Welcome to Shipping Container Homes

Using disused shipping containers to create new homes isn’t a new idea.  However it is very quickly catching on, and all over the globe home builders are increasingly turning to these container units for their durability, flexibility, stackability – create a big house by stacking 3-4 containers together -, and eco-nomic-a-bility.  I know, I know…“There’s no such word!” I hear you cry.  But it just sounds good, so go with the flow and follow me on this one.

Quickly becoming the choice for people wanting to design and build their own homes, home builders all over the globe are discovering just how secure, weather-proof, and eco-friendly these units are.  Building homes from disused shipping containers has many, many advantages over conventional buliding techniques and materials.

• Eco-Friendly: Shipping containers are already built; they already exist.  Using these units to build your dream home, or even just a holiday cabin, is recycling at its basic level.

• Economical: You can pick up used shipping containers for as little as $1,500USD.  Even new ones can be bought for a spritely sum of less than $10,000USD.  Transportaion and installation is obviously a different matter, but still cheaper than the conventional building process.

• Durable: The standard life of a shipping container is around 20 years.  That’s being shifted from continent to continent on huge trans-oceanic ships, in all weathers.  After that, these containers can easily sit for an extra hundred years in a stationary position and remain more durable than most homes built today.  Hurricane proof.  Tornado proof.  You name it.

Shipping container homes are much more than just a simple, quick and easy, cheap, eco-friendly solution to building your own home.  They are fascinating, flexible, modular, and an extremely attractive way of building your dream home.

Is it possible to live in a shipping container?

YES! Of course it is!!  Admittedly, it can be a bit small just living in one if you have a family, but because of their modular design, you can easily put three or four containers together – or more – to create quite a large home.

Ordinary people like yourself are turning more and more to disused shipping containers, not just because of the sheer flexibility in them, but also because as your family grows it is possible to add another container or two and extend your home.

But, I don’t want to live in a steel port-a-cabin…It’s UGLY!!

In their raw form, yes.  I have to agree, they are pretty ugly.  Especially if you like elegant curves, sweeping grand stair-cases, etc.  There is a solution however.

The steel framework of the containers themselves are ridgid and, to some, quite unsightly.  It is easy enough however to cut through the metal in the sides to open up new entrances (leading to new rooms when adding two or more shipping containers together), or to add fantastic big windows (even floor to ceiling ones) to let in loads of natural sunlight.
Many people deviate from the ‘ridgid steel look’ however, and completely change the look (both inside and out) to their own liking.  The steel box truly is like a blank canvas.  Your imagination is the limit.

Here are some examples of what people have done, and what YOU can do!:

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The Shipping Containers Themselves – the Dimensions – All That SPACE!

These units invariably come in two sizes – 20 foot, and 40 foot long (however, you can get them in 8′, 10′, 20′, 30′ and 40′ lengths), with a standard width of 8 foot.  Standard height is 8ft, 6 inches, and ‘High Cube’ containers have a standard height of 9ft, 6 inches.

A standard 20 foot container gives a floor area of 150sq feet.  A standard 40 foot container gives a floor area of 305 sq feet.  Internal dimensions are 1,160 cubic feet, and 2,360 cubic feet respectively.  Throw a couple of these together and you easily get sizable, open, living space.