living in a shipping container...

[watertrade]

its not a new idea but I find the idea very exciting.

If I wasn't tied down to a mortage, wife and job I would give it a 2nd thought!

my work in buying some for $2700 each.

Maybe that house on the large rural property isn't just a dream ! !? !

would like to know what you guys think.

http://www.shipping-container-housing.com/

http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/containerbayhome.htm

http://earthsci.org/education/fieldsk/cont.../container.html

cheers

Jim

Edited September 8, 2007 by watertrade

[Auxin]

I like this idea too, my machine shop is a retrofitted 14 meter semi trailer so I'm used to seeing the concept as more than a big rusty metal box

[devance]

On a PBS TV program they were using four of them.

Two on top.

I just saw the last of the program where they putting on the roof which looked mind bogglingly complicated.

Seems like one could dig out a hole and use concrete to protect against rust.

I saw another project where someone bought a old gasoline station tank, cut in half longways with a tourch and used it as form for the top part of a concrete structure.

[ThunderIdeal]

i haven't visited the url's but don't forget to consider a donger. you know those temporary buildings they have on construction sites? i think they're only about five to ten thousand, and they come with all your modcons.

[Torsten]

refrigerated container costs about 3K and makes the best workshop in summer [with aircon mounted in place of fridge]

[five]

Not sure if anybody else is from around the margret river area, but there was a guy in the local paper a year or so ago that built his house entirely out of recycled fridge walls (industrial fridges, insulation etc). Wish i could find the article on it, i cant remember many details about it.

[Torsten]

Bluescope makes various fridge panels for architectural uses. we intend to build a small building out of it in the next few months.

http://www.bluescopesteel.com.au/go/buildi...nsulated-panels

Production is probably nasty for the environment, but in a space that must be airconditioned to 18degC the savings in power and hence CO2 would easily make up for the initial production.

[Hagakure]

http://gliving.tv/architecture-design/geni...moves-with-you/

[Hagakure]

another link http://firmitas.org/

[nabraxas]

http://earthsci.org/education/fieldsk/cont.../container.html

an example of using two conventional shipping containers to create 90 square meters of living space in dense rainforest adjoining World Heritage Rainforest. The facility, on a nature refuge is used for rainforest research. The terrain is extremely difficult and accessed via a narrow track made by woodcutters in 1928. The techniques are simple and require only very basic skills. They produce a dry, durable ,vermin proof, comfortable, removable facility with a low ecological impact.

[watertrade]

http://earthsci.org/education/fieldsk/cont.../container.html

yeah this is one of the first ones i saw. I love the idea. I like the way this one is on a metal platform. makes me think... hey I can do that.!

[jasemateau]

this is a good look too,

http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/

http://books.lulu.com/items/volume_1/11400...ngs_preview.pdf

hmm got me thinking now, this is a really good idea......

Edited October 15, 2007 by jasemateau

[watertrade]

some more - some noted previously

Container Building Links

http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/containerbayhome.htm

http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/index.html

http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/

http://www.landliving.com/articles/0000000390.aspx

http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/odds_and...rchitecture.htm

http://www.shipping-container-housing.com/

http://www.undergroundcontainer.com/

Other

http://www.containerhouse.com/index.htm

http://www.mege.com.cn/en/j01.htm

[trucha]

Its also fairly reasonable to get them modified with doors and thermal windows.

This was how my new office space was dealt with.

Insulation can be nice but interior decoration can be as simple as tapestries and magnets.

An interesting application I heard done was some people in the area burying two 40-footers for use as an indoor grow zone.

[woof woof woof]

i love you guys and girls!

[ThunderIdeal]

any more ideas on this topic? i can live on a property rent free, which has hot water, tank and power, but i really need some kind of a bedroom/living room for myself. i can get a container (20ft) for $2400. another company quoted a container fitted with power outlets, additional lighter side door, padlock and two screened windows for $5400. i like the idea of getting two containers and creating a shelter between them and using the roof as well.

i'm guessing they're not too hard to modify, if you've got something to cut through the walls. they're basically just a hollow metallic prism right?

without getting air conditioning, does anybody have any advice re: climate control?

[ThunderIdeal]

apparently an angle grinder is all you need to get through the walls.

[-YT-]

any more ideas on this topic? i can live on a property rent free, which has hot water, tank and power, but i really need some kind of a bedroom/living room for myself. i can get a container (20ft) for $2400. another company quoted a container fitted with power outlets, additional lighter side door, padlock and two screened windows for $5400. i like the idea of getting two containers and creating a shelter between them and using the roof as well.

i'm guessing they're not too hard to modify, if you've got something to cut through the walls. they're basically just a hollow metallic prism right?

without getting air conditioning, does anybody have any advice re: climate control?

Dude you are set!

Your right about being hollow prisms. dun take much to cut throw and mod. They do heat up a bit in summer depending on where you are and its positioning but best bet is to cut out a few windows and or sunlight for airflow in the warmer months and also depending on how cold it gets could also throw in a old school wood fire

[ThunderIdeal]

it's a bit inland, heat and cold will be an issue. i'm thinking an electric heater will be much easier than a fireplace. i'm also going to go for maximum overhead shade, be it existing trees or a tarp. i'm tossing up whether or not to try growing vines over the surface and putting a few potted trees and sprawlers on the roof.

i am now tempted to truck a plain container straight in and get friends to do the mods as needed.

do they just offload them using a tilt tray?

[-YT-]

Man i envy you, be great to get outta the city/burbs..

Electric heater would do just fine, i just dig those old metal box fireplaces with the chimney and jazz wouldnt be hard to install and you get to chop wood!!!! hahahah Seriously though anything you could just about imagine you could/can do given the tools and spare time.

Go the normal container and mod it yourself save's ya a few grand (which you can spend on mods) and gives you and your mates something to do, thats is your life isnt already full.

Yeah they bring em in on trucks with the tilt trays and just dump em where ever you want given the trucks can make it there.

Now you got me dreaming of land and shipping containers

Edited May 12, 2008 by -YT-

[ThunderIdeal]

yeah i like the old style wood stoves, because they're a kitchen, a fireplace, and you can rig them to put heat into your hotwater system.

don't talk to me about dreaming of land! heh. nah it's pretty lucky i admit, i've been going out to this place every weekend but it makes me wonder why i don't just start looking for some land of my own to buy. i want to quit my job but i should use it to secure a loan first. then buy land (employment prospects while living there will be dismal) > begin soil retention/improvement > maybe spend a year or more at the mines

[jasemateau]

well if looks dont bother you (mean looking like a modern home) or perhaps re invent the term of modern housing,

perhaps thown some soil on the roof and rgow grass or somthing you can control easly, should give good insulation from the roof.

the wall's go greeen grab some mud and straw fill in the corrigations inside and out so the walls are straight, then cover them with gyprok (for the inside walls), then the ouside same but cover the filled in corrigations with somthin more durable to water and weather, that should be good insulation,

i have really thought about his alot since the begining of the thread,

the insulation was a huge biggy for me, coz i worked for an uncle in QLD who stored all of his building equiptment in a container, and i can tell you it was behind a house and the container was like walking into an oven, the steel just conducts the heat, dang it was hot in there it was like a instant perspire as soon as you step in, oh and the reduction of electricity demand.

yer i kind of let the thought go after remembering the heat of the storage container, however i'm certain it can be overcome, i'm just focused on something else at the moment!

[ThunderIdeal]

permaculture publications talk about having a chimney-like structure coming from the roof and painted black. it is supposed to make the hot air flow out.

what is the relevance of the container being behind a house? a building next door couldn't possibly give midday shade in summer.

i wonder if painting the container white would have much of an effect??

you have now made me consider setting it up further from existing structures, where there is more shade from trees, but then i have further to run the electricity.

veg-insulation will take at least a year to grow.

i'll post updates as they occur.

[mu!]

i was talkin to a guy at this doof and he told me that to keep his car cool during the day, he'd put his tent up over the top of it - see all you need is something over the top of the container to absorb the heat and keep it directly off the steel. that sounds like the way to go

[apothecary]

Why not dig into the side of a hill?