How To Build Your Own Shipping Container Home

Kimberly Smith Shipping Container Buildings September 26, 2017

Shipping containers are becoming hugely popular as items used for building cool and unique homes. However, there are important things you should know before embarking on such a project. Though it is exciting to build your own home, just as with any type of house, there are specific instructions that need to be followed. Before you make your final decision, here are some instructions you should follow to guarantee that your shipping container home is built with the sturdy foundation and quality you are seeking.

How to Build a Container Home:

Step 1

Design your home, either alone, if you have your own detailied ideas or hire a home designer to help put your thoughts on paper for the engineers. This is of course, for those who will not be doing this as a DIY project on their own.

Step 2

A consultation with an engineer is not a bad idea. It is wise to at least have someone experienced look at your plans and design to see if it will really work in the real world. Often our imaginations can outdo reality. So find an engineer and show them your plans.

Step 3

Purchase your containers. This is the beginning of the whole project. You can’t begin building your home without the right containers. Choosing the right containers is up to you or you can take along a consultant if you’d like. They will be able to point out any trouble spots.

Step 4

Build the foundation on which your shipping container house will sit. It is also a great idea to take a consultant with you if you are choosing your own foundation materials. You can simply choose your material and then have an engineer approve them. One thing you want is a safe and sturdy foundation.

Step 5

You need to know, from your original plans, how you want your containers placed. This ultimately becomes the design of your shipping container home.

Step 6

Containers are connected together in various ways. Here is where a consultation with a professional builder would be most useful. You want to make sure that your home lasts as long as you want it to, and that you and your family are safe inside of it. Speak to an engineer about what the best connections from container to container would be.

Step 7

It is best to have an inspection during and at the end of the building process. An inspector can check out anything that may go wrong after the building process.

Step 8

Your roof is the next and last step of the building process. Choose what types of material you would want for a roof. Remember, a roof has to protect you from the weather and anything that may fall upon it. The roof is one of the most important parts of building any home. It needs to be secured and insulated so that your home is warm in the winter, and protected from heavy snow, if you live in those areas.

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15 Beautiful Homes Made from Shipping Containers

Kimberly Smith Shipping Container Buildings July 3, 2017

Shipping containers used to be simply containers that shipped large items mostly. Though they were used for shipping all sorts of items that was their specialty and main purpose. Now, people, designers, and home builders use these containers to build homes of all sizes. Who would have thought a couple decades ago that some of the most beautiful homes that exist would be made from these industrial items? Home builders are becoming more creative and innovative when it comes to building homes that are fabulous, yet affordable. Home buyers are looking for more green, eco-conscious, and luxurious homes that will not break the bank, but instead are affordable and highly personalized. Besides the tiny house which many are made from shipping containers as well, a home made with shipping container can also be mini mansions. You can create as much space as you need by building with these materials.

The shipping container house started off as rough metal homes utilizing one or two containers, now builders are linking many containers together in many different directions and angles to personalize the homes for their buyers. DIYers are also taking advantage of this trend by building their own homes. All they need is a space where they can build and legally reside in order to make this dream come true. There is no limit to the creative and beautiful homes that can be built this way.

In a way, building with shipping containers is a bit more creative than the average tiny house, because you can place your shipping containers so that they can connect in any shape you desire. Just use your imagination and you can come up with a look and style of of some of the most luxurious homes out there, also made from these containers. We hope to inspire you to use your imagination if you have been thinking of living in a home built from salvaged containers.

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Home Box Container House

Lovella Bargas Shipping Container Buildings December 18, 2016

There’s more than one way to set up a shipping container house! Who wants a view, with just one shipping container? I think this might help getting a vantage point!

It’s the “Home Box Container House” and its an experimental house built by HomeBoxes. How big is the footprint? Using the same philosophy that led to skyscrapers on expensive land, these guys built up.

Check out the gallery of photos below (all images on our site are expandable, even the featured images at the top of most articles).

Find more from shipping container builders, you can find them indexed in our Home Designers and Builders Directory. You can search the company’s name and look for builders near your area. And to see more shipping container buildings, click here.

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Does it get much simpler? A rustic country container cabin

Lovella Bargas Shipping Container Buildings December 18, 2016

For those who like to keep it simple, this one is a tiny house shipping container built as a rustic cabin. It’s only 160 square feet! Talk about tiny. A small house means a smaller price though, and this one was built for $24000.

Very easy to transport something like this, too. Including the trailer, it weighs just 11800. Last I heard the owner, located in Cocoa Fla, was looking to sell this little guest house / travel trailer / whatever you want to use it for unit. Here are some specifications:

20’x8′ container on new 12,000lb trailer
Country rustic interior
Custom rainfall shower
19kW Tankless Water Heater
powered deck
Rainfall Shower
Water toilet (not compost)
Ventilation Fan
50A RV power adaptable to 240v residential power
Heat Pump mini split AC
Two burner cook top
9000btu heat pump AC mini split
Powered deck with 1500lb winch
Custom cook top cabinet
Floor to ceiling entry window
Custom sliding barn door

Check out the gallery of photos below (all images on our site are expandable, even the featured images at the top of most articles).

Find more from Tiny Home Builders, you can find them indexed in our Home Designers and Builders Directory. You can search the company’s name and look for builders near your area. And to see more shipping container buildings, click here.

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Royal Oak Shipping Container House (Interior Photos)

Lovella Bargas Shipping Container Buildings December 18, 2016

Another striking shipping container designed house. This one really looks modern and clean-lined. It’s owned by one Aaron Schnepp, and its the 2350 sqare foot Royal Oak Shipping Container House, built by Michigan-based C3 UP.

How many shipping containers were required to build this fairly large structure?

A total of seven containers

But they’ve done quite a bit to add to the style since construction: replacing the siding with wood (instead of the original vinyl), adding privacy screens, stair railings, and wood finishes to parts of the interior.

According to Schnepp:

“I’m concerned that people are going to think we hate the house. But it’s not that at all; we love it. If the house doesn’t sell, we’ll happily live here for the next 10 years. It’s because I’m so picky. The floor color is light brown, and I want it dark brown. Most people wouldn’t care, but I do.”

Price? According to C3 UP, they can make tiny container homes that start at $31,500, and full-size shipping container houses like Schnepp’s start at $125,000.

Check out the gallery of photos below (all images on our site are expandable, even the featured images at the top of most articles).

Find more from Dwell Boxes, where they feature lots of great shipping container houses, click here. For more shipping container builders, you can find them indexed in our Home Designers and Builders Directory. You can search the company’s name and look for builders near your area. And to see more shipping container buildings, click here.

Photos by: Dwell Boxes

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Pennsylvania Shipping Container Home (Interior Photos)

Lovella Bargas Shipping Container Buildings December 18, 2016

Who doesn’t like to see a well-layed out, striking home design, and in this one, its not only striking for the attractive general exterior impression, but also for the obvious use of shipping containers in the construction. This one is the Pennsylvania Shipping Container Home, designed by the owner, Bill Mathesius for himself and his wife Martha.

How many shipping containers? Can you estimate from the photos?

Actually there are 11 45 footers in total, sitting on top of a concrete foundation. The total size then is 7200 sq feet

A quote by Martha about this shipping container mansion (basically): “There were little summer bungalows here in the ’30s and ’40s—that’s the way this community had developed. There was one here and it burned down, and so that owner decided to build a monster house. He put in all the concrete but abandoned the project. That’s part of what we purchased and very much what inspired us to build with shipping containers: this concrete foundation.

… “It’s not just our primary residence, it’s our only residence. Bill and I had decided we wanted to relocate from our situations in New Jersey. We each owned there and decided to sell those properties and come here together. I was charged with finding something that had three things: It had to have a view; it needed to be in Pennsylvania; and it needed to be approximate to Trenton, New Jersey. Because of his position as a state superior court judge (and he was also the county executive of Mercer County in New Jersey), a lot of Bill’s world is still based around Trenton, which is only a few miles away. I started my search and found this site, which has a view, is in Pennsylvania, and is near Trenton.”

Check out the gallery of photos below (all images on our site are expandable, even the featured images at the top of most articles).

Find more from shipping container builders, you can find them indexed in our Home Designers and Builders Directory. You can search the company’s name and look for builders near your area. And to see more shipping container buildings, click here.

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Check into this cozy shipping container house

Lovella Bargas Shipping Container Buildings December 18, 2016

Sitting on a picturesque quiet community over the Sea of Cortez, this shipping container house was built with just two 20 foot containers. And check out the traditional Mexican palapa roof on it. It was built as a rental unit, a quiet getawaythat they rent out for $21 per night.

The builders are also planning another shipping container construction nearby, a larger house for them to live in.

It’s called the “Bithcin Shipping Container House” and its located in La Ventana.

A bit about it:

Check out the gallery of photos below (all images on our site are expandable, even the featured images at the top of most articles).

Find more from shipping container builders, you can find them indexed in our Home Designers and Builders Directory. You can search the company’s name and look for builders near your area. And to see more shipping container buildings, click here.

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The Austin Vacation Container Home

Lovella Bargas Shipping Container Buildings December 18, 2016

This bright, spacious shipping container home was designed by Keith Lasseigne and made out of repurposed containers (you don’t need to buy all building materials new), to be used as a vacation getaway house.

You might recognize this house because it was featured on “Container Homes” by HGTV a while ago.

What does it take to build a shipping container house?

Building a container house may seem simple. Just connect two, three or however many used containers in a house. The final cost of the container house includes more than just a couple shipping containers, though, because naturally you need to arrange the containers and building site, and outfit the building for living.

The price of the package is important. But the price of the what’s in the shipping home is also important: doors, fittings, finishes, heating …

Check out the gallery of photos below (all images on our site are expandable, even the featured images at the top of most articles).

Find more from shipping container builders, you can find them indexed in our Home Designers and Builders Directory. You can search the company’s name and look for builders near your area. And to see more shipping container buildings, click here.

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Tiny Shipping Container Home

Lovella Bargas Shipping Container Buildings December 18, 2016

A shipping container house on the water? How about in a warm Mediterranean climate? This one is a single-40-foot shipping container design, coming out at 538 square feet and at a cost of (in Greece) 30,000 euros.

And to build it, it took about 2.5 (metric months lol) to do both the exterior and interior.

Besides the 500+ square footage for living space, there’s also a 161 sq ft veranda.

Check out the gallery of photos below (all images on our site are expandable, even the featured images at the top of most articles).

Find more from shipping container builders, you can find them indexed in our Home Designers and Builders Directory. You can search the company’s name and look for builders near your area. And to see more shipping container buildings, click here.

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First Zero Energy Home in Detroit Under Construction

Lovella Bargas Shipping Container Buildings December 18, 2016

The prefab and alternative energy waves are spreading across the world, and this particular design is the one for the first 0-energy-consumption house to be built in Detroit.

It’s a local company, Phoenix Haus LLC, that is both designing and building this energy efficient Michigan house, partially as an example of their ability to produce sero-emission dwellings. This one is a 1700 sq foot house based on their “H House” template.

HAUS FACTS:

Construction Budget: $328,792
1,550 TFA [Treated Floor Area]
Annual Heating Demand: 6.1 kBTU/ft2yr
3 Bed, 3 Bath, 1,755 SF

Check out the gallery of photos below (all images on our site are expandable, even the featured images at the top of most articles).

Find more from shipping container builders, you can find them indexed in our Home Designers and Builders Directory. You can search the company’s name and look for builders near your area. And to see more shipping container buildings, click here.

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