Could you? Would you? Live in a shipping container home?

[Liberal_in_LA]

Pictures: Amsterdam’s Lean, Green Shipping Container Homes



Living in a Box

Amsterdam student Rose Mandungu stands in front of a colorful apartment complex constructed of a rather unusual material—discarded shipping containers. The crowded Dutch city has been meeting a pressing need for student and other low-income housing by using ubiquitous steel shipping containers. After years at sea, the containers were rusted and dented but ready for reuse to house people instead of products.
















http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/sustainable-earth/pictures-amsterdam-shipping-container-homes/

[Cleita]

1. The inside space isn't much different than a travel trailer and they can be stacked.

Seems like a solution for some.

[Xipe Totec]

2. Wicked awesome idea.

[Arctic Dave]

3. We have oilfield camps made form them.

I am building a "cabin" out of them.

If my schedule and weather permit I might actually get something done on it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. I would prefer one on the ground, separate from other structures, rather than stacked up

like in the pics. I worry about sound from above or on the sides.

[Arctic Dave]

17. Like this?

[tavalon]

45. Is that your cabin?

Nice, if so.

[southernyankeebelle]

16. How do you get one of those? how much do you pay for them? I think it is a good

solution.

[Arctic Dave]

18. Depending on what part of the country you are in,

you can buy them for appox 500.00 for and 8'x40'.

Up here they are about three times that.

What is nice about them is they are structually sound and easily convertable if you have some power tools and a small welder. If you have those then the sky is the limit.

[southernyankeebelle]

40. That is really neat.

[appal_jack]

77. Wish I could find them that cheap!

I needed an 8x40 as a tool shed, and had to pay ~$3800 for one, delivery included. That was the best price I could find for western NC, after calling vendors from NJ to SC.

-app

[Sherman A1]

4. Most Certainly

It would depend on several factors, but I would give it a try.

[Marblehead]

5. I couldn't do it

I get sea sick

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. lol. Ok.

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. Make mine a double-wide... n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. they do seem a bit narrow

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. Just a little. Double-wide would be perfect methinks. n/t

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. 102" OD.

You should know that, dude!

Regular, uninsulated ones will have approximately 96" to 98" inside width, depending on manufacturer.

Up to 53' long these days.

[tavalon]

44. I just took a tape measure to the inside width of my barge

It's 106" wide and 30 feet long with a 10X9x4 tall sleeping loft, accessed by a library style ladder, so I think I can call myself a personal expert on how comfortable a single person can be in one of these things and the answer is, with spare furnishing and careful management of clutter, it's not only doable but nice. I'm the kind of person who spreads to fit my space so a small space forces me to be spartan. I like that.

I'll admit that in the last four days I've felt cramped but I've had a blow up mattress in the area designated as my living room/office/sewing/hobby room. I had my kiddo here for one night and my standard poodle (12 years old) has been here for 3 days and is using it as a giant doggie bed.

My plan for next paycheck is to get a click clack sofa bed and ditch the blow up mattress. At that point,this side of the barge will have a file cabinet, a four foot desk with my computer/TV and a fold up table for hobbies. There are some nooks in the walls and storage in the floor but I'm very careful about not cluttering that. The other side will have the sofa and a comfy chair. Then there is a step down into the Kitchen on one side and a 2 person table (Dining room, such as it is) on the other wall.

For the right kind of person, me being one of them, this can not only work but be a happy place. Since I'm a nightshifter, having windows at the ends only would be heaven for me. That's one of the drawbacks of this barge. There are windows fricking everywhere!

[Enrique]

80. did you invite them?

or did they barge in?

[jwirr]

101. When I was younger most trailer houses were 8 feet wide. Very narrow but livable.

[Kalidurga]

12. I second that.

I really hate cramped spaces.

[Skittles]

61. yes

I like to exercise at home

[obamanut2012]

9. Yes

[LeftofObama]

11. As long as it has some windows.

I'm extremely claustrophobic and I'd probably be a nervous wreck if there weren't enough windows.

[tavalon]

28. Funny, the guy I'm renting the barge from is amused that I don't keep my roll up curtains up

all the time but being on a dock, people walk by at window level all the time. I''m worried I will forget and give them a great show. But there are windows galore for sure. There's hardly any wall space for decorations. I'm getting pretty creative, though.

[Lesmoderesstupides]

14. Sure no problem at all!

BTW our military are living and working in them now in Afghanistan

[villager]

15. Sunset magazine's been featuring some great ones:

?w=510

With my own nest clearing, I've been wondering if this might not be a good option down the road. The trick is - -where do you set it?

http://westphoria.sunset.com/2012/05/30/the-tiniest-home/

[Liberal_in_LA]

78. beautiful. I will check out the link

[Arctic Dave]

19. Put this into your search engine and check some really cool container homes.

container houses images

Some are very swanky.

[Liberal_in_LA]

79. will do so. Thanks

[Coyote_Tan]

20. Nicer than my hooch in Afghanistan...

Easy

[X_Digger]

24. CHU - containerized housing unit..

A friend of mine is doing work for the State Department in Afghanistan and has spent a couple weeks in one.

[Coyote_Tan]

30. Ours were plywood "b-huts"

Subdivided into rooms , size dependent on rank.

[LeftInTX]

21. My son did a shipping container project in architecture school.

Architecture magazines like to feature shipping container homes.

[VanillaRhapsody]

22. The answer for me is a resounding YES

I lived in travel trailers for 12 yrs of my life (with an ex husband!). The first 6 in a 26ft and the final 6 in a 35ft. I quite enjoyed it....the second one was brand new 5th Wheel and had a full bath with tub and double sink and a full bedroom with queen size bed. I got to move every 3 to 6 months and truly truly loved living on the road. I still miss living like that. So could I live in a decommissioned storage container...DEFINITELY!

[pamela]

41. My husband and I are doing that now.

We're in a motorhome. We've been planning this for years and just started in November. It's fun so far. We move pretty frequently although we've been in the Galveston area for almost a month, just because the weather has been so good.

[Nay]

50. Mr Nay and I are going to start doing that in March! We're headed to FL to see relatives,

will be there a month. We've had a 5th wheel for about 4 years and have done weekend and two-week vacations in it. Now we'll both be retired and can hit the road for months at a time.

How long do you go out for? We would worry about our house, but Sonny Nay lives 3 blocks away and can keep an eye out.

[pamela]

65. We sold the house.

We're living in the motorhome. We had a Class B/camper van and use to do almost yearly cross-country trips and always worried about the house and hated going home. We decided to go fulltime for awhile so we sold the house and van and hit the road. We're loving it so far. I use to live on a boat so I don't have a problem living in small spaces. The motorhome has everything we need.

I don't know how long we'll do this. My family is on the east coast and my husband's family is on the west coast so now we'll get to spend time with both of them. I'm loving the freedom to go wherever we want, stay as long as we want and not have a house to worry about.

[X_Digger]

23. Just one? No..

But give me a pile of them that I can stack, arrange, , turn, and lay out into multiple rooms? Sure.

[struggle4progress]

47. +

[KamaAina]

26. These could go a long way to alleviate our chronic affordable housing shortage.

But there's not enough money in it for big developers, so to hell with it.

[kentauros]

83. That's true

about both the developers and affordable housing.

Perhaps the people we need to push to use this concept (along with many other pre-fab concepts) is Habitat for Humanity. It seems like they would have the most influence in getting such buildings approved.

[KamaAina]

84. Nice!

[jwirr]

102. And resale value keeps HUD from approving these projects.

[KamaAina]

103. Then build them as rentals.

[tavalon]

27. I already do, sort of

When people hear that I live on a barge or houseboat, they are impressed. But really, it's a 10 by 50 container, just a smidge wider, but no longer than a shipping container. It has a "loft" that is about 10X10 and four feet tall for sleeping. I'm not complaining. For one person and even for a couple who could stand the closeness and the lack of separate rooms, it's fine. My ceiling actually looks just like one of those. I think it's a great recycle idea, actually.

[Drunken Irishman]

29. Here in Salt Lake, this building is proposed for construction...

They're lofts made from shipping containers. I don't know if they're still planned - but the proposal was drawn up a few years ago.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

49. I like that.

Modern art.

[Jamastiene]

31. Several of them welded together maybe.

And not in bright orange or bright red or bright blue like the ones in the pictures. A subtle country blue might work.

[Brickbat]

32. No, thanks.

[patrice]

33. Yes, but it would depend upon my community too. & what if you could have one here,

one there, and maybe even another someplace else?

[RebelOne]

34. Yes,definitely.

I already live in a mobile home with limited space.

[JI7]

35. they seem ok if you are single and spend most of your time outside

if you eat out a lot or travel . and mostly use your home for sleeping and shower.

[tavalon]

46. Or, are a happy hermit,

as I've become as a newly single woman. I like nesting in my not exactly shipping container but close.

[underpants]

36. That's like $1,000 in NYC right?

In my younger days I actually checked out an apartment in Richmond Va that was about the same size. The guy who lived in it (went to the same high school) ended up on Top Chef.

[appleannie1]

37. No different than living in a camper.

[Courtesy Flush]

38. I would if I had a fish-eye lens

That seems to be the key.

But honestly, I think there's a potential cottage industry here. People could put one of these in their back yard, and become landlords.

My wife and I ponder the idea of living in one. I'd keep it shaded from the sun though, with a roof of solar panels.

[csziggy]

39. After the Haiti earthquake, I thought shipping containers would help

Get people into solid shelter quickly. Here it is two years later, people are still living in tents and shanties after Haiti has been through how many hurricanes and tropical storms? Most people in Haiti live in far less space than those shipping containers, and their shelters are not much of a shelter in a storm.

Shipping containers can be converted to very efficient living space. In many places, shipping containers pile up as goods are sent to wealthier countries and they are not sent back empty for new shipments.

Instead we see people in more upscale circumstances with much less need use shipping containers. I'm happy to see them re-used, but I would love to see the truly needy get access to them!

[politicat]

48. The issue for Haiti is not using containers, but getting them to where they're needed.

Port-au-Prince's docks were badly damaged, and they didn't have much container infrastructure to begin with. They barely had roads adequate for transporting the containers from the docks, and the earthquake damaged those, too. While containers can be flown in by helicopter, they can't be flown easily.

Same issue for Katrina -- containers should have been used instead of FEMA trailers, but getting them from where they were to where they're needed ended up being a logistical nightmare.

[csziggy]

66. They were shipping quantities of supplies after the quake

How were those arriving?

[politicat]

69. Initially, palleted non-container ship to harbor then ferry by small craft/helo

Or by plane to the one damaged runway or overland via DR.

Most everything is still palleted rather than containered, because human power can break into and break down palletized goods, while containered require cranes to lift off.

I've a local friend who did the logistics for one of the water purification solar still programs. That's what I recall from the time of the quake (they normally drop in 500 stills at a time, packed into a container and for Haiti they had to entirely redesign their delivery.) Let me ask.

[csziggy]

70. Thanks for the information

I just made assumptions about the capabilities of the largest port in Haiti. I should know better.

[nessa]

42. For students, it looks better than many dorm rooms. (nt)

.

[jwirr]

104. University of Iowa used to house their students in WWII Quonset houses.

[Evoman]

43. Easily. I prefer small spaces. My fiancee likes her space, though.

I would rather live in a small storage unit like that, than in a mansion any day. I don't really get why some people need so much space....just seems a waste to me. I'd also rather have a small house on a large yard, then a large house on a small yard.

[abelenkpe]

51. Snow Crash!

Yeah looks cool...

[backscatter712]

82. Almost...

He lived in a U-Stor-It locker.

[abelenkpe]

87. I was thinking of when they visit the Raft

with the hotel made of containers. But you're right Hiro did live in a U Stor it

[tclambert]

52. You could do double-wide and triple-wide, or since they're stackable, you could have an upstairs.

Would I have to eat green eggs and ham?

[dballance]

53. Thats Great. I'd Consider It

Especially given what I pay in rent now. I bet it would be less. I do like the free-standing one in this post a lot: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022280143#post17

[intheflow]

54. I would love to get one of these and stack it atop my mobile home.

We have two ridiculously small bedrooms now, but with this on top, we could have a long bedroom suite, a small guest room on the first floor and open up the rest of the ground floor, doubling our living room size. I think it could be a very good retrofit.

[RebelOne]

57. Good idea. I live in a mobile home also. n/t

[Politicub]

55. Clever idea

I would give it a shot.

[notadmblnd]

56. I do not like a tin can house.

I do not like them with a mouse
I do not like them here or there
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am....

NO, really, I think they're cool, but I'd want a double wide.

[jmowreader]

58. I'll go with the majority here...

Yes, if it's made out of more than one container.

I could definitely see a home made out of six 40-foot high-cubes: four on the ground, arranged in a double--wide L, with two more stacked on top. With enough insulation, they'd be great.

Word to the wise: if you're actually thinking about building one and are pricing containers, ask for "High Cube" boxes. Those are 9-1/2 feet high. "Standard Cube" boxes are only 8-1/2 feet high and would be a bit cramped.

[Nye Bevan]

59. I've lived in worse places.

For someone single and poor, why not? I don't think it would work for a couple, though.

[bloomington-lib]

60. yes

[flying rabbit]

62. What kind of building permits

would you need. I wonder about housing regs. Otherwise-doublewide.

[JimDandy]

63. Do they have bathrooms?

Last edited Fri Feb 1, 2013, 09:24 PM - Edit history (1)

None visible in the photos. If it's community bathrooms, like SRO buildings, then forget it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

89. yes, they have small bathrooms, behind the kitchen area. Here is youtube video

video of a similar one

[JimDandy]

90. Thanks for finding that video.

Wow, the bathroom is small and look what they crammed into that space too. Much better than an SRO though. Looks like a hot water heater is part of the shower assembly.

[Liberal_in_LA]

94. yeah, the one of the video looks pretty cramped.

[AnnieBW]

64. When I was younger, yeah

They're about the size of a studio apartment. As long as it had its own bathroom and air conditioning (hey, I live in DC!), I would have considered it. Now that I'm older and married, not so much.

[Throd]

67. No

[Initech]

68. As long as I had power and water, why not?

[IDemo]

71. If I were to space-limit myself that much,

I'd go for this concept:

[kentauros]

85. That's just it: they're like house-sized Legos!

For example (made from four containers)





Take a look at this link for more ideas and how versatile shipping containers are

[HappyMe]

72. I sure would.

I would have 2 set side by side so it's a little bigger.

[Recursion]

73. I'd love that for the dwindling remainder of my bachelorhood

Not sure about with a family, though

[Duer 157099]

74. Put 'em back on a ship and you have mobile homes!

Hmmm.... now there's an idea...

[bvar22]

75. Insulation, ventilation, and creative wiring and plumbing would be necessary.

We have talked about burying one alongside our cabin
as a kind of Cave addition.
It would be a good storm cellar,
a very secure safety deposit box,
efficient to cool as a refuge in the peak Summer heat months,
and, with just a little creative decor, very interesting.


Heellllooooo. Becky, Tom...can you hearrrrrr me.

[kentauros]

86. I don't see why that would be any different from how all that's done for

post and beam frame construction. Or for people building homes from rammed earth, hay-bales, stone, and underground. You can bet people have solved all of those problems by now, considering how long containers have been used for housing elsewhere in the world.

As usual, the US is late to the party

[bvar22]

88. Plumbing, wiring, and ventilation are not "problems" with solid walls.

They can simply be exposed, or run through exposed conduits for that unfinished basement look.

The "creative" part is making them appear warm, attractive, and interesting,
or camouflaged to look like something else.

[clarice]

76. I could not ,would not, in a box. nt

[kentauros]

81. Seems a bit skinny.

Make it a doublewide and I'm there!

I've read about this concept for years, possibly ever since TreeHugger.com came online. Pre-fab housing is great! We just need to convince local municipalities (and the housing developers we'd be "competing" with) to let us build them. Local codes are still the biggest stumbling block against us seeing more of them throughout the country.

[Broken_Hero]

91. Sure can, and I've lived in smaller

places than those containers.

[kentuck]

92. Beats sleeping under a bridge.

Some folks would see that little home as paradise.

[Liberal_in_LA]

95. London container city. Folks compete for best units

http://design.spotcoolstuff.com/unusual-architecture/shipping-container-buildings

[Zax2me]

93. How resourceful!

Like it!

[kentauros]

96. Off on a tangent here (but I'll get back to the point)

I was watching some old clips of Top Gear last night, and they had the one with the Toyota Hilux that they tried to destroy. The last thing they did to it was put it on top of a concrete highrise to be demolished.

Now, in seeing how much work they had to go through just to take those buildings down, even if it was done with explosives, I thought back to this thread.

Wouldn't it make more sense to build "high-rises" out of containers? When it would come time to take them down, it'd be quite simple and safe. Plus, far more of the material would be recyclable, too

[Remmah2]

97. I've seen them used for artist studios.

Interesting thought for housing.

Would it be considered a high rise trailer park?

[War Horse]

98. There's a shortage of student dwellings in many parts of Europe

So that seems like a great alternative. I sure would welcome something like that way back when I was a student.

And for a homeless person it would probably be a most welcome respite. Finally a home of some sorts - who could get through those walls?

[Safetykitten]

99. Just because we can, should we?

yes, I know it looks all hip and trendy with the furniture, but are people that unimportant that warehousing them in long boxes is now accepted? The railroad apartments of turn of the century New York are actually larger than these.

Hideous.

[jwirr]

100. Would and could are two different things. I live in a tiny bedroom in my grandson's home. So

I would but could I? That is the question. The interior photos here suggest I might feel claustrophobic. Not enough windows.