Container Homes

[///d]

Anyone have experience with container homes? Are they as easy to build and maintain as claimed? Looking to buy some land out west in the mountains and have been thinking about building a container home instead of traditional stick built. I've seen some pretty cool ones built.

I have no idea if these plans are even doable. I figure I'd give this idea to the contractor and let them run with it. Designed it so the common areas are separate from the master bedroom. Garage attached to the bottom left of main floor. 2240ish sq ft. drawn in MS Excel lol.

[M-technik-3]

Lived in containers in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Djibouti. We had basic 8x8 rooms. Was better than a tent.

[///d]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Lived in containers in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Djibouti. We had basic 8x8 rooms. Was better than a tent.

Yep, I'm familiar with those lol

[chassis]

What climate do you live in? Mobile version of this site doesn’t show profile info.

What is your insulation plan?

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by 2one8

Anyone have experience with container homes? Are they as easy to build and maintain as claimed? Looking to buy some land out west in the mountains and have been thinking about building a container home instead of traditional stick built. I've seen some pretty cool ones built.

I have no idea if these plans are even doable. I figure I'd give this idea to the contractor and let them run with it. Designed it so the common areas are separate from the master bedroom. Garage attached to the bottom left of main floor. 2240ish sq ft. drawn in MS Excel lol.

Calling MKSixer

He has a thread here somewhere about container homes.

[c1pher]

Used to be able to get containers cheap. I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

[///d]

Originally Posted by chassis

What climate do you live in? Mobile version of this site doesn’t show profile info.

What is your insulation plan?

I'm not 100% sure where I'll find land at, but I'm leaning towards northern Utah, Idaho, or western Wyoming. Currently overseas, when we get back I'm making a road trip to that general region to check out areas and start narrowing it down where I want to look.

Insulation is tough in them because of the limited wall thickness, but I've seen some great results from blown foam. Not sure if it's enough for this though.

Originally Posted by c1pher

Used to be able to get containers cheap. I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

I was on a sale site for them yesterday, can still find 40' high in good shape starting around $2,900. New ones were starting around $5500.

[Tommy-G]

Thats pretty bad ass. I watched some special about them building homes out of decommisioned bomb huts out in the area you are looking.

Theres some really creative not traditional building styles going on.

[nyalpine90]

neat concept
i would make the basement bigger

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Calling MKSixer

He has a thread here somewhere about container homes.

Beat me to it.

[UncleWede]

I'm STILL trying to convince our local Housing director, who is embarking on whole neighborhood remodels, to go the container route. She won't have to spend as much of MY tax $ on putting displaced families in hotels for 2 years during construction. Plus, with us living right next to a major port, there's gotta be plenty of containers around.


But certainly MKSixer is your go-to on this site.

[M-technik-3]

Low income and a home they can be a great idea, but they will need serious insulation and sound deadening. When we had modular housing at Manas it was great but somewhere along the way Aircrews lost their favorable status and we were banished to the crappy tent city.

Minnesota is a wet climate, not sure I'd want one.

[NorCalAthlete]

One of my friends used to rave about these, but I haven't seen anything catch on from them :

https://www.bluhomes.com/

There are a few other similar boutique builders of container homes out there. Neat stuff, but dunno if I'm 100% sold on it yet. Though admittedly it probably holds up better and would need fewer repairs than some of the 1920s construction around here in the bay area.

[chassis]

Originally Posted by 2one8

I'm not 100% sure where I'll find land at, but I'm leaning towards northern Utah, Idaho, or western Wyoming. Currently overseas, when we get back I'm making a road trip to that general region to check out areas and start narrowing it down where I want to look.

Insulation is tough in them because of the limited wall thickness, but I've seen some great results from blown foam. Not sure if it's enough for this though.




I was on a sale site for them yesterday, can still find 40' high in good shape starting around $2,900. New ones were starting around $5500.

Seems like all cold, or very cold climates. Steel conducts heat very well, far better than standard building materials, ignoring insulation for the moment. To achieve equivalent insulation compared with a standard home, you will need thicker, or more effective, insulation in a container home than you would a standard home in the same climate.

What is your HVAC concept?

I think container homes are a gee-whiz amusement idea for temperate climates such as coastal California. Yes, it's possible to build a container home. Not terribly practical to live in one, in my view.