The trend for tiny homes constructed in unusual places has been developing for some time. For those who don’t need a massive house to be content, a simple home built into a shipping container is just one of the many affordable alternatives that exist today. The number of people choosing to make discarded shipping containers their home might surprise you.
If you think that a shipping container home might be the ideal solution for your needs, here are 4 things that you need to know before you get started.
The Right Type Of Container
Whether you are constructing a traditional home or a shipping container home, you want to have a solid structure. While shipping containers might appear broadly similar to the untrained eye, they are actually vastly different from one another and you need to know exactly what you are dealing with.
There are three types of shipping containers that are significantly more common than the others. These are the high cubes, the standard, and the refrigerated type. As well as knowing which type of shipping container you have, you will also need to be able to assess its condition. Most people agree that a high cube container is the best type. The high cube container provides additional height over a standard container, which is very useful if you will be insulating the container. However, they will be approximately 50% more expensive than a standard container.
Local Planning And Construction Laws
Whenever you embark upon any construction project, no matter how large or small, it is vital that you check out the local planning and construction laws. If you fall foul of the regulations, you may find yourself forced to dismantle your new build and could potentially end up sinking a lot of money into a project that you have to abandon.
Around the world, there have been examples of people forced to dismantle expensive custom builds because they did not seek appropriate permissions. Even though a container home is a relatively cheap build, you still don’t want the money you invest to be wasted.
Don’t Alter Your Final Design After Construction Has Begun
With so many different styles and options to work with when you are designing your shipping home container, it can be tempting to continually refine and alter your design right up until the time at which construction is actually underway. This is a recipe for disaster and is something that you should avoid doing at all costs.
Changing your designs halfway through construction will inevitably stretch out both the time and the financial costs of completing your build. If you modify your shipping container in any way, it becomes very difficult and expensive to undo those modifications. It is, therefore, essential that you are completely sure of what you are doing and why throughout the process.
Don’t Modify The Containers Too Much
Every major modification that you make to the shipping container’s structure will affect its integrity. One of the main reasons that people turn to shipping containers for their home builds is because of the significant cost savings involved. However, you lose many of these cost-saving benefits as soon as you start dismantling or altering your container significantly. Cutting steel out of a container is difficult, and you will then have to pay someone to remove it for you.
A common trait amongst the cheapest container home builds is that they leave the container itself largely intact. Creating modifications to allow for doors and windows is still possible, but beyond this, there are no large sections of container missing.
With the right approach, the humble shipping container can be converted into an affordable and energy-efficient living space with relative ease. Just make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into before you begin.