You’ve seen shipping containers a lot of times. They’re all over the globe – stranded on harbors, placed on various locations of cargo holds, near your local docks, and probably in one of the crime series on the TV. The subject of shipping containers has always been an interesting one for people who have been trying to recreate them, or use them in any other way, apart from their primary use.
Generally speaking, the shipping container industry, creates thousands of these metallic “boxes” each year. The primary purpose of these containers is to transport cargo from one country, or region, to another. According to rough survey reports, a 90 percentile trend is inclined towards moving goods in shipping containers.
In fact, on a funny note, these containers are so popular that illegal immigrants use them to ship themselves from one country to another, without even worrying about passports and documents. On yearly basis, there’re almost 100 Million shipping/ISO containers that criss-cross the watery boundaries of our ever so popular oceans.
As far as the history of these containers is concerned, let’s just say that they started getting famous in the mid 1950s. Back then, the transport industry was overseeing a huge revolutionary change, such as trains, cars, locomotives of different kinds and shipping containers. As much as people love the idea of shipping their goods in these containers, they possess a couple of threats as well.
For instance, Shipping containers tend to get a little old and “unsafe” for transportation after a while. Secondly they take up a lot of space and cannot be simply discarded like a piece of crumpled paper. Where will you discard tons of heavy steel? We’re sure that your backyard isn’t big enough to dump a couple of 20 foot shipping containers, is it?
Finally, the biggest issue is that these ISO containers possess a great threat in form of a potential pollution source. So great minds behind these containers put their thoughts to innovativeness and decided that these giant steel boxes should be used for other means. Shelter houses was the answer to their common questions.
It all started with one shelter house, which later on turned into a complete neighborhood, totally built with old shipping containers. Shipping container housing represents little or no problems. The most common issues are concerned with environmental safety, and they’re being handled by crafting the containers as per the new ‘green” standards.
If someone is considering the idea of possessing shipping containers, such people have got two common options at their disposal:
• Either they can build a shipping container shelter on their own
• They can get someone to build it for them.
• Or they can buy a pre-built ISO container house.
A) What If You Want to Build It Yourself?
If you want to build a shipping container yourself, there’re certain things that need to be taken into account. First of all the cost factor will burn a hole in your pockets, if you’re dealing with the wrong material seller, or if this is your first time building a container on your own.
The hunt usually starts with the purchase of a shipping container. The best way to spot down container sellers is through the internet, and through your local newspaper ads. Either way, you’ll eventually get in contact with companies and small businesses that sell these containers at affordable prices. Just bear in mind that there will be small variance in the overall cost, due to container size and the source you’re buying your stuff from.
Of course, if you’ll be buying used shipping containers, they’re always available at the lowest prices. Take it as the company’s way of getting rid of the old material, and giving way to new stuff that needs immediate use. And after all the container price tags, you also need to take its shipping and side accessories cost into consideration. The container will eventually need to be connected to electrical and water supply lines, so that it can be used by you and your loved ones – you cannot ignore those cost factors.
Make sure that you have $1500 – $2,000 dedicated to this cause, because that’s all it’s going to cost in the long run. Besides, $2,000 is inclusive of a giant 40 Feet container, its transport cost and no modifications.
• What if I Want To Hire a Professional Or Buy a Ready Made Container House?
The first rule of the thumb is to place an order for container that’s purely made of Corten Steel. Don’t know what Corten steel is? Basically, it’s the latest standard of steel that’s not only environment friendly, but also has a high resistance against rust. The purpose of buying corten steel containers also relates to the fact that they’re ISO standard certified.
It also means that your neighbors will not be pestering you in terms of any possible environmental laws, followed by your successful shipping container shelter installment. The first step to getting someone to build a container for you is through a certified architect. There’re a lot of companies that provide such services, and you only have to make sure that they’re certified or accredited LEEDS associates. This is to ensure that the final version of your dream shipment container house, would be abiding all environmental and ecological laws.
Most of the professionals advertise that their building standards are as per the ongoing green policies, but that’s not entirely true. Your job is to run double checks, just to make sure that you aren’t about to get rubbed the wrong way. Anyway, we’d recommend that you jot down some ideas and diagrams on your own, as this will help your contractor understand what you’re trying to get him to build. Besides, they don’t have to be all full of technical measurements and stuff – a couple of images drawn with a pencil and some side notes will suffice.
Just to give you a head start, use the container walls as sides of your house. You can also install aluminum sliding door panels, to divide the house into small rooms. Another great idea is to cut the already created inner division, or partitions, to expand the space for one major room. Usually, living room is the biggest one in the house, so it would be a nice idea to create one big room, and support it with smaller rooms, within the confines of your newly bought shipping container.
Major Advantages of Shipping Container Houses – Why They’re Being Preferred in Most Countries:
• In times of natural disasters, since it takes a lot of time for authorities and rescue teams to re construct the whole affected area(s), the government simply installs shipment container shelters over there. These containers are light, portable, and are a quick relief for the victims of the said disaster. At least, they provide them a roof, rather than making them wait for the actual re building process, which would obviously take years.
• If you were to Google “ISO Containers”, or “Shipping Containers”, you’ll find out that these containers are literally available in almost all corners of the world. Alongside the advertisement section, most of the stuff is accompanied by details of sales and purchase. Just keep an eye out for ISO standards and etc., before spending money on any type of container.
• They’re really cheap. Normally, a “simple” house will cost you tens of thousands of dollars, but a shipping container house’s final cost will be somewhere between $2500 – $5000. On top of that, if you were to purchase an original container, without any modification, it’ll only cost you $1000 – $2000. Later on, you can make modifications of your own to let it all go with the flow.
• Shipping container shelter may seem like a weird idea to people of modern world. But most of the folks who live in third world countries, they use these containers as houses. Since they cannot afford a lavish lifestyle as we people have, they make do with whatever is available to them. To those people, living in a shipping container perfectly seems like a normal idea, as it is more of a norm to build and live in containers over there.
• The overall construction time of a shipping/ ISO container house is far less than an ordinary home. Within a 24 hour time period, a team of professionals can build, wire, paint and insulate any container of your choice.
• Some American families have small shipping container shelters as part of their actual homes. Normally, they use these containers as private study rooms, dens, and place where the head of the family can just spend a few hours in isolation, while still remaining in contact with the entire family, through an intercom.
There’s tons of information about how to buy these containers, how to set them up, how to design them and etc.; all there on the internet. Read as many articles as you can, so that you could make a solid decision in the long run.
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