4 ms·

A used shipping container is about $2,000. You'd want to check it for chemicals. It's closer to $10,000 if you want them fitted out as something you can live in

by wisty 15y ago

A used shipping container is about $2,000. You'd want to check it for chemicals. It's closer to $10,000 if you want them fitted out as something you can live in, though. I'm not sure about the charm factor.

brudgers 15y ago
Shipping containers are always proposed as the ideal solution for someone else. Nobody would actually choose to live in such a shithole if they had other options.
- ams6110 15y ago
  I knew a guy who was living in a self-storage unit for a while.
  - bdunbar 15y ago
    Freelance hacker? Greatest swordfighter in the world? Used to deliver pizza? That guy? Pretty cool guy, I hear.
- lbotos 15y ago
  One can make some surprisingly beautiful houses out of shipping containers. I can't find the link at the moment but one such company advertises in dwell magazine. Hopefully I can find it.
  - smackfu 15y ago
    I believe it, but at a certain point you are just using the containers as a metal frame with sheet metal sides that you are cutting a lot of holes in, and at some point it would make more sense to just build a metal framed building in the first place.
  - brudgers 15y ago
    For houses featured in Dwell, shipping containers are merely a fetish incorporated into million dollar+ dwellings. Shipping containers are uninsulated and have stressed skin construction - they require a lot of work to be used as a thermal envelop, or when incorporating fenestration (not to mention blowing out a whole side. With the economic downturn, the glut of shipping containers is long gone and prices for used containers have risen significantly over the past several years. A lot of those buildings which are featured in glossy architectural rags are actually built with custom modules, not actual containers because the dimensions of a standard shipping container are suitable for...well, shipping, not human habitation - 7'-10" inside height before interior ceiling and wall finishes are added (and that's if your insulation is exterior).
- jonknee 15y ago
  There are lots of good examples here: http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/shipping-container-homes-460309 http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/shipping-con... Like anything else, to do it well takes a good amount of effort.
- mikeryan 15y ago
  Shipping containers are suggested because they tend to offer a great base for construction on the cheap. They're solid structurally (since they need to be stacked, full 4/5 high) and they're very portable for getting to a site fully built. I don't think anyone is suggesting living in a raw container. They're just a great starting point. There's a lot of creative ways to turn these into a home. https://www.google.com/search?q=Shipping+Container+Houses&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xSI5T8GKMYeniQKY-sjBCg&ved=0CFwQsAQ&biw=1287&bih=720 https://www.google.com/search?q=Shipping+Container+Houses&#3... As to calling the result
  - brudgers 15y ago
    Shipping containers are a fetish among people who don't know what they are talking about - the pictures show two types of structures - structures few people can afford and structures few people would choose to live in. None of them are as sensible as traditional modular housing: https://www.google.com/search?q=Shipping+Container+Houses&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xSI5T8GKMYeniQKY-sjBCg&ved=0CFwQsAQ&biw=1287&bih=720#hl=en&safe=off&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Mobile+home&oq=Mobile+home&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=48010l50041l0l50281l11l11l0l1l1l0l54l474l10l10l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=d27aed7b649542fd&biw=1059&bih=721 https://www.google.com/search?q=Shipping+Container+Houses&#3...
- rdl 15y ago
  From 2004-2010 I lived in both shipping containers (refitted) and trailers (basically 12' wide knock-down structures) and wooden shacks (and houses). There are things I'd do with shipping containers to turn them into livable housing, but they go beyond a basic conversion -- it's cutting them apart and basically using them as a source of sheet steel and study frames. Normal steel structures or tilt-ups accomplish basically all of this already. Prefab modules for things like kitchens/bathrooms, combined with inexpensive ways of enclosing space, is the way to go.
  - twelvechairs 15y ago
    Thanks. Rare to hear from someone who has done this. Much more sense in the last line particularly than most of the rest of this thread.
Zimahl 15y ago
I can't imagine that one couldn't build a shipping-container sized building with wood for a lot less than $2000. Fir 2x4 and 2x6 timbers are literally dirt cheap right now. Throw in some siding, drywall, some insulation, and some roofing materials and you'd have a pretty nice shell of a house for about the same price. Best part about using wood is that you wouldn't be stuck with the long, skinny configuration; you could alter the dimensions quite a bit without too much extra cost.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

by wisty 15y ago

brudgers 15y ago

Shipping containers are always proposed as the ideal solution for someone else. Nobody would actually choose to live in such a shithole if they had other options.

ams6110 15y ago
I knew a guy who was living in a self-storage unit for a while.
- bdunbar 15y ago
  Freelance hacker? Greatest swordfighter in the world? Used to deliver pizza? That guy? Pretty cool guy, I hear.
lbotos 15y ago
One can make some surprisingly beautiful houses out of shipping containers. I can't find the link at the moment but one such company advertises in dwell magazine. Hopefully I can find it.
- smackfu 15y ago
  I believe it, but at a certain point you are just using the containers as a metal frame with sheet metal sides that you are cutting a lot of holes in, and at some point it would make more sense to just build a metal framed building in the first place.
- brudgers 15y ago
  For houses featured in Dwell, shipping containers are merely a fetish incorporated into million dollar+ dwellings. Shipping containers are uninsulated and have stressed skin construction - they require a lot of work to be used as a thermal envelop, or when incorporating fenestration (not to mention blowing out a whole side. With the economic downturn, the glut of shipping containers is long gone and prices for used containers have risen significantly over the past several years. A lot of those buildings which are featured in glossy architectural rags are actually built with custom modules, not actual containers because the dimensions of a standard shipping container are suitable for...well, shipping, not human habitation - 7'-10" inside height before interior ceiling and wall finishes are added (and that's if your insulation is exterior).
jonknee 15y ago
There are lots of good examples here: http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/shipping-container-homes-460309 http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/shipping-con... Like anything else, to do it well takes a good amount of effort.
mikeryan 15y ago
Shipping containers are suggested because they tend to offer a great base for construction on the cheap. They're solid structurally (since they need to be stacked, full 4/5 high) and they're very portable for getting to a site fully built. I don't think anyone is suggesting living in a raw container. They're just a great starting point. There's a lot of creative ways to turn these into a home. https://www.google.com/search?q=Shipping+Container+Houses&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xSI5T8GKMYeniQKY-sjBCg&ved=0CFwQsAQ&biw=1287&bih=720 https://www.google.com/search?q=Shipping+Container+Houses&#3... As to calling the result
- brudgers 15y ago
  Shipping containers are a fetish among people who don't know what they are talking about - the pictures show two types of structures - structures few people can afford and structures few people would choose to live in. None of them are as sensible as traditional modular housing: https://www.google.com/search?q=Shipping+Container+Houses&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xSI5T8GKMYeniQKY-sjBCg&ved=0CFwQsAQ&biw=1287&bih=720#hl=en&safe=off&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Mobile+home&oq=Mobile+home&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=48010l50041l0l50281l11l11l0l1l1l0l54l474l10l10l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=d27aed7b649542fd&biw=1059&bih=721 https://www.google.com/search?q=Shipping+Container+Houses&#3...
rdl 15y ago
From 2004-2010 I lived in both shipping containers (refitted) and trailers (basically 12' wide knock-down structures) and wooden shacks (and houses). There are things I'd do with shipping containers to turn them into livable housing, but they go beyond a basic conversion -- it's cutting them apart and basically using them as a source of sheet steel and study frames. Normal steel structures or tilt-ups accomplish basically all of this already. Prefab modules for things like kitchens/bathrooms, combined with inexpensive ways of enclosing space, is the way to go.
- twelvechairs 15y ago
  Thanks. Rare to hear from someone who has done this. Much more sense in the last line particularly than most of the rest of this thread.

Zimahl 15y ago

I can't imagine that one couldn't build a shipping-container sized building with wood for a lot less than $2000. Fir 2x4 and 2x6 timbers are literally dirt cheap right now. Throw in some siding, drywall, some insulation, and some roofing materials and you'd have a pretty nice shell of a house for about the same price. Best part about using wood is that you wouldn't be stuck with the long, skinny configuration; you could alter the dimensions quite a bit without too much extra cost.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]