Shipping container homes

In the last decade there have been a variety of innovative, unique, and in some cases really quirky home ideas and designs.

In the on generations there has been a desire to move from the city and live away from what was considered a normal neighbourhood or housing development into something alternative.  Even older generations have swapped out of the same, boring, single family home for a customised and home with some difference.  There have been a number of new types of homes have caught the eye of the public but one that is standing out our shipping container homes. It’s correct, these homes are made from good old shipping containers that you see at a seaport.

At first thought living in a shipping container might sound a little weird proposal to suggest. Shipping containers however can provide an ideal material this is because they are credible, movable, strong, stackable, very durable and plentiful and supply as well as cheap to buy.  Shipping containers have become extremely popular and the uses expanded not only from building homes but also shops, small cafes, officers, schools and school dormitories.  They have also been used as emergency shelters and even an Australian engineer in Fiji built an entire village community from shipping containers of which survived an extremely strong hurricane that hit the country.  As we noted in a another article shipping containers can also be used for aboveground swimming pools and are ideal for people that move from place to place within a locality – the swimming pool was very portable.

Some reference online may refer to shipping containers as storage container homes.  This remember that these are equally interchangeable terms mean basically the same thing.

There has been an increasing stockpile of containers and geographical areas such as North America.  As there has been a shift from goods being shipped from the United States and coming from Asia.  Largely the shipping has been one way leading to a buildup of shipping containers in the United States  and it is generally cheaper to send another new container from Asia rather than send the container from the United States back to Asia from where the goods came from.  Usually the container going back from the US will be empty and therefore unprofitable with it being cheap ingested by another one from Asia to send to the US.  The greater the number this on the stockpile of shipping containers the US cheaper it will be to purchase.

What about shipping container homes?

as a term says shipping container homes are simply that, I am is made from shipping containers that you would otherwise see at a seaport.  If ever you have driven past a shipping port area you will have seen large, rectangular metal boxes – these are shipping containers.

Shipping containers have a lifespan of around 30 years that most companies stop using them at around 10 years to avoid any liability issues.  It is then that the shipping containers may be recycled or sold to individuals or businesses.

Properly wondering then how do you make a shipping container home?

This is up to the home owner or developer and relates to the design chosen.  The number of shipping containers for the N project will vary and can be one for smaller shipping container home or 10 or more for a larger home which all depends on budget and the creative mind.

The containers can be set on a foundation or sent side-by-side.  This will be ideal for a single level one story home but more creative designs can incorporate stacking the containers on top of each other forming a multi-story dwelling.

Some shipping containers are actually more suitable for the construction of residential dwellings than other shipping containers.  One source that I referred to said that there may be up to 50 different types of storage containers used.  The types of shipping containers use can be:

open top – this is a container that has an open top and is used for top loading materials into it. Side of container may open also.

Dry freight – these can also be called cube containers.  They are front opening with the remaining part of the container sealed.

Thermal/insulated – carrying frozen goods and needing to stay cold during the shipping process. Insulated for temperature maintenance only but no external source of cooling.

Refrigeration – also known in the industry as reefer shipping containers.  Can have the temperature controlling ability with a cooling system usually built and for shipping perishable goods.

Tank – can be rectangular or cylindrical in shape for transporting bulk or liquid material.

Dimensions of the containers above are usually ISO regulated – International standards organisation for height and width.

Shipping container lengths are normally 20 feet or 40 feet but some of the longer containers can go up to 56 feet.  Generally 20/40 is commonly referred to.