacious open-plan living room which would be ideal for a sofa bed. It features sliding glass doors which lead to an open deck. Also included is a second room, ideal either for storage space or for a second bedroom.

Price Range: Under $25,000

Plan 6

Constructed from a single 40-ft. container, Plan 6 offers a stunning 483 sq. ft. of floor space. It features a combined bedroom/living room, an open-plan dining room, a spacious bathroom, and a cozy kitchen. This design is ideal for two and can comfortably house three or more with a sofa bed. 

Price Range: Under $25,000

Plan 7

Made from only two 20-ft. containers, Plan 7 offers 289 sq. ft. of floor space. It features a master bedroom, luxurious bathroom, and combined kitchen and dining room. The front door opens into an open-plan living room which is ideal for visitors, and which can be supplied with a sofa bed to house a second person comfortably.

Price Range: Under $25,000

Plan 8

Plan 8 has been designed from four 40-ft. containers and four 20-ft. containers. It demonstrates the luxury possible with shipping container homes. This mansion features two floors, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and an open-plan living room on both floors. Sliding glass doors on both the front and rear entrance, and a second-floor deck makes this design equal to any traditional home built with the height of decadence.

Price Range: Under $35,000

Upstairs:

Plan 9

Plan 9 features three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a living room, dining room, kitchen, utility room, and closet. Ample living and storage space, all within two 40-ft. containers. Besides, there is a full-length deck lining the front of the dwelling. With 606 sq. ft., this dwelling can comfortably house three adults or a family of four. 

Price Range: Under $35,000

Plan 10

Constructed from merely three 40-ft. containers, Plan 10 offers a spacious 899 sq. ft. of floor space. It features a master bedroom, as well as three additional bedrooms and two bathrooms. It also has an efficiently combined dining room and kitchen, and a separate living room with ample space for entertaining visitors. 

Price Range: Under $35,000

Plan 11

With six 20-ft. containers and 861 sq. ft. of floor space, Plan 11 offers the utmost luxury. On the upper story, there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms, while the bottom floor has an open-plan living area, dining room, and kitchen. Also included is a utility closet that serves your storage needs.

Price Range: Under $45,000

Upstairs:

Plan 12

Plan 12 is composed of five 40-ft. high cube containers and provides a total of 1718 sq. ft. of floor space. It houses five bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as a combined kitchen and dining room. Also included is a pantry and utility closet. The second floor features an outside deck and terrace, perfect for a combination of privacy and fresh air.

Price Range: Under $45,000

Upstairs:

Chapter 7.   Site Preparation

Marking and Staking

This is a fast breakdown of the steps I take to set up a shipping container house. This might not cover everything but covers the basics and is designed to get you thinking about what you need to do to prepare your sites before building.

First, make sure the land has been publicly marked as a construction site by the city or utility companies so that they can't charge you for any work done by them. Next, stake the corners of your lot just like you would on any normal construction site.

Mark the center line of the foundation box with a 4' long piece of one-inch rebar pounded into the ground. This will be used to find the center line of your building later. Next, lay out your 8' foot wide by whatever length you need for your container frames. Lastly, find any underground utilities and mark their location with colored spray paint so that you can avoid hitting them. Bringing in utilities to an existing house is usually much harder than bringing them to a new home being built from scratch since they already have lines in place, so take care not to damage them during construction.

Clearing and Grubbing

The process of removing all untransplanted trees, shrubs, and other vegetation from a property is known as clearing and grubbing. Grubbing also includes the removal of roots and stumps.

1. Remove All Vegetation

The grass may be removed by cutting it with a lawnmower or string trimmer or spraying herbicide to kill the plants. After doing this, use a rake to remove debris from the lawn surface so that soil can be seen. Depending on what was sprayed or chopped with the lawnmower or string trimmer, some mulching might be needed to prevent erosion after rainstorms.

2. Drain Water

A trench for drainage may be needed. This trench may be dug with a shovel or tube auger. Be careful when digging trenches because the ground is often hard and dry. If there are roots in the surface soil, they can burst up through the ground without warning, so it is important to dig very slowly.

3. Dispose of Debris

Felling trees or stumps may cause blood-stained sawdust and wood chips, as well as nails and other debris to fall on the site. If these materials have been stored near a building during the construction of a new home, they must be removed before any construction begins.

4. Prepare Soil

The soil will need to be prepared for filling in around the container. The prepared area must be as level as possible. This may require grading the land, removing large rocks, and removing small roots. After this is done, the area should be raked smooth and any large rocks or roots removed.

5. Apply Compost or Mulch

Add compost or mulch to improve soil quality and fertility. If using compost, then 4 inches (101 mm) of material should be applied, if mulch, then 2 inches (51 mm) of material should be applied."

6. Plant Trees

If tree planting is needed, estimate where the trees will be and renovate the land to create a suitable environment. Trees do not do well on hard soil; so, if possible, try to improve the soil for them before planting.

7. Graze Hosue Site

After it has been inhabited for a while, the site should be grazed by animals. Grazing may cause weeds to grow, and some are needed because of the lack of nutrients in the soil. If the house site needs more nitrogen, then an andromono-sine-plat can be added (Aromonosyde Plant). Remember that many plants need plenty of sunlight, as well as adequate moisture as they grow.

8. Install Pipes

When the pipes are installed, they should be placed in the soil before starting to fill in. If the pipes are placed after filling the land, will not bring water to them fast enough and they will break or leak.

9. Mulch

Apply mulch around the pipe before filling in with soil.

10. Fill in With Soil (Optional)

If there is any dirt that has been removed from the container site, apply it after installing and installing any new pipes.

Grading, Cut, and Fill

The key to a great building experience is good planning. It will walk you through the common elements of adequate site preparation and the ideal grades for your site, as well as hand-dug cut and fill considerations.

Shipping container homes can be set up on a flat piece of land to give the home a more permanent feel. The dirt under the box can be graded so the house is level. Cut and fill may need to be used to make sure there is enough space under the house for storage or recreation area. This can be done by digging up turf and dirt from one area of grass to fill another area of grass with soil or gravel.

Erosion Control

It is important to prepare your ground for the foundation of your new container home. To maintain your home's stability in the years ahead, a lot of issues must be examined and prepared.

 Erosion control is arguably the most important step. If there are plant roots or underground pipes near where you are pouring concrete, they will be crushed, which could lead to unwanted costs down the line and a need for repair work after installation. To combat this, run a wire along the border of where you want to pour your foundation so you can detect any buried objects before pouring and avoid costly repairs later on.

 The type of soil you are dealing with also makes a difference. If you have clay soil, you will need to hire a pugging machine to transform it into sand. This is a process that adds about $1000 to the total cost, but it is highly recommended. Concrete does not do well on clay due to the amount of moisture in it, and you want your home to be as water-resistant as possible. It is better to spend this money before the foundation is poured, rather than after when it can become expensive.

 Pouring concrete on a slope can easily lead to structural problems down the line, so this should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

 There are several different types of concrete to pick from. For a simple construction like the one detailed here, you will want a quick-setting concrete to ensure you can get your home up as fast as possible.

To save costs, make sure that your foundation is poured at the same time as the container walls. While these are both being poured, steel beams can also be set into place, which is another step towards getting your home up quickly. The more complex your design plans get, the more time and money it is going to take to finish them on time.

Road Building

The process of building a road is quite complex and can be done in several different ways. It all depends on the needs and goals of the construction company, location, and type of material, budget, etc. Nevertheless, some steps are common to most projects regardless of what has been mentioned before:

 Exploring the site to be built on and choose points for excavation work. You could use laser scanning or field measurements;

 Digging out foundation trenches for installation pipes;

 Constructing access roads for heavy machinery;

 Excavating soil at one or more places to build up to prepare bedding layer;

 Building asphalt surface from top layer roads (such as bitumen) with lower layers (e.g., sand, stone, gravel, or crushed rock), as well as fill soil around the building;

 Installing sewerage system, drainage pipes, and electrical network.

 Pouring concrete floors, laying bricks, or other material for finishing.

 Painting surfaces in color matching with the overall architectural style;

Fencing and Security

We offer fencing and security systems to ensure your land site is secure from potential trespassers. We can supply you with a variety of different solutions, including:

 Standard Fencing Systems - High-Security Fencing and Retaining Wall - LED Protective Lighting for nighttime use. - Magnetic or Electronic Security Gates - CCTV Cameras

 Remote Monitoring System to Allow Supervision Over Site

 Alarm Systems Phone and email are monitored 24/7 by professionally trained security personnel at our central office located in the UK.

 24/7/365 emergency service support available.

Our fence system designs are modular so they can be easily adapted to accommodate most of your fencing requirements whatever size of the land.

Chapter 8.   Types of Foundations

Concrete Piers

This is an excellent choice if you want to save money because it is one of the most affordable foundations available. It’s also very simple to set up. This foundation has reinforced steel bars which are used to strengthen the concrete. Concrete piers are the most DIY-friendly, in my opinion. Usually, you’ll need six concrete piers for each container; two in the center, and the rest is used to support the corners. 

Pile Foundations

Pile foundations are what I recommend when faced with a soft soil type that is too weak to support the concrete base. This foundation is more expensive than the concrete piers, and I don’t recommend that you set up this foundation yourself (unless you are experienced). You’ll also need some special tools for this foundation, such as a pile driver. Your contractor should easily be able to help you to set up this foundation. 

Concrete Slab-On-Grade Foundations

The endurance of a shipping container home foundation is one of the most important characteristics that distinguish it from other types. At the heart of it, it's a reinforced concrete slab with a lightweight steel deck over the top. The deck will be attached to either insulated walls or some form of raised foundation, with an optional walkway down the center. This helps give your home stability and prevent interior damage to walls while also providing insulation from outside noise and drafts. Concrete is not only strong but also very durable and easy to repair when needed.

If you live in an area with a large enough market for shipping container home designs, then you may have already seen these homes being built on a slab-on-grade foundation. As far as the home itself is concerned, the deck and foundation are made from concrete blocks, with either cinder blocks or concrete block pillars providing insulation when needed. Because of their size and heft, these containers are usually shipped by truck to their destination and placed directly on top of the foundation. They slide on top of each other in horizontal rows to make up the exterior wall for the building.

The more common method is just as fast but involves lifting them off of their trailer to place them down directly onto their location where they belong. This is an option because of the physical size of the container and how heavy it is. The home itself is built from concrete slabs with interior walls made from insulation and drywall to create living space. The interior walls can help insulate the outside noise to various levels depending on what you want your home to sound like. A slab-on-grade foundation will endure a long time as a result of this, as well as its durability while also being simple enough for anybody to maintain.

Wooden Beams (Railroad Ties)

The shipping container home or partitioned house is a cost-effective and sustainable solution to any sized construction. These homes can be built on top of any foundation if they are strong enough. And it's generally not that difficult to assemble the modules of a shipping container home, as long as there is enough elevation between the containers. The foundation will need to be strong enough not only for the weight of the containers but also for the structure itself. Another consideration would be whether or not you want to use ground-level storage compartments with this type of building style because if you do, then you will need a stronger foundation than what would typically be used with a raised floor and storage area style design.

To build your home, you will need to determine how many tiers high you would like to go. If the foundation is going to be on ground level, it is generally recommended that it has at least 10 tires for every 3 feet of wall height. Alternatively, if your container home is going to be elevated off the ground, then you will need a minimum of 30 railroad ties (or 5 tires) per container.

Metal Foundations

Is the process of using metal containers to create foundations for buildings and homes. The building components are mostly made using steel, which is prone to rusting if the foundations are not properly taken care of. One option to consider would be a shipping container home-type of foundation where a shipping container is used as a structural component in construction. This type of foundation use can be one solution to how your existing metal structures could withstand earthquakes while still remaining structurally sound.

It's not a novel idea to use a cargo container as a structural component. An earlier version of this type of design was created by Leslie Ekanter where a shipping container was used as the foundation for his home in Sevier, Tennessee. This home was built in 2002 and featured a single-story design with two bedrooms and one bathroom.

Chemical Contamination

The foundation of a warehouse shipping container, or a shipping container home, is often chemically contaminated. Contaminants range from paints to plastics and are typically the result of incomplete emptying at warehouses that don't have the equipment for permanent sorting.

This results in asbestos dust landing on the ground above the containers, as well as vents created by pipes and machinery that used to be inside the containers but now live outside them.

Interestingly enough, this is not only a problem with shippers but with landlords who fill these depots up from time to time when they have no other choice but to rent out containers when they are empty.

This dust not only is a problem in homes but also in the surrounding area. The surrounding area around seaports, landfills, and recycling facilities are prime locations for contamination of the air and earth. Asbestos fibers are easily airborne and can be inhaled by humans with serious consequences due to the carcinogenic nature of asbestos.

Chapter 9.   Some Things to Keep in Mind When Constructing a Shipping Container Home

It is easy to see why shipping container homes have become so popular. The whole thing seems easy enough. All you need to do is buy the container or containers. They’re pre-fabricated, so one container can equal one room. You can stack the containers together, and you have multiple rooms. If you join two or more containers together, you have a larger room. Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, not really. There are plenty of factors to consider when using a shipping container or shipping containers to make a house. The first thing to keep in mind is that these were never really meant to be used for building; they are cargo containers, and they have been built for that. In addition, just having a container is not enough. You need to think about things such as an HVAC system, insulation, and so on. It does not help either that since this is such an unusual type of home, you do not have too many experts handy to guide you and advise you.

Keeping all this in mind, here are a few tips from experts in the field of shipping container homes. These are people who are either designers or owners of such homes, and the advice they have to give comes from the experience that they have gained building and designing these types of homes. 

1.See Before You Buy

This is the advice given by Larry Wade. The company you buy the containers from will reassure you, of course, that the containers you have bought are in good condition. But remember that shipping containers are used to transport all sorts of goods in all sorts of conditions, ranging from bad roads to rough seas. While they are built to be durable enough to withstand these conditions, they are also going to ‘beat all to heck’ as Wade put it when he received his containers.

When you stop to think about it, it really is a good advice for buying just about anything. When it comes to shipping containers, therefore, consider this advice gold.

2.Spend a Little Extra

While lamenting the state of the shipping containers he bought, Larry Wade also wished that he had spent just a bit extra. One-Trip containers are easily available and do not cost that much more than a used container. Most importantly, they’re brand new, so you do not really have to worry about the condition of the container or containers that you buy. Having said that, the first tip still holds good. Always see what you are buying before you actually buy it.

3.Learn the Local Regulations

Of course, this depends on the size of the container you are using. But that again depends on what the minimum size to get a building permit is. Do you see what I mean? Every county is going to have its own rules and regulations. When you expand that to state, and then to country, things become even more complicated. 

You no longer have to worry about just council rules. Different laws are governing what is an appropriate building material and what is not, who can build it, and so on. Most importantly, you have to take into account different climates and weather patterns. What works in Chile, for example, will not necessarily work in Denmark, and vice versa. 

Determine where you want to locate your shipping container home, and then research the local rules and regulations thoroughly so that you know what you can and cannot do, what permits you need to get, and so on.

4.Find Someone to Take Care of All of It

It is important to find one person or company who can take you through the entire process, from start to finish. This means the person who gets designs and modifies the exterior also takes care of the interior. Again, this is something that makes sense when you think about it. The company that builds the shipping container home will know all about the structure of the home and can incorporate designs into the interior that not only complement the exterior but work with it on a structural basis. 

This also means that you as the homeowner do not have to go through the headache of remembering stuff you had no idea you needed to remember. 

Of course, the problem with this particular tip is that there are not that many people or companies who can do this for you. It will really depend on where you are located, what your budget is like, and other such considerations.

5.Know the Shipping Container Market

Do a lot of research before you buy a shipping container or containers to construct your home. Shipping containers come in a variety of sizes. Look up the various sizes and see what you need. Investigate the market thoroughly to know what is available and what is not. Do not just get the first thing that clears your head. Remember that you’ll probably have to install an HVAC in addition to other fixtures that will dramatically reduce the clearing space. Consider all of this before you buy a container.

6.Understand the Structure of a Shipping Container

This is something that you cannot afford to forget. As I’ve said earlier, a shipping container is meant to do exactly that — ship stuff around. It is not meant for construction. The roof of a shipping container is fairly thin and dents quite easily. The walls of the container act as both braces and load bearers.

All this becomes very important when you consider that you will have to cut out portions of the walls of the containers to make doors and windows. The more portions you remove, the less load the walls can bear. Remove enough section and you’ll find the whole thing collapsing over your head. It is simple physics.

You need to remember that for every piece you cut out from a wall, you need to compensate elsewhere.

7.Huge Savings Do Not Happen

Yes, shipping containers are relatively cheap. But think about it. Are you just going to get the container, put a few sticks of furniture in, and start living in it? 

You will need to get your containers reinforced, stacked, cut, insulated, prepared for plumbing and electricity, and many other such basics. You will also need to install an HVAC system that will require even more cutting and modifications. All of this together can add up to a sum that is not significantly different from what you would have spent buying a house of the same size or with the same number of rooms.

In the end, modifying a shipping container to make it into your dream home can end up costing as much as the ordinary dream home would.

8.Minimize Welding

Since this is a metal box we are talking about, at some point in time, you will end up welding some parts of it. However, keep in mind that welding can be a pretty expensive proposition, not to mention the fact that it requires expertise that you will probably not have. Another minus is that welding can take a long time. Therefore, try to keep the welding to a minimum when setting up your shipping container home. Of course, you may not have a choice about it, but if you do your research, you should be able to figure out how to manage it.

9.Know About the Insulation

A shipping container is made of steel. As such, it is an excellent conductor of heat and cold. If you live in a region with a colder climate, you could end up freezing in your home. Another problem with lower temperatures is condensation. Inside the warmth of your home, the colder air will condense and form droplets of water on the walls. In the long term, that translates into rust.

Do proper research on how to insulate your shipping container home adequately. Remember, not only do you have to worry about heat escaping, but you also need to make sure that your walls do not end up rusting.

10.What about the Plumbing?

This is one of those things we do not really think about. After all, when we are buying a home, plumbing is already there. We may have to look into the condition of the pipes and so on, but we do not have to worry about getting the plumbing in, in the first place.

The same cannot be said of a shipping container. It is basically a rectangular box. You are going to have to consult the designer and determine exactly where you want the plumbing and learn what kind of plumbing the container can handle. If you are planning to stack more than one shipping container for more rooms and a bigger building, you may want to have the plumbing chases cut out of the ceilings and floors so that the pipes can be run easily.

11.Thought about the Wind Yet?

You are basically talking about large sheets of corrugated steel here. When the wind blows, it is going to make the steel walls, and sometimes even the roof, vibrate. This can make for a pretty noisy home, especially if you live in an area that is wind-prone.

Again, you need to do research here. First of all, find out whether the location where you are planning to construct your shipping container home does indeed get a lot of wind. Next, you need to find out what you can do to mitigate the effects of the wind. One good idea is to plant vegetation with heavy foliage so that it can screen off the wind and you can enjoy a quiet home.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, one point that I keep repeating in many points is research. This is not a coincidence. When experts and shipping container homeowners were asked what they wished they had known before they started on this journey, the ones who had the least number of problems were the ones who had researched the subject as thoroughly as possible. The thing is, this is a new type of housing. There are not that many people in your immediate vicinity who can give you reliable advice on this unlike when you go to buy a conventional house. Therefore, to save yourself a lot of time, effort, and even money, it is a good idea that you first research this topic as completely as possible. Once you are armed with information, you’ll find that it is much easier to get the whole thing done. But do remember that mistakes are inevitable, especially if you are doing it for the first time. You will need to plan for such contingencies. Doing adequate research will ensure that the mistakes you make are not serious, and you can enjoy your shipping container home once it is completed without any qualms.

Chapter 10.   Openings and Modifications

Adeguate Windows/Doors

Adeguate Windows are custom-made, single-pane clear vinyl windows that can be installed on any sized shipping container. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit your needs.

Adeguate Windows are closed-cell polycarbonate or tempered glass and offer thermal efficiency, impact resistance, and superior insulation characteristics with high R-value performance.

Reinforce Openings

To protect your home, it is important to reinforce openings such as doors and windows. You will need:

1x2 lumber, 1x3 lumber, screws, nails

Tools: saws (hand or power), drill.

Measure the opening, then cut the boards to size and attach them on all sides framing the opening. Nail or screw through the frame into wall studs so that reinforcement is attached firmly in place. Reinforce all exterior openings including doors and windows with a board overhanging at least 24 inches out from the wall surface on each side of the door or window frame for added protection against kicks from outside.

Severe weather conditions may mean that you need to reinforce your home even more, depending on the location. Use the board measurements above and extra reinforcement for areas of your home that may experience more severe wind or heavy rainfall.

First, place a 1x3 wood board over each window frame to cover the metal framing. Then, screw two 1x2 lumber boards to both sides of screw holes on the window frame at the top and bottom. The two boards are put together on opposing sides, barely overlapping each other to keep the screw heads flat on either side of the frame.

Next, place a board between the lowest 1x2 and 1x3 1x2 boards. This will prevent water from getting in the window frame area. Then, screw in an additional screw or nail into each screw hole on the window frame to create a wood sandwich across the entire window frame. Make sure the two board pieces overlap slightly to allow for weatherproofing and that there is no gap between them.

Lastly, add a 1x3 wood board over the door frame and attach with screws or nails and seal the side of the door opening that you cannot see with aluminum tape or black tarp material.

Remember to reinforce each opening, especially the ones that may experience harsher weather conditions.

Front Entrance Door Frame

What you get when you use an actual shipping container for your front entrance door. It’s not only aesthetically pleasing, but it’s also an environmentally-friendly choice. More specifically, recycling a shipping container results in fewer emissions since less energy is used to create it than with new materials; and depending on where your materials are sourced from, using a shipping container may be cheaper than utilizing other methods to construct an entryway too.

Chapter 11.   Framing and Partitions

Partitioning

Is a structural and architectural term that refers to dividing space with blocks. A partition might divide an interior space, such as a room, or it might separate different sections of an exterior wall of a building or house.

The walls of shipping containers are most often framed with either trusses or struts (also called douglas fir), which keep the container walls standing upright despite their light weight. They also are frequently made from metal-reinforced concrete slab foundations and supported by steel reinforcement beams. If you are planning to use a shipping container as a storage shed, the cheapest and easiest way to get it standing upright is to set it on top of steel posts that are driven into the ground.

Using both beams and posts is a good method for supporting a shipping container because the extra support ensures that their weight won't be concentrated entirely on one or two points of contact (i.e., the beams). This will help prevent damage to your foundation from metal fatigue. If your building is on an especially windy site, you may want vertical beams at both the front and back of your building. This will help even out pressure from large gusting winds.

You can either leave each side of your building open or close with a door or window. This is up to you, although if you leave it open, you may want to use some type of tensioning system to keep the walls in place. For example, nail a chain (invisible from the outside, but visible from the inside) across one of the top sides at each corner. This is called an "anchor." Some people employ a similar system by running a cable-supported rod along one edge at each corner; others will use chains and eye hooks fixed to the edge on both sides instead of cables.

Thermal Barrier

Are typically installed in conjunction with an interior insulation system for maximum efficiency.  Help prevent the infiltration of outside water into walls or foundations. A thermal barrier system has been utilized effectively on many historic buildings to prevent rainwater from entering structurally weak locations such as masonry corners and joints, foundations, or delicate structural elements (columns/arches).

Thermal Barrier Systems have also proven effective in controlling localized temperatures within buildings. It is important to understand what the building envelope should not be doing during extreme weather events such as high winds, heavy rains, and cold. Thermal Barrier Systems allow for this by keeping heat from the exterior from moving into the interior while maintaining airflow through the entire building envelope.

Pre-Treated Timber Studs

Be careful of studs used in your own building process as sometimes they are treated with preservatives. These are typically easier and more comfortable to work with than untreated timber studs so ask your supplier about using them instead of trying to cut wood on your own.

When using studs for a wall of a shipping container home, you must be very careful. Studs used in a normal frame have been treated to prevent rotting and damage from insects and moisture, but they can be easily damaged when using them as the structural support for your home.

These are the three main types of timber studs used in construction: Concrete coated, untreated timber studs, and pre-treated timber studs. The type of stud varies depending on what is used as an insulator or interior sheathing (your joists or flooring). You will see below certain pointers on how to handle each type of stud concerning framing in a shipping container home.

Interior Walls

Let’s take the plan as an example of the interior framing. Assuming these are two 40 ft. containers, the interior walls in black are the ones that need framing. Any partitioning walls will always need to be framed, but you will also have to cut through the walls during the conversion process to make room for the partitioning walls.

Insulation

After completing the electrical and plumbing, you’ll need to insulate your home. Insulation can help control the internal temperature of your home. It will also reduce condensation accumulation. Insulating your home can be easily achieved using spray foam insulation.

Installing A Ceiling

Installing a ceiling, much like installing a roof, is a personal choice, depending on your personal preferences. You don’t have to put one in, but it will certainly make the place look a lot fancier and more to your style. However, an exposed ceiling also has its perks because it shows the nature of your shipping container home so that it might have an aesthetic appeal of its own. Still, adding a ceiling gives room for more insulation, and thus better heat/cold control, and it might even provide you with storage space. As we mentioned earlier, adding the ceiling before or after the stud walls is also a matter of choice, but you should do it after framing the walls. You have a few options with ceilings, starting with keeping the original one. 

Chapter 12.   Electrical And Plumbing

Electrical Wiring

The wiring in a shipping container home starts out as 120v but may be changed to 240V or 480V during installation. The difference between the voltage is the amount of power it can provide. If you're looking to install solar panels, connect them up to a battery bank, or add a well pump in your shipping container home, then I would recommend using 480V wiring.

You can connect your solar panels up to a battery bank and charge them at night, so the panels will be charged during the day when you are using power in your shipping container home. You may also put a timer on your well pump to make it start and stop regularly.

For example, they may be running to fill your holding tank for a shower when you get up, then off all day while you're at work, then back on as soon as you return home.

Plumbing

Is one of those things that can turn a house from a place we love to live into a place we rush to escape from. Unless it is done properly, or if you are using the wrong materials, your home may be plagued with problems and leaks. But for plumbing installations in shipping container homes to work correctly, there needs to be specific planning and coordination among the professionals involved. Several key aspects need to be considered before adding anything even as simple as an outlet or sink inside of these types of homes.

Plumbing Materials

One of the first things to consider is which materials you will be using. Consider the following:

 Copper pipes have been used in plumbing for hundreds of years and are still popular today. However, they can be expensive; and there is always the possibility that they may corrode over time. They also tend to have a higher failure rate than PVC and steel pipes.

 Copper piping can also mix with some piping materials, such as galvanized steel piping or older lead pipes, to create some potentially toxic compounds when in contact with these types of pipes.

 Steel pipes tend to be the most common type of piping used in both commercial and residential settings. They are durable, have a high corrosion resistance, and can be easily installed with fittings.

 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a newer type of piping that is used in plumbing today. It has many of the benefits of copper piping and is cheaper than it, but it can still cost more than steel piping. PVC does not corrode over time and will only deteriorate under very harsh conditions, which means that it will last much longer than metal pipes. It is also easy to install.

 While not widely used in residential settings, polyethylene has been used for both commercial and residential applications when it was first introduced. It is still a popular material today due to its strong corrosion resistance and ability to sustain severe temperatures.

 Rubber/polyurethane piping can be used in hydraulics. It has the look of copper piping but actually isn't metal at all. It uses only a small amount of pressure to function, which makes it great for applications such as wet or dry steam systems. It is semi-flexible and can be used to connect pipes at many different angles.

Air Conditioning

The shipping container home is hot. There is no place for a traditional air conditioner in most of these homes. I will break down some options for you to consider, with different pros and cons for each one. I will also recommend a few excellent AC units that can be installed into the interior of the home and powered by rooftop solar panels.

Phone Line

There are two types of phone lines that can be used in shipping container homes, one being inside the truck, the other being mounted outside. For inside a truck, you need to first mount a 'dagger board' into the floor of your house. This is what you will attach your wire or cable to as if it were running along the floor. The daggerboard should be mounted at six feet from either end and attached with screws through wall studs all along its length on each side. You don't want it too close to any walls so that when used, it doesn't interfere with them.

Alternatively, when running outside on large containers like 40 footers, then you need to use a ‘long haul telephone line.' If you are using one, then you can use a ‘land line’ style phone.

Lighting Point Terminal and Power Sockets

In a shipping container, we have positioned one PowerPoint and one light point terminal.

This is because the majority of our containers are not electrically wired for power or for lighting in the roof space.

If you need electrical outlets or lights installed, we recommend consulting an electrician.

If you want us to, we can arrange for this, as well as all of the other connections to guarantee that your container comes ready to live in. Be aware, this could add considerably to the cost of building your shipping container home but will be far less expensive than having it done once it’s on-site.

We suggest that you use LED lights to minimize energy usage and keep the power bills as low as possible.

Solar is also an excellent option for powering your container home. We can arrange a qualified solar technician to come and have a look at your site and advice you on how best to go about getting it up and running.

You will need a mains hook-up or inverter capable of providing enough power to run refrigeration, the water pump, lights, small appliances, and chargers for phones, laptops, etc.

Before your shipping container house gets on site, you should think about how you'll power it.

Chapter 13.   Insulation and Temperature Control

Why Your Container Home Needs Insulation

Why do you need insulation in the first place? 

 Heat Control: Since the containers are steel structures, they absorb and transmit heat and cold. The container cannot be controlled if no insulation is used. 

 Humidity: The moist of the interior air condenses against the cold steel. This will lead to condensation, and after some time, mold. 

 Temperature: Steel is a good conductor of heat and cold. Insulation is needed to make the containers appropriate for you to live comfortably without outrageous energy bills. You might be wondering what kind of insulation is ideal for your container home. The type of insulation you should use depends on various things, such as the cost involved and your local climate 

 Environment friendliness: You need to insulate the inside of your container, but painting the outside of your container can have a big difference. If you live in a hot climate with the sun beating down on your house, you can consider ceramic insulation sprayed or painted on the outside of your container to reflect the heat. Ceramic paint has a good R-value. 

Your Container Home’s Climate

Your goal is to keep the temperature as steady as possible while still allowing some air flow. There are 4 types of heating systems: hydronic systems, radiant heating systems, electrical resistance heating elements, and infrared heaters. These 4 methods work well with varying budgets and demands.

A hydronic system is comprised of plumbing and heating water, or “infra-red” (IR). This energy source heats the air via a coil.

A radiant heat system is similar to hydronics but uses infrared (IR) technology, rather than a coil, to transfer the body's natural heat into the circulating air(s). When placed in an enclosed area like your home, this type of system is called a radiant floor heating system. Radiant heat systems can be installed in an outdoor area like under a deck or patio with no wall. It works well for areas that are open and need roof support such as covered patios.

An electrical resistance heating element uses electricity to heat a metal or ceramic element that burns off dust and debris via convection.

Infrared heaters use super-heated air to warm people and objects. This type of system is very useful for water-resistant areas away from electrical outlets such as under your home's deck or outdoor area. These areas typically include an access door to install additional components like a duct kit and blower, if needed. While the unit does require close proximity to its target(s), these units do not consume much energy, which can save you money over time.

Each system offers a heating solution for its own unique environment or needs.

Heating, Cooling, Or Both

Shipping container homes are getting more popular, and they need to be insulated. This article covers one of the benefits of using fiberglass for insulation versus foam or other materials.

There are many different ways to keep the temperature inside a shipping container house comfortable, but some options work better in certain climates than others. In cold climates, electric heating is usually an economical choice, while in warmer climates, evaporative cooler pads may be more efficient.

This will help you decide what kind of heating and cooling system to install with your new shipping container home by going over some of the pros and cons of different systems, and then giving you examples of how they can be used in different climate zones.

For the purposes of this article, we are going to assume that you have decided that you want to install some form of heating or cooling in your container home. In some parts of the country, it can be difficult to justify the cost of this kind of installation. Someone living in an area where they spend most of their time indoors may not need any heating or cooling at all, but for many people, installing these systems is a necessity.

The first thing that I want to get straight is that there are several different kinds of heating and cooling systems available on the market. Depending on how you decide to build your shipping container home is going to determine how many options you have.

If you are going to use foam insulation inside the containers, you can go with a fixed air system or a variable speed cooling and heating system. Both of these systems will work in most climates, but I would strongly recommend choosing one over the other. The fixed air systems are easier to install because you will not need to change any of your electrical connections, and they will be less expensive. However, in some places where air conditioning units are abundant such as southern California or Arizona, a variable speed system may be more efficient.

Top 8 Insulation Materials

Insulation is a vital part of any building. It helps maintain a comfortable temperature within the building and decreases the amount of energy required to heat or cool it at any given time. Insulation also helps heat move up or down within a building and provides the best comfort possible for inhabitants.

Spray Foam

Spray foam also provides good insulation to container homes. The spray foam completely hides the ribs, plumbing, and electrical wiring. Unlike fiberglass or polystyrene panels, spray foam does not leave any gaps between the wall and insulation. Consequently, no unintended condensation or dampness is developing. The open cell variant provides an R-3,5 value, while the closed-cell variant provides an R-6 value per inch. It’s more expensive than the open-cell but has a great advantage besides having a better R-value than the open-cell. Let’s say you are using open spray foam, and it`s very cold outside (freezing). You are sitting cozy in your seat at room temperature.

The air inside has more vapor in it than the cold air outside. Because the spray foam cells are open and not closed, the warm air touches the cold surface and starts to condensation, leading to rust and rotting. If you have used closed foam spray, the air from the inside can’t reach the outer wall because it’s air-tight. So, no condensation would form against the wall of your container. If you decide to use open spray foam, you need to install a vapor barrier situated between your framing and the drywall. It’s not easy to seal everything. I wouldn’t take the risk of using open foam because the chances of rotting are present. You are better off using closed spray foam and paying a little more (if you live in a cold climate). 

Closed Cell

Open Cell

Cold climates

Warm climates

Strong and firm

Weaker

Air barrier at 1.5 inches 

Air barrier at 3.5 inches 

Moisture barrier at 1.5 inches 

No moisture barrier

R-6 per inch

R-3.5 per inch

Costs more

Costs less

The open-cell can be beneficial in hot climates. Ever since they can breathe, if there is a leak somewhere, it will evaporate back through the ceiling or wall. However, they only work if there is a vapor barrier. Spray foam can also be used as a thin layer (1.5 inches) to stop condensation to form on the inner walls. If the thin layer has been sprayed on, you can add other insulation types like rockwool, fiberglass, or others. This is a table for the recommended R-value in your home, depending on the climate and your heating system. You will note that the R-value for your ceiling is recommended to be the highest. That’s because heat transfers more easily through the ceiling than the walls. 

For example, you live in zone 4. You will need a minimum of R-38 for the ceiling, R13 for the walls, and 25 for the floor. You will need:

Material

R-Value (per inch)

Ceiling

Walls

Floors

Fiberglass

3.5

10.9

3.7

Styrofoam

5.0

7.6

2.6

5.0

Open cell spray foam 

3.5

10.9

3.7

Closed cell spray foam 

6.0

6.3

2.2

Glass Wool Insulation Blanket

Glass wool is a common type of insulation blanket that is very effective for reducing heat loss and sound transmission. Glass wool insulation blankets are also very resilient and can withstand exposure to chemicals, extreme temperatures, or electricity with ease.

When choosing an insulation material for a container home, you want to make sure the material has high thermal resistance (HR) value, low density (LB), and low water absorption (W). The HR of the blanket should be above 1000 degrees Fahrenheit while keeping LB below 50 pounds per cubic feet. Water absorption should be less than 3%. The blanket should also have a thickness of 1/2 inch to 3 inches, which will provide a high R-value and reduce heat loss. Glass wool insulation blankets that meet these requirements are typically made by Kimberly-Clark, Fiberglass, Great Stuff, or Owens Corning.

The glass fibers used in this insulation are formed from molten silica and other minerals. The combination of minerals gives the glass fibers their resistance to heat and electrical static discharge. Research has shown that glass wool doesn't generate heat or flame when exposed to fire. It's not known for sure how much thermal energy is needed to melt it but it is believed that temperatures around 4000 degrees Fahrenheit would do it. However, since glass wool is known to be able to withstand electricity with ease and electricity can heat things up much more than fire, it's probably safe to assume that glass wool would be able to handle temperatures of 1000 degrees Fahrenheit or more.

It has been proven that glass wool has a very high resistance to moisture, chemicals, and corrosion. When exposed to extreme temperatures, the fiber structure seems to break down but this only makes the insulation material denser. The density of the blanket increases as it is exposed to heat increasing its thermal resistance properties.

Glass wool also has one huge advantage over other types of insulation: it doesn't conduct sound well at all. When you have an insulated container home with soundproofing, or when you are close to a sound system that has insulation panels, this may seem like an insignificant advantage. However, the reason sound travels well in a room is because the air molecules are bouncing around inside the room, and when they get close enough to each other, they touch and create vibration. The air within our bodies is also undergoing vibration and this vibration can be heard by our ears.

In contrast, glass wool has almost no ability to conduct small particles and vibrations (such as those that occur when someone opens the back door of your container home at night). If you are curious about the difference between sound and vibration, this short video explains it well.

Glass wool is also very durable and resilient to moisture. It can withstand extreme temperatures, exposure to chemicals, or even being exposed to electricity with ease. Because of these properties, glass wool is the only type of insulation that can be used on windows since even fiberglass insulation will melt if touched by a flame. Without insulation on the windows, the container home will be susceptible to condensation, mold and mildew, and dust.

Insulation Panels

Shipping containers have become popular as a DIY housing solution. With the addition of insulation panels, your shipping container home can be both functional and comfortable in climates ranging from Seattle to Sydney. However, as with all construction projects, there are some key considerations and decisions that need to make before you get started. We will discuss what insulation materials are best for a shipping container home, how much insulation material is needed for a shipping container home, and what style of insulation panels are available.

Plastered Finish

Is a blend of satin finish and plaster. It is made from cement, sand, water, and microbeads. This material will reduce the heat of attic spaces, as well as infuse breathable insulation into your attic's native materials without the need for complicated stucco or expanded polystyrene foam.

A shipping container home provides a great solution for people who live in a cold climate but still want to utilize many of the features that come with living in such an efficient space; e.g., large windows or storage potential without having to sacrifice insulation. Also, the fact that a home can be built in a short time is an attractive feature for the do it yourself.

Many people want to turn their old, worn-out shipping containers into storage containers, or provide decorations for their yard, back porch, or front porch. A common way to build such a project is by using cement, screws, and lumber. However, this does not create a very energy-efficient structure and will inevitably have a lot of air movement which is bad for heating an attic space.

Aluminum foil on one side will cancel out all the heat coming from your house. It will block the heat from getting in and out. The foil will also attract heat into it and reflect it back into the house.

Eco-Friendly Insulation Materials

Eco-Friendly Insulation Materials are easy to find, inexpensive, durable, and can be recycled back into their original form. They make it simple to add insulation or add even more layers to an already insulated shipping container space without having to build anything or permanently modify your home in any way.

The first thing to do is to look into the R-value of the insulation in your plans. You will want to add as much as possible without going over budget. The best way to insulate a shipping container home is through passive and active solar heating and cooling. This is another resource on my blog with tips on how to achieve this without building or modifying adobe barriers.

Recycled Materials

Recycled glass is a material that goes hand-in-hand with shipping containers. These two materials are often used together because it is a cost-effective outlook. This material can be easy to install since it typically requires little or no protective equipment and has a simple HVAC system that can easily be adapted to function effectively in just about any building. Recycled glass has better insulating properties than traditional insulation, and also comes at a lower cost than many other products on the market. However, there are some drawbacks to recycled glass insulation, including the fact that it is more difficult to install compared to other types of insulation.

Reflective Roofs and Walls

When looking for ways to save money, many people start by thinking about the insides of their homes. Not only can a reflective roof or wall help lower heating and cooling costs on your next home build, but it also has an aesthetic appeal as well.

This will cover the best materials to use on both a roof and walls for a shipping container structure during building construction, as well as some DIY options that are available for the DIYers among us. The article will also provide you with some of the pros and cons of each option, so you'll know what suits your specific needs best!

This will help you take care of your personal insulation needs during this colder weather season.

Living Roofs and Walls

The main idea behind a living roof and wall is to produce enough biomass (plants) to absorb CO2, a greenhouse gas. This process is called carbon sequestration. The plants also provide shade, insulation, and habitat for wildlife. In theory, living roofs and walls should not only help to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, but also provide a cooling effect.

Since they are made out of metal, shipping containers make poor insulation in some climates. Shipping containers depend on the air temperature around them for warmth or cooling. In colder areas, this can be problematic. One of the greatest advantages of using shipping containers for construction is that they are already insulated to withstand the temperature changes when being shipped around the world (from warm to cold). For this reason, it can be a good idea to build a portable structure that is made out of shipping containers so that they do not need this insulation.

In the warmer seasons, an insulated structure made of shipping containers is likely to be warmer than a similar structure built using wood, although it may not be as insulated. In the cold months, the shipping container house may not be comfortable enough to live in. In tropical areas, where there is no need for heating or insulation, it would work well. On the other hand, a house constructed of shipping containers in Siberia would work pretty badly because of the severe weather conditions.

Living roofs and walls can be built from recycled materials, which can include 2×6's and 2×8's, wood chips/shavings (looks better), hemp (suitable for exterior use). You can actually make your living room and wall from shipping containers, but ideally, you should be able to make them out of a type of material that is designed to last.

Former Finnish professor of architecture Mika Turkkila says the amount of carbon dioxide humans emit is almost equal to the amount that trees absorb. He encourages the building industry to design buildings that satisfy people's desire, both for being green and for making a statement about how one lives.

Chapter 14.   Roof and Flooring

Different Roof Styles

Shed

Okay, so in terms of adding a roof, the shed roof is the easiest of the lot. It’s basically a single slope, hopefully, angled away from your entrance. That way, the sheet of raindrops from the back of your structure instead of in front of the door. The way to do this is to make one length of your container the high end of the slope, and the other the low end. The shed roof is a relatively quick option. It’ll take you only a few days max if you have the beams and trusses on hand. Plus, if you plan to install solar panels, this is absolutely the way to go. You’ll be able to get the most exposure when you need it by angling the roof with the sun. However, to pull this off, you’ll need a bit more in the way of tools, resources, and skills than you need for a flat roof. If you want to add a roof but still have to consider your budget, here’s looking at the cheapest option.

Installation

First things first: you can’t just set your roof in place. You need actually to anchor it to the container. The easiest way to do this is with right-angle steel plates. You’ll need a beam running each length of the roof. A 2 x 6 inches will do the job perfectly. Mark out where you’ll set the beam, and then line the edge with right-angled steel plates. Weld these plates into place and snug your beam up against them. The raised flange of the right-angled brackets will be used to secure the side of the beam. You’ll need to drill through the flange, unless it comes with a hole already, and then screws through the wood to connect the rood securely.

After the beams have been placed, it’s time for the trusses. Set them a maximum of 18" apart. If you do the arithmetic, a 20-foot container will require 14 trusses, whereas a 40-foot container will require 28. The trusses will be screwed directly into the beams using a skew nailing technique. This means that you’ll pound one nail in from the left and another from the right. Try to keep the angle about 25 degrees away from the vertical. The resulting shape of the nails would be an x pattern if you could see the wood in cross-section. This will provide the greatest structural stability to each truss when dealing with lateral pressure. 

At this point, your roof is really coming together. The trusses show you the shape that your roof will take once the final touches have been made. Next, set up your purlins. These are long beams that go across the angled side of the trusses. They should line the slope, starting at the top edge, and placed no more than 1 ft. apart after that. If you work with 20 ft. purlins, you should need only one for each run across a 20 ft. container, and two for a 40 ft. At this point, you can also add braces to the trusses. These may come in the form of right-angles “hurricane clips” to make your roof even more resistant to wind-force pressure. 

Finally, it’s time to cover your roof. Once again, you’re looking at options. Do you prefer shingles? Coated or galvanized steel sheets? And, once again, the best choice for you will depend on resources and desired functionality. The cheapest route is to work with shingles. It’s also relatively simple if you don’t have many people or much equipment to work with. However, shingles don’t last all that long, so you’ll be set for some repairs in a few years. If you want something that will last a little longer, galvanized steel is an option to consider. It’s more durable than shingles and pretty easy to install. 

The option you’ll want to go for if the price isn’t a consideration is coated steel. It will necessitate greater investment in terms of equipment, skills, and knowledge, but it will pay off in the long run. If sealed correctly, it will be a couple of decades before a coated steel roof requires any upkeep. So, check out your options, think about what you really want in your home, and then go from there. 

Now, any roof, regardless of the style, benefits from ventilation. Just like with the underside of the container, this allows heat or cold to flow freely instead of being channeled to the inside of your home. To properly set up insulation for your shed-style roof, you’ll want to make sure that the trusses overhang the edge of your container by about 1 ft. on both sides. Set up a run of the fascia board to cover the facing length of the overhang. Follow it up with a length of soffit board for the underside and leave a 1-inch gap for ventilation. Make sure the ventilation gap is covered by wire mesh so you won’t have to deal with pests moving in further on down the line. The ventilation will help to prevent heat traps and rust-causing condensation. 

Tips: Make sure to check your design with a structural engineer. Given the natural strains exerted by wind, rain, and snow in your area, they will be able to estimate the exact load-bearing needs of your roof. The number of trusses and purlin placement has been offered as an over-spec recommendation, fitting for most circumstances.

Gable

Taking it up one notch fancier, we’ve got the gable roof. This is the kind of roof you expect to see on most single-story houses. They are peaked in the center and allow drainage down both lengths of your structure. Plus, they’ll give you a more traditional look when you’re all finished up. This is important if you’re building in the suburbs. You get a more aesthetic finish and likely less noise from the neighbors, all in one fell swoop. 

The resulting roof is triangular in cross-section and ideal for water drainage. It will extend the life of your roof by several years, if not a decade. Plus, if you go this route, you’ll have a good deal more of roof and ceiling space than you would have with other designs. It isn’t absolutely necessary for quick or cheap builds, but you’ll have all the space you need to line the roof with thicker insulation. 

Installation

Installing a gable roof is pretty much the same as installing a shed roof. You start with 2 x 6 inches beams that are attached to the roof of the container through a right-angled steel plate. Screw the beams in place through the holes in the flange. Next, attach the gable trusses to the beams with a maximum width of 18 inches apart. Either screw or nail the trusses into place on the beams with a skew pattern. Add braces if you wish to stabilize your structure further. Place the purlins across the angled lengths of the roof, beginning at the top and leaving no more than 1-ft. between each purlin. Afterward, cover the roof with shingles, galvanized steel plates, or coated steel sheets. 

The ventilation issues and solutions are the same for a gabled roof as for a shed roof. In this case, you are leaving a 1 ft. overhang on each length of the roof, covering both edges with the fascia board, and then covering the underside with a soffit board. The only difference with this design is that you won’t need the fascia board on the back of the structure to be quite so tall. Leave a 1-inch gap in the center of the soffit board, and cover the gap with wire mesh. This will give you all the ventilation you need while protecting your roof from pest infestation. 

Flat

So, you’re short of cash, and you want to get this sucker up yesterday. If that’s the case, then you just might want to consider a flat roof. It comes with a container, and you can always add another roof later. It’s the easiest, quickest, and cheapest option and requires little to no modification. In all honesty, this is going to be good for most builds. It’ll last for years, and it’s only if you’re thinking in terms of decades that it becomes a less than desirable option. Plus, remember that insulation is a weak point with shipping container homes, so you’ll definitely need to do something about the top of your container if you choose to skip the roof.

First of all, shipping container roves are not designed for water runoff. This means that you’ll have water pooling on top until it evaporates or you get it off of there. When we’re talking about pools of water in contact with steel, this means rust. If there’s even the smallest nick in the paint, you can have structural instability on your hands in no time. However, you can address this by placing a tarp over your container. You can lay rolls of asphalt on top of the tarp for an added layer of defense. However, remember that the top of your container can benefit immeasurably from a layer of insulation before you place the tarp. The combination of insulation, tarp, and asphalt will keep your container relatively cool and protect the container from leaks and rust damage. Plus, the asphalt weights the tarp in place, so you won’t have to get up there and adjust it daily.

After laying out your asphalt, you’ll want to fix it in place. Remember to leave a minimum of 2 inches overhanging over the length and width of the container. After that, you can fix your asphalt firmly in place with 2 x 1/8 inches metal strips. Drill through the strip, the asphalt, and the top of the container to bolt the strips down and clamp the asphalt into place. Make sure to seal the bolt holes with mastic afterward to prevent leakage. 

As mentioned above, it’s a great option to line the top of the container with spray foam. However, the benefits of this approach are increased dramatically by adding a roof and additional insulation afterward. So, let’s explore some of your other roofing options and see what they look like in practice. 

How To Put a Roof?

No matter what the size of your home is, it will need a roof. You can build any type of roof for any style of the house but I will be talking about common asphalt shingles roofs in this article. If you want to install a waterproof membrane first, they do that first as well.

Step 1 — Before you start working on anything else, you are going to need to find out if there is an adequate slope for water runoff. This is very important so make sure that your slope is at least 3 inches over 10 feet horizontally, or about 2% or less vertical grade change (grade = height). This might be a little steep if you are using the site where your container is located. If this is the case, install a French drain system before you put anything else down! This will help to prevent water from making its way into your living space.

Step 2 — Once you have chosen your roofing material and decided on how much coverage you want, determine how many squares of shingles or metal roofing tiles you will need for your project. The number of square feet multiplied by the number of inches in each square is equal to the total square feet that can go on a roll of one shingle style or metal roofing tiles.

Step 3 — If you are installing metal roofing tiles, it is recommended that you pre-asphalt first before installing the tiles. Otherwise, your metal roofing tiles will probably not stay on your container!

Step 4 — Determine how many pieces of shingle material you will need for each piece of roofing material. For example, if you need 5 sheets of metal roofing, tile 1/8" thick by 12" wide, and 60 sheets of asphalt shingle 1/4" thick by 12". This is equal to 30 square feet of metal or asphalt shingle coverage for your roof.

Step 5 — If you are installing metal roofing tiles first, determine how much gravel you will need to fill in between the sheets of metal roofing to prevent water from making its way into your container. This will also help keep the metal sheets from getting damaged by the edges of the gravel, which can occur during construction.

Step 6 — Measure out how many pieces of shingle material you will need based on these numbers and install them onto a wooden frame (this will be referred to as a shingle frame). The number of square feet is multiplied by the measurements for each piece. For example, if you need a total of 60 square feet and your shingles are 12" long by 20" wide, you will need 30 pieces of material.

Step 7 — Cut out the shingle tabs and lay them all on their edges in a row. Be sure to keep track of where the tabs are so that you can easily reassemble the shingles once completed. Take two pieces at a time (for each row) and overlap them by 1/2". Fold each tab over the top piece, then back onto itself. Nail each tab to itself with a nail that is 1/2" or 3/4" in length.

Step 8 — Now that your shingles are all down, remove the frame and repeat the process for one more piece of shingle material. When you get to the end of this row, start with the next row instead. The overlap will not be as bad if you do this as opposed to trying to wrap those last few shingles around all those tabs. I found that for each row, I was able to get all my tabs under the shingle without any problems.

Step 9 — Now that both rows are down, repeat step 8 on both rows by making sure that your tabs do not overlap in other rows (which would cause them to be separated). Once you have both rows down, start to fill in the gaps between your shingle sheets with gravel. This will help prevent water from coming up through any gaps.

Step 10 — Once all the gaps have been filled with gravel, take two pieces of your shingles and laying them out flat. If one of the tabs does not want to stay between the two pieces, overlap it by 1/2" or 3/4". Do this for each of the 2 pieces of shingles until you are done.

Step 11 — After all of your shingles are down and cut to the correct size, start putting some nails into the caps (the caps that go on top of your roof). Be sure to keep track of which way the tabs are placed so that you can line up your nails with the tabs.

Step 12 — If you have chosen to install an asphalt shingle roof, you will need to do some prep work before beginning. I would recommend that at least one person on the team know how to lay an asphalt shingle roof before starting this project. This way there will be multiple people who can help out if needed.

Step 13 — Start by putting down a sheet of plastic onto your gravel driveway (or grass if there is not gravel). Be sure that plastic does not go over any gravel gaps. You will be pulling it up and using it later on in this process.

Step 14 — Next, take one sheet of a metal roofing tile and lay it down onto your plastic sheet. This will be the bottom part of the shingle that you are laying across your asphalt shingle roof.

Step 15 — Next, take the piece of shingle material that will go above the metal roofing layer and lay it down within some kind of protective barrier (I used a cheap wire laundry rack). This will prevent any nails from damaging your roof as you are installing pieces. If you don't have a way to protect your material, you can always put some cardboard under each piece as well. There is no need for super fancy protection if you do not have it available as I did.

Step 16 — Once you have that piece installed, take the next piece of shingle material and lay it down on top of the current piece. Be sure to line up your tabs with the ones that are on the metal roofing layer. This will keep any nails from going through your shingles and into the roof itself. If you do this correctly, all of your nails should be throughout your shingles and not your roof.

Step 17 — Continue this process until you have all of your pieces laid out across the metal roof material and onto your roof for a distance equivalent to a full side of a house (the width of a doorway if there is no doorway).

Step 18 — Once you have laid out all of your shingles, it is time to begin putting on the nails. You will want to do a small group of nails on each piece at first so that you can verify that your caps are nailed down securely. Get four people to help with this step: two people for each piece.

Step 19 — On most roofs, water can easily get underneath the shingle material and then melt up the shingle over time. This is bad news for your home's roof and it is a real pain in the rear when it needs to be fixed. As a result, your aim here is to ensure that no water collects underneath your shingles. The best way is to get one person to hold down the entire piece of metal roofing material with their foot while another person nails in the shingles over the top of that.

Step 20 — Congratulations! You are almost done!

Step 21 — You have probably noticed a few nails in the gravel surface of your yard already. These will get taken care of once you go around and clean them up. If you are unfamiliar with how to do this, type in "how to remove a nail from gravel" into Google and read up on it! These will be thrown away as well, so no need to worry about recycling them.

Step 22 — If you have not already done so, make sure you have accounted for all the nails and make sure no scrap metal is left behind. If you have problems finding everything, just throw a magnet around the yard, and if it sticks to something, it's probably metal, so go toss that in the trash can.

Step 23 — You are almost done with your roof! Now, what do you do? Well, you can either go ahead and lay down a gravel layer over your existing plastic sheeting and call it good or if you are feeling super ambitious, you could cut some more pieces of plywood to lay down flat on top of the existing plastic sheeting. This will give it a slightly smoother surface.

Things We Enjoy

The material's advantage is that if it gets stained, you can just wipe it away.

The great thing about the material is that if it gets a stain on it, you can just wipe it off. The doors do leave an impression on them so they will keep your food fresh.

Creating A Rooftop Garden

Rooftop gardens have become one of the most popular trends in home design, and this is a huge reason that so many people are choosing to transform their old shipping containers into rooftop gardens. These containers can also be transformed into playhouses or workspaces for their children, guest houses, or even outdoor kitchens and dining areas. All you need is a little creativity when deciding on what type of room to create from your old container.

How To Cover Your Container Floors

Plywood (Sub)-Flooring

Is used for construction into shipping container homes. The trees are very hard and strong to make a great building material. The plywood itself is made up of many thin layers of wood that are stacked, glued, or screwed together to create a strong piece of lumber that can be used in a variety of different projects. They are also eco-friendly as they’re manufactured from recycled paper and plastic waste.

The airtight plywood panels help in preventing the inside from being hot or cold depending on the outside environment.

However, they are not perfect types of building materials as they do rust after a time. You will have to apply a coat of oil on them every time you paint them to prevent it.

Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo has a natural white color and can be used to make industrial flooring, but it is also a plant that is perfect for residential flooring projects. The leaves of the plant are the only part visible in the natural state, but if you want to create an outdoor space that blends with nature, you can do so by using bamboo as your flooring material.

Fiber Cement Board (Fcb)

Is an innovative way of building homes that utilizes shipping containers? This technology has been used for many purposes and the possibilities are almost endless. Fiber cement boards have a multitude of uses, but it is most commonly used for insulation and fire resistance.

Shipping container homes are the perfect option for people who desire more control over their home’s construction, people who do not want to be confined into a pre-determined set of materials that require significant amounts of time and money to construct, or people from areas with severe limitations on industrial development to preserve landmass.

Ceramic Flooring

Is a permanent solution to a problem that has plagued homeowners for decades: the dreaded two-step sound? Ceramic flooring is a type of hard tile that mimics brick, stone, and concrete in appearance for any room in your home. When installed correctly, ceramic flooring can be perfect for high traffic spaces such as hallways, kitchens, bathrooms, or those often-used rooms referred to as "the living space."

Many homeowners are turning to this stylish type of flooring because it is easy to install and inexpensive. Imagine stepping into your kitchen and not being distracted by the two-step noise! You know you’ll love ceramic tiling if you want an attractive addition with exceptional durability. It’s time for homeowners everywhere to enjoy a quiet and peaceful home!

Wood-Strand Cement Board (Wscb)

Is a type of construction material that is made from panels of various types of wood-strands, chemically bonded together using a reaction between cement and cellulose fibers? It is commonly used as insulation in residential buildings, such as home additions and new homes. The installation process for the product requires no tools or special expertise.

Shipping container homes are becoming more common because they are relatively cheap to build when compared with traditional construction methods, and can be built anywhere around the world. Companies such as Evergreen Homes have already begun manufacturing pre-cut shipping containers into modular multi-family housing units that can be shipped empty to where they're needed on-site for quick assembly and customization by experienced builders. This assembly process is very similar to the way houses are built with traditional building methods.

Currently, construction companies around the world are accepting orders from homeowners for shipping container homes. Since these renovations can cost as little as $100,000, those who would like to build their own home can afford these renovations. Homeowners who purchase a shipping container home will find that they can easily transform their home into a beautiful building that matches many of today’s newer and more expensive styles. In addition, shipping container homes are environmentally friendly because of their low monetary and maintenance costs. This has opened up this type of home to many people who would otherwise not be able to afford such a remodeling project.

Wood-strand cement board is a building material made from wood fiber and cement that is commonly used as insulation inside of homes. The installation process for the product requires no tools or special expertise. With these easy installation instructions, anyone can install a wood-strand cement board.

Step 1: Ensure that your surface is clean and steam-free before beginning to install the wood-strand cement board.

Step 2: Line up the edge of the first plank against the wall and secure it in place with two nails, one in each end (the nail tips should be under the first plank). Then, line up the next plank against the first plank and nail it into place in a similar fashion.

Step 3: For the third plank, overlap the second plank so that they line up side by side. Secure them together with nails in each end. Repeat this process for the remaining planks.

Step 4: Continue laying all of the planks and nailing them together into place until you have completed your project. Once finished, clean up any excess cement from your work area and wipe it down to remove any residual dust or residue.

Impact Of Condensation

When a container is filled with enough air, water vapor tends to form within the container's walls. This occurs because the air inside the container has been heated, which increases its relative humidity to 100%. When a container is emptied of air and closed for transport or storage, there are no longer any places for water vapor to leave. Once this vapor reaches its saturation point, it condenses and leaves liquid on the cool surfaces of boxes and pallets.

Most condensation will occur on surfaces that have been in contact with each other for extended periods such as storage shelves or even crates stacked one on top of another in a warehouse. Condensation is also apt to occur on the roof of your container home.

Depending on the type of insulation used, your roof may begin to leak either very early or after many years. [In the case of corrugated panels, likely, any condensation will just form small beads that will roll off, taking moisture and dirt with it.] The usual cause for wetness in a home is a leaky roof. It is easy to detect leaks with a simple flashlight, paper, and pencil. If you have left your home for an extended time (more than one day), place a sheet of white paper across each room and check it before you go to bed. On the white paper, there should be a continuous line of tiny holes.

It's also a good idea to inspect closets and other storage areas for leaks or stale air creeping up through the floorboards.

If you notice moisture on your roof, you should investigate immediately. If you find a leak, you can fix it by stuffing rags into cracks and allowing the water to soak up into the rags. If it cannot be found and no repair material is available, consider filling small plastic bottles with kerosene, and place them over holes that are leaking water. This will allow the kerosene to congeal the surface of any liquid that has leaked from your roof. If kerosene is unavailable, fill a plastic bottle with water and place it over a leak.

The following are common problems that should be considered during the design process of your shipping container home:

1) Rain leakage from the roof. It is important to make sure that the roof of your home is properly designed to carry the weight of water and snow. Cold temperatures may cause condensation if your roof does not have enough ventilation or is not well designed in this regard. Since these conditions make leaks more likely, you should use foam-in-place insulation wherever possible and seal small holes with caulk or weather strips.

2) Openings that allow water to enter the container. Studies have shown that between 10-50% of all container homes leak through large open areas, such as doors, windows, and vents. These openings are usually caused by rust or corrosion, which makes them harder to seal using common caulking or weather-stripping. They can also be caused by leading edges of pallets used for upholstery that have been mechanized and thus made thinner from welding.

3) Corroded joints on downspouts and downspout vents used for rainwater collection. It is important to use a joint sealer on any plastic conduits or pipes you use for rainwater collection. Another way to prevent leaks at these connection points is to use a bonding compound that will adhere all parts of the connection tightly together.

Chapter 15.   Interior Design Ideas

Sliding Doors

Sliding doors are a terrific method to add privacy while also adding a stylish touch. They can be used in bathrooms, hallways, or even in the living room. A great place to place them would be on the wall. You could make it look like an interesting piece of art!

Convertible Couches

This enables people to focus on what matters most, interior design ideas and features, which is always more important for people who are ready to put everything into their new living space. The containers are designed to be durable and built to last, which ensures that people living in these homes will enjoy a great piece of architecture.

Mirrors

Can make a room look longer than it actually is, or provide the impression of additional space.

They're also useful since they give a convenient location for folks to check their cosmetics.

As a result, in this post, we'll show you how to use mirrors in your design and generate winning concepts.

Mirrors are not just for reflecting light and making rooms look larger, they have other important functions too. Mirrors can make a room appear to be longer than it is or create the illusion of more space. They are also very practical because they provide a good place for people to check their makeup (in-store dressing rooms).

You might think that the placement of mirrors in a room is only limited to the bathroom, but you'd be wrong. Mirrors can be used elsewhere too, such as in the living room or kitchen. In fact, mirrors are a great way to add texture and depth to any space because they seem 'wider' than they actually are. When your guests enter a room, they don't know what to expect; it could be a wide hall when really, it's just a small hallway with some art on the wall. Mirrors provide not just the appearance of depth, but also lighter. The best way to place a mirror in a room is in the center of the wall — this creates an "axis" that draws your eyes towards the middle of the room. Make sure to match up the style and design with other aspects of your home. For example, antique mirrors can be used with antique furniture or modern mirrors with sleek modern furniture.

Rooms Without Walls

If you're thinking about building or upgrading your home the same way the professionals do, shipping containers may be a good option. If you've never heard of shipping containers, it's easy to understand their popularity. These self-contained steel boxes are specifically designed for transport without regard for weight and size restrictions. They come in a variety of sizes and forms that can be piled on top of one another like blocks, but they also work well for creating homes with only one side of walls! Shipping containers offer an interesting design challenge because they require plenty of creativity to make up for the lack of windows and doors. If you can look past the absence of these necessities, you can create a unique interior that gives the house an industrial look without feeling cramped or uncomfortable.

Creative Lighting

Container homes built from used shipping containers are becoming more popular in some western countries which have seen container home projects over the past few years get a lot of interest. These small, modular homes are easy to transport and therefore are self-built with little to no building permits.

The interior design ideas for container homes can sometimes be challenging as these structures do not have conventional windows or doors like traditional stick-framed buildings, but they offer a variety of ways in which people can get creative when it comes to lighting. Designers can come up with unique lighting ideas such as chandeliers or hanging lamps that use the sun's rays on sunny days and lamps that mimic the light from within the container itself.

However, because container homes are built with recycled materials and have unique designs, some interior designers may need a bit of creative thinking to come up with space-saving lighting ideas. Interior lighting design can be particularly challenging in space-restricted areas such as the kitchen, bathrooms, or second bedrooms — all places that need to provide adequate lighting for living, but also meet the requirements of home design.

For example, it may be necessary for a person to have small lamps with a small light bulb or LED light bulbs that will not distort the shape of the container home. As well, there are LED lights designed specifically for interior decorating purposes that work very well as decorative lighting.

Other interior design ideas for container homes include adding nice homemade touches or accessories to the exterior of the container itself. For example, decorating the outside walls of a shipping container home with patterned fabric or artwork can change the look of the outside without having to create an entirely new structure.

Less Is More

One of the main reasons these homes have become so popular is because they are inexpensive.

The biggest decision when it comes to deciding on a design for your container home is whether or not to use interior walls. If you don't wish for any interior walls, you will need to purchase windows and doors that fit the space.

Because of the low materials cost, though, some people opt to simply cover the walls with decorative wallpaper. But I have seen many creative and beautiful designs with interior walls and windows that included artwork and other decorations.

It is also possible to incorporate a toilet into a shipping container home. The toilet could be mounted to the wall if you so desire, or it could be built into a separate room. Either way, your home will need a water closet

Another thing you can do is add a living space in the rear of your container home. Eight-foot-high ceilings are recommended for a shipping container home. To add this space, you could make a lower ceiling in the rear of your home, or you could raise the floor to level it with regular floors (which would require you to build a separate room).

If you decide to make your home a more permanent foundation, then additional design considerations will be required.

There are lots of site plans available for any size house. As an example, here is one with an eleven-foot-high ceiling for $199.95. This plan has both interior and exterior views for viewing purposes.

Chapter 16.   Exterior Cladding and Finishing

Up until now, we’ve been working mostly on the inside of the home. Now, we get to move outside and see what to do with the exterior. As with the steps above, the first thing to think about is your insulation. Spray foam leaves you with the widest range of options. Foam, blanket, roll, or paneling insulation can be used on the external walls, but certain types of exterior cladding will make them less effective. So, with insulation as the biggest consideration, let’s look into cladding the exterior.

Visual Harmony with Surroundings

Shipping Container Homes are an emerging trend in sustainable, affordable housing. They can be used as starter homes, vacation retreats, or simple storage houses for people living land-roaming lifestyles. These also serve as a solution for overcrowding and homelessness on the urban landscape while reducing ecological footprints. Because they are replicable structures with kits available to customize finishing, most of the time there is little to no need for large-scale construction all over the place just to build them either.

Shipping container homes provide a minimal footprint which helps things like urban planning and city sanitation become more effective and functional than ever before.

The way in which they are designed, constructed, and used makes them attractive to optimize energy use and minimize waste. As a result, they reduce the need for local, regional, national, and international communications services such as power lines or phone lines. They can provide emergency services and housing in remote areas which otherwise would not be available or affordable for the average person.

External Insulation

Shipping container homes have been designed to make a tight living space with the most efficient use of space. To make sure that they are comfortable inside, builders need to provide insulation for each room. This is achieved by using an external insulation wall system, in other words, panels that go outside the container’s exterior wall but still inside its roof and floor.

The posts have a cavity in which insulation is fitted and then sealed for weather resistance. These panels can be made of any kind of material, but it has become a common practice to use polyurethane boards because they're lightweight and easy to install with screws or nails.

This material is an efficient and flexible way to reduce heat loss. It comes in various thicknesses and can be used on walls, floors, and roofs of containers homes. If it is used on the roof structure/paint, it also affects the insulation of your typical external wall system. It can often be used with concrete to make your external wall structure.

The cavities have a space in which the polyurethane board or other suitable material is installed. This cavity is then sealed with a water-resistant sealant.

It is important to note that external insulation does not replace any aspect of the traditional wall system, but rather adds insulation externally. The purpose of external insulation is to reduce heat loss and not to create a hurricane-proof structure. It works very well in conjunction with the other walls of your shipping container home such as concrete, outside block work, breeze blocks, or brick and concrete mix. It also works well in conjunction with traditional construction methods such as plywood on studs or full sheet OSB panels.

The most common application would be to install external insulation on the roof of a shipping container home. Other applications include adding external insulation to the walls of container homes and also adding it externally to other construction methods.

If you wanted to build a new structure in which the exterior walls consisted of external insulation, this should not be considered as a hurricane-proof structure. The reason for this is that generally speaking, there are many ways in which any building can withstand a hurricane wind (ex: concrete walls, steel frames with steel supports, tubular formwork — including for temporary structures). None of these methods include exterior insulation or any other external material for that matter.

Chapter 17.   Building Regulations for Shipping Container Homes

Shipping containers, whether you use them as a living space or as a shipping unit, are subject to varying laws and city codes.

You should also be aware that this is not just a matter of having approval from the local authority. 

A container home building code or permit also ensures that you have a building inspector accredited by the city to verify the integrity of your building plans. This inspector will examine the container's location, position, and positioning. 

These checks are supposed to tackle a range of topics. Any of these safety questions are as follows:

 Surface rigidity. To guarantee that the soil will support the container's weight.

 The accumulation of snow

 Security of the structure

 Overturning or uplift risk

 Adequate anchorage

 Resistance to wind

 Depending on your place, the checks mentioned above could be subject to a different ranking format. 

Here are some of the variables that could affect permits in your state.

 Local ordinances and laws

 The container's actual location on the premises

 The planned construction's consumption time

 The container's physical state

 The container's effect on the community/neighbors' attitudes.

So, what are the applicable container home permit conditions you should be aware of? 

Container Home Building Regulations

Shipping containers, like conventional houses, must be designed in compliance with strict legislation and permits. To ensure proper licensing, make sure the structure is appropriately zoned.

Once you've been zoned, keep the following in mind, based on the city's zoning by-law.

Property Zoning

Zoning means the segmentation of the property into parts to specify the form of buildings that can be built. A government-controlled process; land zoning helps to plan the development of a metropolitan region. It is an approach that enables the government to group density-controlled related systems.

Zoning of property is important for any building project. It lets the state escape circumstances such as the repair of industrial buildings in particular parts of the capital, spirit shops in churches, etc.

Therefore, ensure the right zoning laws in your area will influence the location of your shipping container.

Building Codes and Permits

This is one of the most important steps before your shipping container is installed. You need a building license to show compliance with the applicable building codes. By adopting government construction codes and approvals, all architectural requirements are upheld.

The International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC) are also based on building codes and licenses. These uniform regulatory bodies have strict rules on power, fire safety, and plumbing inside buildings.

These codes are often revised every few years. Container homes can also be subject to different standards and licenses depending on the municipal authorities. So, make sure you contact the local authority with the latest up-to-date policy.

Mobile, Modular, and Manufactured Building Codes

It can be difficult to differentiate between mobile, modular, or prefabricated homes. However, each form of the building has separate codes regulating its building permits.

You would also aim to acquire the exact code of your particular building plans, mobile, modular, or made.

Manufactured Homes, Manufactured Housing Construction, and Safety Standards are also known as mobile homes. The Department of Housing and Urban Development should find its specifications (HUD).

Modular Home Offends are built in factories and shipped for assembly to their planned location. These constructions are governed by the International Construction Code (IBC), not by the HUD.

Tips to Get Your Container Home Permit

It is recognized that it is never easy to obtain permits for your building. We have, therefore, built a few tips to make the process stress-free. 

Here are some tips to get your container home permit faster.

 The Shorter the Duration, The Shorter the Requirements. The shorter you choose to keep a shipping container on your premises, the less demand you will have to fulfill. You do not even require a short-term permit in certain areas.

 High Traffic Areas Attract Stricter Rules. You can face more permit rules if you choose to use your shipping containers in high-traffic areas. This is because some places are not associated with buildings. On the other hand, rural areas are not so rigid.

 Hire a Permit Expeditor. Your construction and the expeditor location will do you the same thing based on the time you have to spare. This expert will help you save time by getting local authorities involved. They also do the paperwork and make enforcement quick.

Chapter 18.   Alternate Ways to Use Shipping Containers

Just because some people use shipping containers for homes, that does not mean it needs to be used for that. There is a world’s worth of other ideas you can put to use with recycled material such as this. The use of using containers is colloquially known as ‘cargotecture.’ This can refer to any kind of architecture used with intermodal freight containers as a base.

For example, in 2009, the state of Louisiana made use of shipping containers during their ‘Voodoo Music Experience.’ Used together, the containers made a combination of a Grand Stage and a VIP lounge. Due to the shipping containers being built for easy transportation, it proved that it could also be used as a stage for outdoor concerts. That indeed lends itself to other outdoor entertainment events, such as stage plays. A traveling show, for example, could make use of a shipping container. Not only does it serve as a stage, but it can also transport the props to each new location in a close and secure fashion.

Let us not forget, too, their initial use in the ’85 film ‘Space Rage.’ For an amateur filmmaker, a shipping container could be used as a prop in any kind of movie, whether you are making an art film, science fiction, fantasy, or something else. As props, they can easily be redressed and decorated to fill any sort of need. School districts with student film programs should consider housing one on school property to be used as a kind of warehouse to store smaller props, and for students to ‘rent’ time to shoot on their location. Certain schools give their film students budgets every year, but if they had an on-site warehouse like a shipping container, money could be saved in the long run. Not only would this benefit the school itself, but it will also benefit the students learning to be filmmakers as this gives them an opportunity to learn how to rent certain spaces and set their filming schedule around their location.

But these are all ideas that lend themselves to groups. What if you are looking for something to do with your own shipping container, just for yourself? Fret not, for there are a number of things you could do as a solo project.

The containers are great for affordable housing, but if you are a person with a disposable income, you can consider turning a shipping container into a vacation cabin. Many people choose to build cabins from logs or other natural materials, but if you can transport a container to your chosen location, then you already have a base to begin with. The innovation that comes with designing unique shipping container structures has endless possibilities. And should you ever decide to sell your cabin, buyers would flock at the chance to buy a move-in-ready shipping container. 

And, if you like the idea of a vacation home but not the idea of moving a container to the desired destination, especially as many cabin locations cannot be reached by roads, consider instead turning a container into an R.V. trailer. As with any R.V., you will need to make sure it stays within size laws, but as the intermodal freight containers only come in 20 feet or 40 feet sizes, you will have no problem estimating the size of the finished product. If a smaller-sized trailer is more of what you have in mind, it is possible to find smaller or pre-cut containers on the market if you are prepared to do a little more digging. Half-sized containers are popularly used as trailers, as they come with just the right length.

On the theme of putting wheels on your container, there is the option of converting one into a food truck. For many, running a food truck is a lifelong passion. And in recent years, thanks to a surge in television shows focused on highlighting food trucks across the United States and Canada, food trucks have become a more lucrative business than ever. By using a shipping container, you are drawing attention to a unique design. If your food truck is seafood-themed, the design is a bonus as it echoes the aesthetics of a ship. Parked down by the docks, it would attract loads of tourist attention. The only downfall to this is that even a 20ft container would be too large, unable to park on the street, and difficult to maneuver around a tight city. So, for this purpose, you would need to either purchase a container that was already cut down, decreasing your options; or pay a company to resize it for you. This may not be the hardest thing, as you are likely already paying to have the container converted into a truck — resizing may be negotiable into the writing contract.

Consider, also, whether or not the area you live in has a market for shop stalls. Some cities in the world have entire malls built-in shipping containers. If you are an artist looking to sell your product, the shipping container may be just the venue you need. As with the food trucks, the unique design of your refurbished and redesigned can draw in a lot of attention. A tourist-heavy area is a prime target ground. If you have a real passion for your craft and live in the right kind of area, you could stack two containers atop one another. The bottom could be a shop stall, the top a personal apartment. The idea has a certain romance to it as if you were living in a cyber-punk regency alternate timeline. For an artistic soul, living in a space like this could stimulate your creativity. 

Everything boils down to creativity in the end. There are no laws set in place, telling you what you can and cannot do with a shipping container once you purchase it. There are ideas that no one has considered yet, not even the experts; and likely in ten years, we will see even more innovative uses for shipping containers. This has been the running theme of this book: the possibilities are endless, as long as you have an open mind and a willingness to put in the effort to see your vision come to life. After all, the first shipping container homes were created by people who decided to think outside the box. Or, if you will, the container.

Chapter 19.   The Future for Shipping Container Homes

As the use of intermodal shipping containers for various architectural purposes continues to gain popularity, there are plenty of things that people can look forward to when it comes to the future of shipping container homes. Many predict that more people will opt for this type of housing for its sustainability and cost-effectiveness while others do so for the unique aesthetic benefit that cargo unit homes provide. In terms of commercial exposure, some pop-up container malls have been seen around the world from, Europe to South Africa, and similar structures, now of a more permanent nature, are underway across Asia and the United States.

Boxpark, the London-based pop-up shopping complex is the first of its kind. It was made entirely out of shipping containers and influenced the trend of shipping container malls across the European nation and the United States.

In 2011, Boxpark officially opened in London, although it was for a limited time only. Boxpark is the pop-up retail complex made entirely out of shipping container units, each one designed to cater to a particular brand. It is said to be the first of its kind and was built on a temporary location. All shipping containers used for this shopping complex were recycled. Boxpark revolutionized the retail industry in Europe as it offered real estate developers and businesses alike an alternative to the old concept of malls, which most people are slowly outgrowing. Not only are they changing shopper attitudes but the concept has given attention to the need to go back to horizontal commerce; providing retail products and services at eye level.

Boxpark was strategically located along with East London’s high fashion Shoreditch High Street by a vacant lot in the area. Boxpark was created by using sixty recycled steel shipping containers, all of which are of the twenty-foot standard size. The shipping containers were arranged to form five rows and were stacked to only have two levels. It took Boxpark’s creators a year to finish construction for the pop-up project. The man behind it is a well-known British businessman by the name of Roger Wade. Wade is the entrepreneur that established the Boxfresh fashion label that earned him his fortune back in the nineties.

When he created the Boxfresh brand, he sold his wares in any market he could find. As he spent time in these stalls, he focused on international shipping starting with Hong Kong. He has always had this fascination with shipping containers and loved the idea that they could be used for more than just a transport container. By setting up Boxpark, Wade was able to achieve something that was closely associated with his dreams of international commerce right in his hometown.

Boxpark was a temporary retail complex but was given an initial lease of five years; enough time for the developers and retailers to prepare the next shipping container pop-up. Aside from satisfying the demand for the rebirthed horizontal shopping experience, the concept allowed for an environmentally friendly not to mention sustainable structure. There were more benefits to it than just a different kind of shopping experience.

It is this sustainability and reduced carbon footprint that heightened its appeal and continue to encourage support from patrons around the world. The same concept was brought to South Africa and smaller varieties have been seen in different parts of the globe, most of the time built by specific brands for special events or product launches. A popular brand that continually makes use of the shipping container retail pop-up is Doc Martens.

Part of the structure’s sustainability, aside from its use of recycled shipping containers, is the fact that it holds no special form of insulation or internal components. Its insulating technology is fairly simple with everything from the utilities to the electrical aspects powered by a series of solar panels. It is not only the first of its kind when it comes to the revolutionary complex structure but is also the first of its kind when it comes to energy efficiency in a commercial environment. Boxpark reduces carbon emissions from its daily operations and also lessened internal or embodied carbon emissions as it was built with recycled materials. There was no need to expel energy to manufacture the materials needed for it to come to fruition.

The architectural concept that started with modular shipping container homes is now being adopted into a more complex form of urban housing. There is a popular game where the player stacks housing blocks to achieve as high of a stack as possible without the building collapsing. This is being brought to life by a team of architects and engineers from Europe. The concept is for stackable and movable apartments.

Pre-fabricated shipping container homes, fully furnished and ready for occupancy, are stacked atop one another via a heavy-load crane.

The common terminology for this residential complex is the pop-up apartment. Basically, the concept is a cluster of prefabricated tiny homes and they have been named Y Cubes. Each Y Cube can be stacked atop the other. So far, its creators are planning on achieving 10 stories per complex. They are intending on building prefab homes strong enough to handle twenty to thirty stacks without having to apply additional support beams on the lower tiers. Aside from being able to stack these studio apartments, the design is also meant to allow the developers to dismantle the homes when necessary. Dismantling means removing a stack or two and repositioning them in other locations or other building complexes.

Each unit has a bedroom, living area, kitchen, and bathroom, all fitted into 280 square feet of open space. The open-plan living area allows for a maximized use of space. The beauty of the Y Cube is that each one comes with its very own deck area. The appearance is pretty simple, but basic aesthetics work best when it comes to this apartment complex. The streamlined look allows for a more spacious external look. Each Y Cube is built in a different location, a factory, where everything from the gas lines, plumbing, and electric connections pre-made into each unit. When it is delivered to its final location by truck and crane, the homeowner simply has to plug it into a preset grid and the unit will be all powered up and ready for occupancy. Because of the stackable pre-fab design, it is easy to add more units to a complex. Each container unit is reinforced with cement and wood to allow each tier to withstand the weight.

The brains behind this project are architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Each unit costs $75000 to make and this is extremely cheap compared to how much typical apartments and condominium units go for. Aside from the lower overall cost, these units can also be made at a much faster rate. Initially, the project was meant to provide homes for the increasing homeless population of London where rent is somewhat expensive. The first release consisted of thirty-six units. It was offered for less than half of the average rent charged in the city. Aside from this, payments were staggered, enabling homeless renters to comply with the monthly payments. All thirty-six units only took less than half a year to complete. The complex comes with an outer shared yard and playground.

The layout for these movable apartments features a studio setup.

Because of the immense success of the Y Cube project, various developers abroad are considering implementing the concept of building more units and positioning them across Europe. Other developers are also considering using the Y Cube concept to create middle to high-range residential options for urbanites. The Y Cubes are meant to offer housing to the needy for five years while the latter is meant to offer permanent housing for sale that can be moved from location to.

What once was a time when homeowners need to leave their abode in search of greener pastures, or a better backyard, now involves a simple appointment with a crane and shipping company. With the urban cubes, homeowners can move their entire residence to any city of their choosing with ease. To make this possible, developers are planning on having cube complexes around the world. If a homeowner needs to move, for as long as a slot is available, their shipping container home can be squeezed into the slot, and voila!

As the popularity of shipping containers used for residential and commercial space provisions continues, the architectural community expects the creation of a series of creative buildings inspired by the imagination. With the continued use of recycled shipping containers comes the hope of the development and improvement of building materials that are sustainable in nature. The future sees more of these things being readily available across global markets at prices that are more affordable.

Chapter 20.   How to Find A Shipping Container?

Online

Shipping containers can be bought online in a variety of different sizes from a great number of different websites. A popular favorite is E-bay as there is a large number of choices, and there is the option of entering an auction, which could get you a good price. As well as this though, there are many websites dedicated purely to selling shipping containers. It may be worth emailing some of these websites to find out specific details about what they have in the size you are looking for. They should respond with a quote and you can decide if that is within your budget. 

You can also check some online classified ads. Many times, the savings are huge. Even so, you still want to check out the container before committing to anything. Many are selling damaged, broken, or worn-out containers, thus giving you a terrible deal. As with anything online, be as analytical and careful as possible. It could save you tons of money. 

The main thing you want to consider with regards to buying shipping containers online is the shipping cost. When calculating your overall purchase price, make sure to add in the price it will cost to ship these huge structures — especially if they are a great distance away. What could look like a marvelous deal could actually be a money-pit. For these reasons, buying your shipping containers locally could be an easier and cheaper method. 

Local

If the Internet is not for you, then try phoning a local shipping company to enquire about what used containers they have for sale. To save transport costs, try to stick to local companies. Be aware that transporting shipping containers can be very expensive. 

Check out your local classified ads for great deals and worthwhile purchases. It could save you tons of money on shipping costs, although you will still need the container transported, even locally. Still, local shipping would self-evidently be much less. 

Buying through a local company also gives you the likely benefit of being able to inspect the container before you buy. This gives you a chance to make sure you’re happy with its condition before you spend your money. At this point beware of dents, rust, and bad smells. These are all bad signs.

Thoughts on Pricing

Generally, shipping containers can be bought for roughly $1,500, and new or modified containers cost between $5,000 and $8,000. You will need to consider the individual prices of the containers and beware that you will likely need multiple containers. Remember, always offer less to get the best deals possible. Trust me, many times the sellers will accept.

How Many Will Your Home Require?

Once you’ve decided on the sizes of the containers you require and how many of them you will need, you’ll need to get in touch with the local authorities and find out if you’re legally allowed to put a shipping container in your desired location. Some places have restrictions on the locations you can put shipping containers. You’ll need to check that your preferred location is suitable. You will need enough space to not only build your home but also to have construction vehicles move around comfortably. Also, you will need to find a relatively level plot, unless you want to spend a large amount of money excavating the sight and smoothing out the terrain.

Condition Considerations

Before parting with money to purchase your shipping containers, it’s of paramount importance to check what condition they are in. Some shipping containers will have been used to transport goods across the oceans for years and years. These will not have a lot of durabilities left in them and maybe structurally much weaker than newer containers. Ideally, you want ‘one trip’ containers; containers that are relatively new and barely used. These containers are usually made in Asia, used for one long voyage carrying goods to be traded abroad, and are then sold. These are often listed as ‘like new’ such as the popular E-bay description. It simply means that they are in good condition and only have a few scratches and imperfections from their singular use. One way of knowing how reliable a shipping container will be is to find out whether it is still ‘cargo worthy.’ A cargo worthy container will have been given the all-clear to carry cargo across the ocean. If a container has been given this stamp of approval, then it is still suitable for its purpose and strong enough to do its job. If you really want to make a thorough job, however, then it may be worth hiring an inspector from the Institute of International Container Lessors to inspect your container. They will make a thorough inspection and decide whether the container is suitable for your long-term project. There will likely be an inspector working near the local shipping company you are buying through.

Shipping containers that are categorized as ‘as-is’ are the cheapest because they are older and most used. Usually, they are retired containers because they have become damaged, leak, or have issues with rust. These types of containers are the most common and the cheapest. With these, it’s likely you can score a good price, but you indeed get what you pay for. Buying a damaged container to turn into a home could be a risky option. 

Plan Ahead

If you desire to build your home in an area of inclement weather or near the ocean, then make sure you look for ‘Corten steel.’ This is a fairly new material often used for coping with the weather without rusting. A lot of shipping containers are made from this material as they have to stand up to harsh weather conditions and salty seas when carrying cargo. Because of this, they are not hard to find. They’re generally far more resistant to rust and weather, so this could be very important in building a strong home.

If you’d like your shipping container home to be freshly painted, then look for a ‘factory paint’ label. This indicates that the container has only been painted once and will therefore not suffer from the same flaking of paint and rusting problems that frequently refurbished containers will. This is quite important if you’d like your new home to look like a home and have the appearance of something new and well designed.

Modified shipping containers are also available and range greatly in price. Lots of these shipping containers have been repainted or include add-ons such as roll-up doors, heating units, air conditioning units, security bars, vents, skylights, internal partitions, insulation, fans, and frames. These additions may be a great advantage for building a home and maybe features you’re particularly looking for, which will cut down the price and effort on your part. However, these additions may compromise the strength and security of the container and it might be better to make these additions yourself rather than trust whoever made them originally. For your home, you want to know that everything is done to a high standard.

Chapter 21.   Frequently Asked Questions

Can A Shipping Container Survive a Tornado?

A shipping container was supposed to be torn in half by a tornado in Kansas. But the container is still standing and has been used to shelter people and rescuers from the storm.

Container homes are increasingly becoming cheaper and more accessible as a way of living. They're usually transported flat-packed, so they require minimal work for delivery and can be built on-site, without much specialized equipment. Learn more about why these homes might just what you need!

How Do Container Homes Get Water?

Container homes are a trend that's been taking off throughout the United States in recent years. They're designed so that they can store and use water from outside sources to be utilized during times of drought or emergency. There are pros and cons to such a design, but either way, container homes offer another option for living in an urban area that's experiencing huge amounts of growth.

Central Heating — Warm Air or Radiators?

If you are considering a new house to live in, you may be undecided on which type of heating system to choose. The options for heat are radiated air, central heating, and hot water radiators. Radiated air is often the most popular option because it is efficient as it can be found anywhere in the world with thin air.

However, central heating and hot water radiators have pros and cons, with the major pro being that they are remarkably energy efficient; so, if your home or workplace is centrally heated or has a radiator, then this would be a good idea for you. Although, there are some downsides to central heating and hot water radiators as the homes need a lot of maintenance due to the ducts and the system itself as this makes it difficult to maintain when problems arise. It is also a good idea not to get central heating if you are renting your house as this can be very expensive for landlords if they do not have experience with this type of home.

A common alternative is radiated air which is effective but also comes with its problems. With thick air, like in India for example, it can be very efficient on both cold days and hot days; however, on cold days it may take longer for your house/room to heat up. This is the problem with radiated air as it requires high temperatures for your room to heat up quickly. It also means that we use blankets and heaters which work but they do not contribute to a good environment for our planet. In addition to this, radiated air can be very expensive if your heating is not on a timer.

Is Cork Insulation Good for Container Homes?

Yes! One thing that makes cork insulation so great for shipping container homes, as well as other kinds of buildings, is that it does not react to humidity like many other kinds of materials such as fiberglass. Fiberglass will absorb moisture, and by doing so, changes its density causing mold growth within the material. Cork insulation does not do this and is a much more stable material that can be installed in areas where there is a high risk of moisture.

One of the most popular uses of cork insulation though is for home insulation. While it can be used in any kind of building, some special advantages make it ideal for shipping container homes.

What Is the Standard Size of a Shipping Container Home?

A shipping container home is a type of prefabricated building created by using metal shipping containers. These buildings are typically around 8x8x20 feet. This type of house is often used as a residential or industrial building and can be made from steel, aluminum, or corrugated metal.

What States Allow Shipping Container Homes?

Here is a list of states that allow the construction of shipping container homes.

Alabama: Erecting a building on your property from the use of shipping containers is not allowed, as per the statute 16-8B-25 section c. An exception may be obtained by applying for an exception to the rule.

Alaska: Shipping containers are not allowed to be used in construction according to regulation AAC 0910.12.020 (c)(1), which defines structures as permanent or semi-permanent, or any building other than a manufactured home that has not been moved onto a foundation and fixed thereon is considered temporary in Alaska, regardless of how it was constructed.

Arizona: As per regulation R12-4-603 in Arizona, the department of housing shall not allow for the construction of a shipping container home, other than an approved self-contained dwelling unit. The rules and regulations governing self-contained dwelling units are found in title 17, chapter 6.

California: Title 24 of the California code states that mobile or manufactured homes must be built following specific guidelines. Section 2424 states that mobile homes cannot be built on wheels, and section 2429 states that containers can be used but they must be fixed to a foundation and there are regulations in place about the attachment. There are also regulations for parking such units on property (Section 6067). However, there is no specific code in the construction of homes out of shipping containers that may be used as a dwelling unit.

Colorado: Shipping container homes are not allowed to be built unless it has a foundation. According to Colorado code 12-5-503 (c), the construction of a new home must have a foundation and the exception to this rule is if it is made from materials that are customarily used for permanent structures such as brick, stone, or concrete block. The code also states that under section 12-9-129 (1)(c), mobile homes that are constructed on wheels with axles over which have been placed permanently on foundations are considered permanent and, therefore, allowed in Colorado.

Connecticut: Shipping containers are not allowed unless they are used as storage for a year or longer. 18 Chapter 840(c). It has been reported that the code was adopted in 1935 and has not been changed since.

Delaware: Shipping containers may be rented or used to store personal property, but not as a place of residence according to title 12, chapter 1 of Delaware's code.

Florida: Title 68, part II, section 655.1 states that you cannot use shipping containers in any type of construction unless it is for one time only and then only for temporary uses such as storage and remodeling. There is an exception if the use is prescribed by state statute.

Georgia: In Georgia, it is illegal to use a shipping container as a residential structure. Many other regulations govern the type of construction that can occur in various parts of Georgia. For example, an industrial site can be constructed of metal, and therefore a shipping container could be considered acceptable, but it must have fire suppression measures in place.

Hawaii: Title 11 of Hawaii's buildings chapter covers the erection and maintenance of structures. It does not allow shipping containers to be used in construction unless it is for agricultural uses or industrial uses that have been approved by the building department. The options for a residential structure are wood, metal, masonry, concrete, or other materials as defined in Hawaii's building code.

Do Shipping Container Homes Rust?

Shipping container homes are seeing a rapid increase in popularity at the moment with reasons ranging from eco-friendly to beautiful affordable homes. While shipping containers have been around for decades, they are now becoming more widely used as houses and even mansions. They are covered by a thick layer of corrugated steel that provides an effective barrier against intrusion and corrosion. Nowadays, you can buy a shipping container home for less than $50,000 which is considerably cheaper than most traditional building materials.

However, while shipping containers may be practical and economical to construct, there have been some questions about their durability over time as these buildings can rust if not treated carefully before your purchase.

Earlier, shipping container homes have been known to rust because of the container itself lacking a foundation. To make the home more rigid and resist vandalism, builders would put a wooden platform underneath the container before they were bolted to it. This platform covered gaps between corners and along the sides to provide a better roof shape and minimize water seepage.

However, no matter what you did, these platforms would eventually rot away because of exposure both from rainwater that runs down through the steel walls and due to salt air that penetrates into the gaps in buildings made from corrugated metal sheets.

Due to these shortcomings, earlier homeowners would often build an above-ground structure onto the top of the containers. This enabled them to maintain a regular roof and keep the steel from rusting, but it was still susceptible to water intrusion.

How Long Will My Shipping Container Home Last?

The idea of constructing a home out of shipping containers is appealing. They are strong, durable, and much cheaper to buy than regular building materials. Shipping container homes are supposed to last 100 years or more in theory because they’re made from steel. In reality, it will depend on the weather conditions of your new home’s area, as well as how well you take care of the structure.

Is It Dangerous to Live in A Shipping Container Home?

There is a lot of interest in living in a shipping container, especially among people that live an off-grid lifestyle. Many of these people are living on large pieces of property and would like to use the land for other purposes, but they still need housing for themselves and their families. However, there is also a lot of speculation about the safety and security involved with living in containers. Shipping containers have been used as dwellings since the 1950s when they became standard practice during wartime to house soldiers in Europe. You can find these buildings in many places around the world, including Pakistan, New Zealand, the United States, and more. The shipping container homes are sometimes considered a temporary solution for those who don't want to permanently move into a more permanent structure, but is this true?

Most would probably agree that the answer is no. The shipping container homes are not only temporary but also not very durable. Shipping containers have been around for over fifty years, and have proven to be extremely vulnerable to fire and other disasters. Though the containers may look modern, they still use the same technology as they did in the 1960s. The roofs on these structures are made of thin metal sheets and some even continue to use wooden piles for stability. Also, many shipping container houses lack insulation and airtight construction which makes them unsuitable for year-round living. For example, the average room temperature in a home is usually around 70 degrees. But, with shipping containers, the temperature can easily fluctuate by 20 degrees or more.

Chapter 22.   The Most Original Realizations

Conclusion

The value of shipping containers in modern design is becoming more widely recognized. They are becoming more and more popular for building homes as they can help to expand structures without sacrificing comfort and value. Shipping container homes have also proven to be an effective way to integrate renewable energy into sustainable strategies, making them a great pick for eco-conscious homeowners.

Shipping Container Homes are a great idea for people who want to build a home that is affordable and environmentally friendly. Shipping Container Homes can be easily built with materials in the back of a truck or in a shipping container, making it easy for them to transport. They're also easier on the environment because they don't need traditional construction methods like building foundations, tearing up trees, using concrete and other toxic materials.

In addition, Shipping Container Homes are easy to maintain. They need little or no maintenance, as they are sturdy and weather-resistant. This is especially beneficial for people who don't have building experience, need to move a lot, or live in a place that has harsh weather conditions.

Shipping Container Homes can be built anywhere in the world since the containers are easily transportable. You can also personalize them according to your style and preferences using some basic tools like paint and a hammer. They're also reasonably priced, especially if you want to build something on the small side.

However, Shipping Container Homes can be a little less appealing in areas with earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and blizzards. The structural integrity of the container itself is one thing to consider when choosing Shipping Container Homes. They can also be noisy and unsuitable for people who have long-term commitments like families. Even though they're sturdy, Shipping Container Homes may be too independent for some people and may not provide them with the sense of security and privacy that traditional homes do.

Shipping Container Homes are a new trend in the construction industry, especially since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They're a great alternative to traditional building materials, but there are still some issues that need to be resolved before they become standard around the world.

You will need to have an up-to-date container of the correct dimensions. They are expensive, and there may be a long wait to obtain the one that you want. You will not need any preceding building experience, but you will need some basic tools. The shipping container home is easy to maintain and cost-effective, but it can also be noisy in certain places and may not provide sufficient protection for your family in an emergency.

Shipping Container Homes are a good idea for people who want to move a lot, build simple houses without spending too much money, or live in areas with harsh weather conditions. However, they may not provide enough protection for your family's safety during extreme conditions like earthquakes or hurricanes. If you are a first-time builder, it is important to follow the instructions correctly, especially when building a small container home. Shipping Container Homes are still a new concept to many people. They may prove to be more of an alternative for those who like to build unique houses instead of traditional structures.