"Shipping Containers"....the New Affordable Housing...How to remodle to suit your needs..

[KoKo]

I've read about folks using the MERSK and other Shipping Containers for housing...but, never got into it until tonight when I saw this stuff come up on You Tube. It's kind of interesting to see what you can do with these empty containers.

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b[Shipping Container Homes for Sale

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Shipping Container House Transformation

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(THIS ONE IS A LITTLE "Monty PYTHONESQUE" for my taste...but still worth a watch)

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PART 1 Step by step of Shipping Container Home Design and Construction
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[a geek named Bob]

1. pretty cool!

[Trajan]

2. A few more ...

https://www.google.com/search?q=shipping+container+homes&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=XahfUJSoHYf1igLn9YDoCw&sqi=2&ved=0CEMQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=983

[Bigmack]

3. Actually...

... not such a bad idea for a cabin in a remote area that might in danger of vandalism. They are strong, weatherproof....

You can drag them into almost anywhere with a bulldozer.

You can fix them up outside and inside to look OK.

Having said all that, I used one of them as a hog house on my small farm. One of the few things that hogs can't destroy.

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. Hw are these climate controlled?

I have seen some amazing shipping container homes online over the years, but never did get how they climate control them. That metal has to be freezing in the winter and an absolute sauna in the summer.

[KoKo]

5. Most are Plastic Composite, I think...anyway..watch a couple of the first video so

you can get what it's all about.

I first heard of them from links to "survivalist networks" with folks feeling they were the "new wave" of affordable housing.

I saw something on a blog somewhere that had me do a Google and it's fascinating what came up. Also the comments so far on this site. One DU'er using them for a Hog Pen because it was the only thing his hogs couldn't destroy.

The first video show one for a "single person" where the kitchen is nice and the bunk bed next to it is useful for the owner and a guest. It would be ideal for a single person who likes to find a plot of land and not have a large footprint. And, you could have a guest in the bunk bed.

For many this could be interesting way of living on the cheap and having independence.

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. I agree - they are fascinating

But (and I did watch all 3 vids), climate control, and to an extent, sewage is not addressed in any of them that I could tell. The first only had a "toilet goes here" note but no mention of how the plumbing would work.

[KoKo]

9. I grew up rural...and perhaps the plot of land has a place to dig septic tank

and if it's near a town or city perhaps you can pay for trash removal. We used to just dig a pit on our farm and bury some waste or burn the rest. It's the way it was for some and still is in very rural areas of the US. But, I agree...that would be an added expense. Although it's possible to find a dumpster or local landfill that would allow one to haul stuff there. I have relatives who recycle so much that they have little real paper, plastic, metal or other garbage that they need to pay someone to deal with.

There are ways to deal with this...but, it depends on how far from good sized towns or cities one decides to place their container on.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. Shipping continers are often insulated...

because of extremes in transit conditions. Refrigerated containers ("reefers&quot are heavily insulated and refrigerated.

Adapting them to a moderate climate would be as simple, or simpler, than with more traditional construction.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. They are a largely untapped resource.

No one knows for sure, but there are estimates of as many as a million of them that are essentially abandoned in just the US. Goods come from Asia (China, mostly) in them, but no goods go back. It is cheaper to abandon them here than to ship them back empty. They have now become a bit of a blight.

We need to think of them as a resource. Many architects have developed creative plans with them at the center of the project. They have also developed plans for them to be used as emergency housing. Some have used them as a building block in unique high end housing (as shown in some pictures in this thread). In Holland, they've built whole communities on the rooftops of low and mid rise existing buildings.

This is an exciting concept and very viable. The costs are also reasonable. Some containers can be had for as little as $3,000 to $6,000. Fit out is much more variable, deepening on what you want to do with it.

By the way, these are also very safe and flexible bones for housing. They are storm and earthquake resistant in their unmodified form. They need no additional framing. They can be stacked horizontally or vertically. They can be easily joined and made into wide rooms with soaring ceilings by using multiple units joined side to side plus stacked. A room of 53' x 16' is a piece of cake. That same room with a 16' ceiling is easy enough to get, too.

Anyway spending an evening following links on the google machine is a great way to spend a few hours.

[KoKo]

8. Absolutely! "Trajan" in Post 2 has some incredible adaptations for the containers..Spectacular

Creative innovations that just would defy what most of us would have thought one could do with these containers. It's quite a watch.

Although those would be the "McMansions" of what shipping containers could be with mucho money by paying an architect or having one available to work on design for free the designs just show what imagination can do with the very inexpensive (in relative terms) shipping containers can be with some or a lot of work to be a true affordable or creative housing alternative.

[justiceischeap]

11. I was looking into alternative housing some time ago

and came across the shipping containers for housing stuff and subsequently came across a blog from a guy, in OK I think, who bought a parcel of land and wanted to stick a shipping container on it. He had all kinds of problems getting permits and such. If I recall correctly, he had only purchased one shipping container and was told that he didn't meet the minimum requirements for square footage.

There is lots of great potential for alternative homes out there but getting through the red tape can often make it more or just as expensive as building a stick and mortar home because of permits and regulations.

[KoKo]

13. Depending on how close one is to neighbors..it's a problem...

I know in even rural areas that there are zoning restrictions even on having a Mobile Home or Prefab built and one has to notify neighbors If even one objects in a tract then your chances of doing something like that are restricted.

Still...it's an innovative idea and times might become such that areas will have to adjust to this as a new viable concept. It works better for single living it would seem unless one can find a place where innovative designs like Trajan posted above can be considered unique enough to fit in with an existing area.

[kentauros]

12. I love any kind of prefab!

(I've read TreeHugger.com for years and know about the kind made of shipping containers

The biggest stumbling blocks, though, are local building codes and developers that don't want to compete. How do we change the rules to allow prefab of all kinds to be used in the cities?

[KoKo]

14. Have to get townships and counties to allow them in. Rezoning and maye it could

be the way Mobile Home Parks got to be zoned in in areas. Maybe communities of hopeful homeowners of the shipping containers could band together, buy a plot of land and approach the local government to have a designated area for them. Then maybe common sewer or individual septic and tying into local water supply and trash collection could work.

[kentauros]

15. That's an excellent idea and would work for shipping containers.

I'd like to see the other kinds of prefab utilized, but those likely would require a change to the local laws and codes. In Houston, we don't have zoning (I know, hard to believe for some, but I like it) but we do have powerful developers and building contractors with money to burn, especially on preventing the likes of prefab. I don't think prefab is anywhere near as popular as it could be, but when it does gain in popularity, that alone would get things moving to change the codes.

In the meantime, I hope other communities that understand how to think outside the bureaucratic box try ideas along the lines you suggest and the rest of us can finally follow (not so long) later

Thanks for the thread and spreading the word about prefab

[lutefisk]

16. The MUVBOX concept is interesting, too

http://www.muvboxconcept.com/en/gallery.html

[KoKo]

17. So these are steel shipping containers which can be reconfigured....

Someone on this thread thought that steel would not be friendly for housing because of the metal. I guess retaining heat and cold would make it hard to insulate.

But, this is interesting because of the ability to configure them for other uses than housing, and to constuct them out of environmentally friendly products, recycled materiels, etc.

From one of the articles at the link:

"The first MUVBOX in Old Montreal has incorporated solar powered batteries to help basic day-to-day operations, as well as recyclable materials included in the frame, and biodegradable packaging for customers. M.Noiseux envisions upcoming iterations of the MUVBOX to include even more eco-friendly efficiencies.

With each generation, M.Noiseux believes the MUVBOX can make the greatest impact on the environment by barely having any imprint at all. "

Thanks...interesting!

[RandiFan1290]

18. This will probably be the working class home of tomorrow