Living in a box

[Caster]

Any thoughts on a person using a shipping container for a permanent residence? Nothing as stomach churning as some of the doomsday preppers mind you.

The wife and I are simple minded folk who care nothing for lavish style, preferring rigidity and freedom from maintenance needs over stylish looks.

We are looking to buy land soon and move. Not interested in building a house or even buying one. Considering using a pair or trio of large steel shipping containers half buried as a host for a simple place to wait out the rest of our lives. This'll take a few years, but we are shopping for a parcel and will be seriously on the hunt starting next year. I don't see why I can't use a steel container, strip and insulate it and put up walls and some hardwood floors in one. At 35 years old, they should last my lifetime without leaking or rusting through. I'm thinking out loud here but I think three laid out in a C shape and one could pour a cement pad in the middle making a smart little pavilion/patio arrangement.

It's my understanding that you can get these things delivered for a few grand. A total investment of 30K or so should deck them out VERY well.

We've abandoned thoughts of leaving country and taken to the idea of the most simple rigid hobbit hole we can come up with. Things are not SO bad now, but the future will likely crumble beneath our feet in the future. The cushy ride me and the wife have had for the last decade is likely drawing to a close. Best set affairs in order that will allow us to live on as little as possible and that isn't a bunch of SHTF tin foil hattery either.

Outside of city ordinances [for sake of argument, call this outside city limits] Are there any laws restricting what a person can use for a home?

[Spots]

It will have to meet building codes to have a meter set and to have a septic tank run. As for whats legal and whats not, I don't think theres anything that stops you from using anything you'd like as a home as long as it meets code for those areas. It your willing to dig and outhouse, have a well on location for water, and a generator for lights, then as far as I know theres nothing stopping you from living in anything you would like.

[Wingshooter]

There was a show on Discovery or TLC a few months ago where a couple made an awesome home out of shipping containers. They had a bunch of them and the house was very modern looking. They stacked them (some at right angles) and had multiple levels. It was a very nice (and sturdy) house. They had big glass windows in some of the openings... it was nice looking too. I remember them talking about how well shipping containers work for such a purpose. I think it's a good idea if that's what you want.

Edit: Just wanted to add that the house I saw on tv had a facade on the exterior. It looked like plywood and stucco to cover the exterior of the containers. This helped insulate, protect from rust and made the home beautiful. You wouldn't know they used shipping containers just by looking at it.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Batman

[1morethan8]

Caster...

I like this one, also shows some good ideas.

http://thechive.com/2011/07/26/unbelievable-home-built-out-of-two-shipping-containers-39-photos/

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Caster, you are truly perverted, like me, on this.

I've thought of this several times. There is a place near Waverly on Hwy 70 that sells the containers like you mentioned,

and I have thought of this every time I drive by there.

[MacGyver]

As someone who has spent more than his fair share of time sleeping in one, they're fine so long as no one is snoring.

[Caster]

Caster...

I like this one, also shows some good ideas.

http://thechive.com/...ners-39-photos/

NOW we're getting somewhere!!!!

[gjohnsoniv]

If you want a book on the subject, Caster, I would be more than glad to send you one on prefab houses.

It is an interesting theory and I have often wondered about it as well.

Edited October 31, 2012 by gjohnsoniv

[Caster]

Caster, you are truly perverted, like me, on this.

I've thought of this several times. There is a place near Waverly on Hwy 70 that sells the containers like you mentioned,

and I have thought of this every time I drive by there.

That's good to know, thanks.

As someone who has spent more than his fair share of time sleeping in one, they're fine so long as no one is snoring.

I'm guessing paneled walls would dramatically decrease echo. Add too some hangings and furniture.

[Caster]

If you want a book on the subject, Caster, I would be more than glad to send you one on prefab houses.

Ehh? I'll take you up on that. PM sent.

[gjohnsoniv]

Ehh? I'll take you up on that. PM sent.

I've always been interested in prefab and green architecture.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

They would definitely need some of that, but they can be made quite liveable.

Last year, when I went to see my son's contribution in the Solar Decathlon, there was a good example of using

shipping containers from a Chinese college. That thing looked fantastic. I'll try to find it and post a pic.http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6179/6196247768_c9fe464953_b.jpg I had to do that. My son is seventh

from the left. Yep, I'm proud of him. The TN house is essentially a container, shown below.

I can't find a better pic of the China container house. It was made of three shipping containers put

together. They left the name of the shipping company on there, also. I liked theirs. It didn't rank very well,

but it was novel.

Edited October 31, 2012 by 6.8 AR

[xRUSTYx]

Caster...

I like this one, also shows some good ideas.

http://thechive.com/...ners-39-photos/

This is simply just awesome, and I'm quoting it so I can come back to it later LOL

[MacGyver]

I'm guessing paneled walls would dramatically decrease echo. Add too some hangings and furniture.

Yeah. You need something with some ability to absorb sound. Shipping containers, as a general rule seal up pretty well. You don't need a lot to condition them once they're insulated, so you won't have much noise from HVAC to drown out other sounds. I remember having to unplug a charger all the way across a container once because I could hear the transformer hum as I was trying to sleep.

I've slept in one with a wood burning stove. In the winter months when it was in the teens outside, one log, started in the early evening would keep it comfortably warm all night. Try to burn two logs and it would run you out of there in short order.

[peejman]

You can likely build something a little more traditional for a similar amount of money...

http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/how-to-build-an-a-frame-ze0z1111zhir.aspx

http://www.motherearthnews.com/city-to-country-one-step-at-a-time/how-to-renovate-a-heritage-log-cabin-interior--diy-style.aspx

[Caster]

You can likely build something a little more traditional for a similar amount of money...

http://www.motherear...0z1111zhir.aspx

http://www.motherear...-diy-style.aspx

Yeah but I hate wood houses. Shingle roofs and gutters, typical wiring methods, the whole lot.

I'm wondering if this would pass electrical inspection: My wife and I both love industrial looking things and we comment to one another in our day to day goings about when we see things as such. I'd like to wire the house after it's finished. Putting everything in rigid conduit and metal receptacle boxes. Expertly grounded and wired in a fashion one might encounter in a machine shop or manufacturing facility. I can't imagine that not being SAFER than minimum code.

[gjohnsoniv]

Yeah but I hate wood houses. Shingle roofs and gutters, typical wiring methods, the whole lot.

I'm wondering if this would pass electrical inspection: My wife and I both love industrial looking things and we comment to one another in our day to day goings about when we see things as such. I'd like to wire the house after it's finished. Putting everything in rigid conduit and metal receptacle boxes. Expertly grounded and wired in a fashion one might encounter in a machine shop or manufacturing facility. I can't imagine that not being SAFER than minimum code.

I love that look as well.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I worked with a younf guy who was living with his parents. He complained regularly that all he needed was a cheap house. He said he couldn't afford a $50k+ house.

My suggestion to him? Go to Home Depot and buy one of the two story garden sheds. They sell for around $6K-$8k and with another $5K-8K to finish the inside you would have a nice place to live for two people. They will come out and build it on sight. If you have never walked inside one you would be surprized how nice they are. You could have a small kitchen and full bath downstairs as well as a living area. Then upstairs have th bedroom. They would be easy to heat and cool. They are probably around 600-800 square feet but for two people not worried about keeping up with the Johnsons it would work great.

Dolomite

[Caster]

Dolomite, I've thought all about that too. YOu can get a two story NICE storage building from them for less than 8 or 10K and finish it EASILY inside. The wife actually loves that idea. We may end up having to do that due to my limited ability and lack of good sense. We went and looked at the demo several times and there's plenty of room for us and the dog. I like the idea of the steel container a bit better for it's strength and if anchored, it'd be as impervious to storms as you can get without going full bore fallout shelter.

It may be that I make an amalgam of the two and hide the metal building behind the other. So many options. I can't just jump up and do it today but I need to get going on it while I still have the available resources to do so. I figure I have five years at best before the currently building drama that I don't care to discuss publicly will have me at the end of the gangplank.

[gjohnsoniv]

You could put the metal container partway into a hill behind the storage shed and have a semi bunker.

[dlm37015]

caster a guy down the road built a pole barn .then fifished the inside looks great you can get ther pole barn built foe about 6500

[MacGyver]

You're going to have some issues getting a storage building to pass an inspection. It can certainly be done, just know that you're going to need to plan for some accomodations advance.

At the same time, there are some architects doing some pretty cool stuff these days. If you're committed to small and simple, you've got a lot of options available to you.

[Caster]

At the same time, there are some architects doing some pretty cool stuff these days. If you're committed to small and simple, you've got a lot of options available to you.

Small and simple all the way.

We only need 4 real rooms if you will. A large bedroom that will double as a living room. A bathroom and a kitchen. Then a storage room for everything. If using the metal containers I would plan to only plumb one of them. No reason the bathroom, washroom and kitchen cannot be in one. That would really simplify things. We currently live in two rooms of this house. One is our bedroom where our closet, tv, recliner and all that is, then another doubles as a kitchenette and storage. No reason to change what we are accustomed to.

There's no reason for the two of us to spend more than we need and 700-900 square ft is PLENTY.

[Jonnin]

I hate to ask the stupidly obvious, but I will. After its all *done* and ready to live in, how different is such a container from a typical single wide trailer? It sounds like a DIY trailer and it sounds like it might save a little over the ready to go ones, after a bit of effort, but does it save enough to justify all the work or are you trying to make something better/stronger/something?

[Dolomite_supafly]

I like the idea of storage containers under the storage shed. Dig a hole big enough for the storage container then pour a slab over it. Put a hidden entrance inside the shed so you can have secure access to the container. I would get some of the foundation sealer you roll out to protect the doors of the storage container because that is the most liekyl spot to fail.

Dolomite