Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
I see a 201506 join date. I don't know if you have read back through the forum archives, but 2 years ago around post #241 in the Buy a trailer (instead of a pickup truck) thread, there was discussion of shipping containers.
One of these things is not like the other. The Engineering could double the cost. Shipping containers can be stacked five high, before you start cutting doors and windows in them. There is a proud architectural tradition behind it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ship...tainer+housing
Personally, I'd like two 20' containers placed side-by-side with a high fence connecting them at the back and a low fence with a gate at the front of the courtyard. Or a houseboat on SWATH pontoons.
Shipping containers all have solid Teak floors (just sand it down and oil it) and the containers for shipping food have stainless steel inner walls and a guttering system under the floor so you can hose down everything.
In this state 35 feet and under is an R-license—hook up and go. Above 35 feet is an N-license. It requires a trip permit (and a designated landing spot?).
Edit: So what I'd do is get a 40' container (or swap body) and cut both ends off. Then at the front end, with pie-cuts in the floor and roof, the corrugated sides could be bent into a half-circle.
At the back two circular arcs (like a Gothic arch) to make a boattail. The cutting and rounding off would reduce the length from 40 to 35' (don't forget the hitch), making it eligible for an R-license. There could even be plan taper in the front and rear. |
There are a number of drawbacks and misconceptions about using shipping containers for housing. For one, they aren't actually all that strong. They are only designed to be strong at the vertical supports on either end. Sure you can stack them, but make sure to only stack them like they get stacked on a ship. If you try any other way of stacking you WILL need to do heavy modifications which can cost quite a bit.
Then of course you have the cost. Where I live, it will cost me at least $1500 for a used shipping container and that doesn't include the cost of getting it to me (up to 500 miles or more). Could easily run me $5000 to buy a container and get it here. For that same $5000 I could probably build from scratch an 8ft by 30ft trailer house/travel trailer/tiny'ish home. Of course if I went the "normal route" many who build tiny homes do, $5000 could be spent just on the trailer frame. Hint, you can build your own trailer frame at a much reduced cost if you can source local steel and know how to weld (or have a buddy that can weld for maybe a few cases of beer or something). Of course, everything gets cheaper when you can salvage. If you can find an old free to nearly free travel trailer with a decent frame, you can rip it down to the frame, clean the frame up, and there you have it. Of course landfill fees could add up. You can however recover some of the landfill costs by selling parts out of the travel trailer such as the windows, stove, sinks, fresh water tank(s), etc. If done right with the right salvage travel trailer, you can get yourself a tiny home trailer frame for free to almost free (with some labor).
For the costs involved, I just can't see using a shipping container as a tiny home unless you happen to live close to a major port (would suck) or can get it free to nearly free. It would almost always be cheaper to salvage a travel trailer, just maybe not as easy.