Shipping Container House

[restless_redhead]

Hello! I have been a creeper of garage journal for some time now and finally got around to making an account. I co-own a fabrication business with my husband that is run out of our garage on our 12 acre property. We have a 4'x8' CNC plasma table, plus tons of other goodies that allow us to build stuff like this... (LS, 6L80e, coilovers)

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We are in the beginning stages of building a tiny house on the property out of a shipping container. We will be doing everything ourselves, with an extreme focus on custom and practical storage. Is this something you guys would be interested in following along with? Build timeline is 2 months.

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[sberry]

Got sisters? wah ha,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[PugetDude]

Welcome.
Pics not showing up.

 

[restless_redhead]

Got sisters? wah ha,,,,,,,,,,,

Just a brother... but he is single and a lot less crazy than me.

 

[sberry]

The container idea will have some interest here.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Only one Intermodal? And 12ac?
What's wrong with this picture?

 

[kd3pc]

looking forward to it

 

[restless_redhead]

Our property has a 4bed/3bath main house that we currently live in. However, we Airbnb it out on weekends and stay in whatever house we are actively flipping. It's worked for awhile, but we would like something we can live in full time and the Airbnb income is way too good to turn down. We will be using just one 40' high boy, so that we can easily move it to a future property (we currently rent from my parents). It will be a 1 bed/1 bath with large deck. Today we are starting work on the footings.



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[lis2323]

A bit of a misnomer as those aren’t shipping containers and will require different building procedures.

 

[kinglake]

A bit of a misnomer as those aren’t shipping containers and will require different building procedures.

If that isn't a shipping container, what is it? Looks like every other shipping container I've ever seen.

 

[AZ Pete]

We used shipping containers for storage and shop space at work, but placed them on a six inch deep bed of gravel to prevent rust problems.

 

[lis2323]

If that isn't a shipping container, what is it? Looks like every other shipping container I've ever seen.

The video shows over the road truck van bodies which have don’t have the same subfloor support as a shipping container as they are intended to be bolted to the truck frame for integrity.

Plus shipping containers have more vertical structural support as they can be STACKED several high fully loaded.

A truck van body would crumple as that is not what it was designed for.

 

[Pluribus]

Those double-ender door models are awesome! I have one that I use for tractor & implement storage.

Will follow your thread with interest. I've read that there are some challenges with insulation/vapor, so it will be interesting to see how you tackle that.

 

[restless_redhead]

The video shows over the road truck van bodies which have don’t have the same subfloor support as a shipping container as they are intended to be bolted to the truck frame for integrity.

Plus shipping containers have more vertical structural support as they can be STACKED several high fully loaded.

A truck van body would crumple as that is not what it was designed for.

I’d recommend watching the whole video if you are going to critique. Those are just used for storage and we had to move them out of the way before taking delivery of our container.

 

[thin_concrete]

This looks like a cool build - good luck!

Also, if you get picked by HGTV/DIY, don’t be a one trick pony!

 

[lis2323]

I’d recommend watching the whole video if you are going to critique. Those are just used for storage and we had to move them out of the way before taking delivery of our container.

My apologies. The van bodies were all I saw. I will follow with interest. [emoji106]

 

[restless_redhead]

This looks like a cool build - good luck!

Also, if you get picked by HGTV/DIY, don’t be a one trick pony!

Hah funny you say that. We were on an episode of First Time Flippers that just aired last week. You can watch it on Amazon Prime if you don't have cable. (We are the episode titled "What In Foundation".

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SSNKT2B/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jblnut]

The idea of being able to move it later is a neat one. I'll be following along for sure !!

Nicely made/edited video by the way

 

[MFolks]

How will you insulate it? Temperature swings will cause condensations. Sheets of foam glued to the walls and ceilings,with wiring and other services behind the wood interiors? The floor,unless well insulated, a giant heat sink.

 

[MFolks]

Get another similar container, bolt together and have room to do things? Cut doors,maybe another on top and have a 2nd story?

 

[restless_redhead]

How will you insulate it? Temperature swings will cause condensations. Sheets of foam glued to the walls and ceilings,with wiring and other services behind the wood interiors? The floor,unless well insulated, a giant heat sink.

At first we were planning on doing a spray foam insulation. However, then we came across the InSoFast system and are considering doing that instead. It is an injection molded, closed cell, insulation panel that has plastic studs built in. By doing it this way we also eliminate the thermal bridge created by using standard 2x4’s. Anyone have any experience with this system?

https://www.insofast.com/insulation-panels-for-shipping-containers.html

 

[Voi]

At first we were planning on doing a spray foam insulation. However, then we came across the InSoFast system and are considering doing that instead. It is an injection molded, closed cell, insulation panel that has plastic studs built in. By doing it this way we also eliminate the thermal bridge created by using standard 2x4’s. Anyone have any experience with this system?

https://www.insofast.com/insulation-panels-for-shipping-containers.html

A friend of mine purchased a property in the SW US that already had shipping containers set up & wired.

He used EIFS on his since he couldn't spare any room on the interior for some of the storage racks he already had for his home business.

Then trusses & blown in for the ceiling area.

I couldn't watch the insofast video so I'm not sure if they make panels for the exterior.

 

[yeldogt]

If you google shipping container house -- Yardley PA you will see one done about 9 years ago . think they used 10-11 containers. I built a small modern steel and glass about 10 mile north of it on the river .....

The width is an issue to work through as is the insulation factor in the heat ....

 

[brownbagg]

no way in hell, no telling what was ship in those container, leaky chemical drums, what ever, they not tall enough or wide enough , I stick with regular hosing

 

[thin_concrete]

Hah funny you say that. We were on an episode of First Time Flippers that just aired last week. You can watch it on Amazon Prime if you don't have cable. (We are the episode titled "What In Foundation".

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SSNKT2B/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Weird - I have Prime and it still tries to charge me. Regardless, good luck!

 

[restless_redhead]

no way in hell, no telling what was ship in those container, leaky chemical drums, what ever, they not tall enough or wide enough , I stick with regular hosing

Ours is a one tripper, and I have heard of people acquiring the manifest from the trip to confirm contents were not hazardous. I believe certain counties even require said manifest.

 

[nadogail]

Please keep us posted, one person stacked containers two high in parallel rows 20 or feet apart and put a roof over the open space. I think he closed the ends of the open space with chain-link fence and gates.

Living space and office on one side, shop in the center, and storage on the other side.

 

[BukitCase]

Watched this one on Netflix Grand Designs a while back; all it takes is money
https://www.dezeen.com/2015/01/11/g...eland-farm-shipping-containers-grand-designs/

... Steve

 

[SALIV8]

They’re good for storage although very narrow and long and not practical for in/out loading/unloading unless at the very end by the doors. A couple of my buddies have one and it is economical, but not something I’d use for anything but storage.

But sounds like a cool build and i will be following along!

 

[R6 Racer]

I was going to build with them. Then I found the property I know own & the home was here already so...
1 big thing is that the floors are treated to fight insects, rot & like. The treatment product off gasses toxins that are hazardous to humans. Solvable but must be taken care of before living in one.
There's a good site I found... google "tin can cabin". The author did a good job of explaining all he did.

Steve

 

[QwikKotaTx]

One company I worked at had heated, insulated containers for bulk liquid storage. We attached the foam via welded studs and plastic push on T-nuts. There was a layer of corrugated plastic on the inner side of the foam for protection. The T-nuts sort of look like a mushroom.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[Simplytodd]

There is a couple down here in Texas that have documented pretty well the whole process of building a container house. It’s called life uncontained. I considered it for a while after seeing some homes in Houston being built out of shipping containers several years ago. It was a no go for me with the ceiling height.

 

[Falcon67]

I've seen a few container houses - IMHO if I wanted a tiny house I'd stick build and it's be quicker and cheaper than buying a bunch of containers and cutting them up, framing, etc. Square pegs going into round holes.

 

[gearhead1]

Yes. Subscribed.

I like shipping containers. I lived in one for a year when I was overseas with the military.

 

[rusty1]

I'm interested,...

 

[restless_redhead]

This past weekend was spent getting the footings poured! We decided to wait and pour the footings after we took delivery of the container. This way we didn't have to hire a crane to set it on the piers (the back piers ended up somewhat high to achieve a level container). Riley spent most of the day in the rain getting the container level with several bottle jacks.

We have never poured footings before, so it was definitely a learning experience. The container will eventually get two more piers along the center of the container, but we are waiting until we know where the sliding door is going to end up.

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[Bad Habit]

Go Rebelle Rally!!! My wife competed this year (#122 Team Anyway)

Came across this guy building a container "castle". Haven't watched all of them, not even sure if he shows any of the setting and aligning the ground floor. May give you some ideas.

 

[restless_redhead]

Go Rebelle Rally!!! My wife competed this year (#122 Team Anyway)

Came across this guy building a container "castle". Haven't watched all of them, not even sure if he shows any of the setting and aligning the ground floor. May give you some ideas.

That is so awesome! I was on staff last year and enjoyed cheering them on!

 

[restless_redhead]

Last week we got the windows in and the container painted! Cutting the openings was easy enough, just time consuming! The angle grinder was the perfect tool for the job. We then welded in 2x3 box tubing in for the window to mount to.

I let the guy at Home Depot talk me into a non-silicone caulking that was "still totally waterproof". Well the fog rolled in that night and the caulking literally melted away when moisture touched it I should have known better and had to scrape all of the caulking out and replace it with 100% silicone.

We used Sherwin Williams DTM paint/primer Eggshell in the color Behr Incognito. The paint went on very nicely and I was happy with the finish. It was about $250. Disclaimer: We live in California and you can only get oil based paint in quarts, and it is extremely expensive. I would have preferred to use an oil based paint, as the original paint was oil based. It seems like we still got great adhesion with the DTM paint, but only time will tell.


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[maxpat82]

Andrew Camarata on youtube have a "castle" made of container.

I don't think he actually live in it though.