Shipment / Storage Containers

Discussion in 'Home Improvement' started by Avigail David, Sep 29, 2015.

  1. Avigail David

    Avigail David Veteran Member
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    I've been talking to friends about selling our small house and 10 acre-land. But the house I want to move in, just in case we sell ours, has bigger mortgage--20 years to pay, even with the money of the sale of our house. That means, it's to no advantage for our family to acquire another big debt and 20 years to pay. We fully paid our present house within 7 years, 7 years ago.

    Friends told us about these heavy steel shipment containers that people, nowadays, use for house extensions. Our friend, a house builder can help us cut windows and doors into them and build insulation and walls to divide into more rooms. We don't have to pay building permits. And the prices of sizable shipment/storage containers can be repayable only within 2-3 years.

    I think my husband will consider this. I hope.
     
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  2. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    So would you modify one of the containers into the entire house, or would you craft a house from several? I've heard of people doing this, and people are using all sorts of containers and other things for housing these days. I even saw a show where someone crafted a tiny house out of a dumpster. More and more, people aren't willing to go into extreme debt to buy housing, so this sounds like a reasonable solution. Perhaps you could do some research, and show your husband a couple of shows or videos on this topic prior to broaching the subject. That could help him understand how amazing the building could be, rather than having a mental image of a shipping container, which is somewhat negative, in comparison to a lovely home.
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    We looked into that a few years ago before we decided to have the Amish build our camp. At that time, the cost was something in the neighborhood of $2,000, but that didn't include transportation.
     
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  4. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    What living in a dumpster for a year taught this professor about the things we don’t need.
    [​IMG]
    “Professor Dumpster” emerges from his former lair on the Huston-Tillotson University campus in Austin. (Courtesy of Jeff Wilson)
    [​IMG]
     
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  5. Krissttina Isobe

    Krissttina Isobe Veteran Member
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    :oops:I think you and your husband should think it through and ask for options for what both of you would like as a home. Home is where you live and enjoy family get together and with the holiday coming up you got to be sure of what you'd like as a home. Professional people can give you estimates or give suggestions as to what the market has currently for what you want done at home. Good luck!
     
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  6. Avigail David

    Avigail David Veteran Member
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    The 40' shipping/storage containers are like this. It's got hardwood flooring, high ceiling and delivered new. It will be as an extension to the house. They cost about $10,000+. To put a roof to save rainwater and connect gutter pipes to the water tank. Insulate the interior, and build dividing walls to make 3-4 small rooms, and install windows.
    ATT_1443723482286_20150927_122338.jpg
     
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  7. Jenn Windey

    Jenn Windey Supreme Member
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    I had actually been on a website that was all about these storage container homes. In fact they had a few different ideas for alternative type homes. I found it quite interesting. Although it seems to me they said that the actual containers were like in the price range of $2000. Since I have been thinking about purchasing land for my retirement I have been looking at different things I might be able to do as far as a building goes. The thing I felt was a downside was that the storage containers do not have insulation, and up here that is a must. I am going to agree with @Ken Anderson sometimes the pre builds are the best. the ones from the Amish are pretty impressive.
    [​IMG]
     
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  8. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Here are 23 more ideas! I like the one with a house inside. I always thought it would be neat to build a house inside an old barn.
    I like #6!;)
    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Pat Baker

    Pat Baker Supreme Member
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    I have seen a show about living in a container as an alternative housing source. I think it is good idea and can be an alternative to the high cost of housing for the homeless. I am sure the need to insulate the containers has been handled by those people that now live in containers. I would consider one if I had the land.
     
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  10. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    Something I never thought I would consider, before seeing them on television, is yurts. The ones I'd heard of were very basic, and didn't have any plumbing or insulation, and I didn't realize they could be more upscale. I was even more surprised to see that some people live in yurts in Alaska. Now I'm seeing two-story yurts, as well, and ones with really nice interiors. http://inhabitat.com/an-inhabitat-w...ilding-her-own-sustainable-yurt-in-the-woods/
     

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  11. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
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    There is a builder who used those old container vans for housing right in the main road. He made the small lot like a compound. The houses are cute because they are small but looked sturdy because they are made of steel. But since it is ready made and just little renovations were needed, it is cost-effective. And they were selling those "portable" houses with the price of a real house. The come on is the quick installation that takes less than a week and you already have a house.

    But the drawback to that steel house is the climate here. Can you imagine what happens when the sun shines brightly? People living in that steel house would need an air conditioner for that. But in fairness, the nights are colder.
     
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  12. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    Another thing to consider is modular housing. I looked into modular housing before, and toured some of the homes. The cost is about comparable with a good quality double-wide mobile home, but with a modular home, it can be build on a foundation or on a basement, which is an upgrade from mobile homes, and is particularly appealing if you're in an area where you need a storm shelter. We don't have basements here because we're so low to sea level, but a basement is a great way to add square footage to a home. I researched modular housing several years back, and the quality is comparable or better in many cases, to stick built homes.
     
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  13. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I got a book on amazon called "Trailersteading", and it is about people who are getting a cheap parcel of land and then bringing in a mobile home, often a used one that can be purchased fairly cheaply.
    When I moved up to northern Idaho, this is what I did for my home. The trailer came from a trailer park in Washington State that had just upgraded their restrictions for the kind of trailer that could be in that park; so I was able to get the trailer for $3000. I put $500 down and paid $250 per month for the next year, and it was paid for.
    Later, I hired a local handyman to put a slanted roof over the trailer because we got a lot of snow in the winter.

    The first year, I had to hire a guy to climb up on the roof and shovel off the snow every time we had a heavy snowfall.
    Thankfully, that person was living in a small travel trailer, and lost his job; so they had to leave the trailer park and he had nowhere to go. We soon came to an agreement that he and his wife could park their travel trailer in my back yard and use my electricity in exchange for helping me deal with the snow. This worked out great for all of us, and by the next spring, he had a job again and they could move to their own place.
    Eventually, I also added a small back porch onto the trailer, and then a front porch. By that time, I had met Bobby and we were married and living there together. Our plans were to have added on another room and made more space in the trailer; but we ended up moving instead.
    Trailers are pretty versatile, in that you can start with something small and cheap, and then add on as you can afford to do it, while still having your home to live in.

    If I were actually going to build a home somewhere, I think that i would like to have an Earthship. They are totally self-contained,made from recycled materials (like old tires), most have greenhouses where you can grow indoors as well as outside, and they are solar heated.
    Here is a picture of an Earthship.

    http://emortgagesblog.com/2013/04/22/photo-of-the-week-the-earthship/
     
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  14. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    @Yvonne Smith That's similar to how my situation was supposed to work, but my friend (ex-fiance) lost his land when his father died and the new wife kicked him off before his dad could set things up legally to protect him. The plan was that I would move up there to his land, but in separate homes. Since we both have physical issues, it would have been a good cooperative relationship, but of course that didn't happen. We call her the black widow. I'm still hopeful that I'll be able to buy something small eventually and get out of this place, but who knows.

    The Earthship looks interesting. I've always liked the architecture in Louisiana (and some places in Texas, and no doubt elsewhere) where there is a courtyard in the center of the house, and plants can be grown. It would be very handy for the kitties, since they could go outside, yet still be protected. I think more and more people these days are attracted to the downscaled life, with less overhead and more of a connection to the land and nature.
     
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  15. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    The Rio Grande Valley of Texas has some pretty interesting homes that were built around a mobile home. A friend of mine had what appeared to be a regular house, yet he could show me which of the inside rooms were once a mobile home. That sort of thing is seen more often where building codes aren't strongly enforced, and I'm in favor of not enforcing building codes strongly, although I was once a building inspector.
     
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