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Anyone ever seen or read about this? I caught a show on it some years ago, and thought "Now thats a cool idea" and have ever since, come back every now and again on the thought of when the wife and I retire, doing something along those lines. We've talked about buying property and having a small farm when we retire someday, and I think thats the perfect excuse to do it. Im thinking between 6 and 8 containers to make a nice 2 story house with a basement. So at minimum, 3 on the ground floor, 2 for the second story and 1 for the "basement" of the house. And obviously if we went 8 continers, it would be bigger second floor and basement.

They are incredibly sturdy and fairly easy to throw together as far as building a home goes. Any thoughts on this? Heres some pics and vids and so on to get the conversation going

Pretty common here in Trinidad (and Guyana IIRC) but mainly for offices not for living space. The main problems I see is it's a metal box, too hot in summer, WAY too cold in winter without significant modification.

So probably only a realistic option if you're in a warm country with reliable (and fairly cheap) electricity.

See thats where your wrong. Like Ive said, Ive been peering into this for some time now. You can insulate the containers just like any other house, so the metal is really no concern when done right.

Two man room...20ft container......wet CHU or dry CHU...wet means you have shower and a sink shared by another CHU....I lived in one for a year...dry CHU

edit
Cheap housing at the best. Issue is "space"

I almost understand what you just said. Off to Google!


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Herp da derp. I cant believe I didnt catch that one

major problem in the US is China hordes all the containers that are shipping worthy, meaning totally weatherproof

I wouldn't want one, honestly. It's a cute idea, but I'd rather have an apartment of the same square footage. I like windows, and hanging things on the wall too much.

I love the track on that second video! Holy hell, it's so great.


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 DIDM wrote:
major problem in the US is China hordes all the containers that are shipping worthy, meaning totally weatherproof

This doesn't surprise me at all. They need them more than us, frankly.

i lived in a conex for 4 months before ACE came and build a shower and a gakker. Its better than nothing worse than most else. CHUs are pretty much the gak which is what you are talking about. Purpose built container office living arrangements are OK. I doubt I'd go that route.

My teacher who lived in Nicaragua for a bit told me about a retired shipping hard with tons of shipping containers. The city decided stack them in certain ways to make them into single rom apartments, ran plumbing and electricity through it and turned into low income housing.

 Samus_aran115 wrote:
I wouldn't want one, honestly. It's a cute idea, but I'd rather have an apartment of the same square footage. I like windows, and hanging things on the wall too much.

I love the track on that second video! Holy hell, it's so great.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 DIDM wrote:
major problem in the US is China hordes all the containers that are shipping worthy, meaning totally weatherproof

This doesn't surprise me at all. They need them more than us, frankly.

You seem to be thinking that you leave the steel walls as your walls. You run your plumbing, your electrical and HVAC lines snug against the steel walls, and then build actual walls like a house. Christ lads, did anyone read beyond steel containers and houses?

 KingCracker wrote:
See thats where your wrong. Like Ive said, Ive been peering into this for some time now. You can insulate the containers just like any other house, so the metal is really no concern when done right.

There is a BBQ place near my plant that is 2 conex boxes stuck together and a roof slapped on top and siding wrapped around it called No Name BBQ. Excellent BBQ, funny looking place. Only in Pasadena Texas...

Picture:

 KingCracker wrote:
Anyone ever seen or read about this? I caught a show on it some years ago, and thought "Now thats a cool idea" and have ever since, come back every now and again on the thought of when the wife and I retire, doing something along those lines. We've talked about buying property and having a small farm when we retire someday, and I think thats the perfect excuse to do it. Im thinking between 6 and 8 containers to make a nice 2 story house with a basement. So at minimum, 3 on the ground floor, 2 for the second story and 1 for the "basement" of the house. And obviously if we went 8 continers, it would be bigger second floor and basement.

They are incredibly sturdy and fairly easy to throw together as far as building a home goes. Any thoughts on this? Heres some pics and vids and so on to get the conversation going

I've heard of them used by doomsdayers, but not for "normal people." They are thick enough tostop AK rounds.

KC if your looking for idea to pimp out your temp living there...
youtube

"crib, afghanistan" search parimeter

I'm one of them somewhere

I'm living in one right now working in Afghanistan. Why wait until you retire you can come on out right now and live the dream!

Cool idea, and should be pretty zombie proof if they can stop an AK round, which is of course a major consideration in the purchase/construction of any home.

On the serious side I think that with a bit of good planning they could actually be made into a decent home, especially having seen some of the ones in the pics and videos.

KingCracker wrote:
You seem to be thinking that you leave the steel walls as your walls. You run your plumbing, your electrical and HVAC lines snug against the steel walls, and then build actual walls like a house. Christ lads, did anyone read beyond steel containers and houses?

I admit I posted before wartching the video. My creativity is sorely lacking. Some of those houses are gorgeous!

Wow I could live in metal boxes? It's like 5th ed all over again!

Its not that fun. Better then staying in a circus tent..GP Medium tent...ESCO barrier on its side... Worse when there's a camelspider on the loose in there. One way in. One way Out. Its a serious search and kill mission there

Creative enough, I saw someone bury a shipping container and set it up as a "cellar" if you will.