Shipping Container Homes: A complete guide to designing and building a container home

By Anthony Hill

SHIPPING CONTAINER HOMES

Living in the 21st century is not at all an easy feat. With the constant and consistent rise in the cost of living, it is becoming virtually impossible to live comfortably in a house you own. For many people, owning a house feels like a completely u

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ingram Publishing
• Release date: Sep 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781761037306

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Introduction

Living in the 21st century is not at all an easy feat. With the constant and consistent rise in the cost of living, it is becoming virtually impossible to live comfortably in a house you own. For many people, owning a house feels like a completely unattainable goal because of the extensive growth in housing prices.

With more than 9% price growth in the 2019-2020 year, this steady rise is detrimental to the average consumer. The simple fact of the matter is that modern problems require innovative and creative solutions.

With its mainstream conception and acceptance taking place in the late months of 2006, Architect Peter DeMaria designed and built the first two-story shipping container home. This home was built under the strict guidelines of the nationally recognized Uniform Building Code (UBC).

Since then, the market for shipping container homes has drastically increased, with it becoming a preferred alternative to the traditional wood or brick-and-mortar building methods that have been employed for several years. In the years since DeMaria’s pioneering building, many countries have seen this as an effective way of combating not only the space issues, but also the cost issues, that are faced daily by consumers. A prime example of this is India, with one of the biggest shipping container housing markets currently, they have taken shipping container homes to a whole new level.

With the constant rise in this market, many other creative ways to use shipping containers in the building process have arisen. These newer creations show shipping containers being converted into some profitable and cost-effective bars, shopping centers, and hotels.

As the world fears the constant depletion of our planet's natural resources, the focus is being shifted towards new-age solutions to the building problem. Still, there are a vast majority of people that aren’t aware of the benefits of the use of shipping containers as a building material.

The strongest reason to advocate for alternative housing sources, such as those built from shipping containers, is because of the implications traditional building has on the environment. The traditional way of building has been around for many years, and in the majority of the world, building is done with sand and stone. This way of building has a very negative impact on the environment as much ground is excavated and converted into products used for building. These products range from granite and building sand that is used to fabricate bricks, and plaster sand that is used to smooth away the exposed brick.

With Forbes estimating growth of 15% in the quarry and building sectors by 2027, the time for change is now.

Chapter 1: What is a Shipping Container Home?

A shipping container home is exactly what it sounds like. A shipping container is most commonly a 20 or 40 ft long and 8 ft wide metal box that has been used to transport various goods, usually on huge container ships. This form of building a home uses one or multiple recycled shipping containers to construct a livable space, and in some cases can include aspects of a traditional building to make the space bigger.

Why Container Homes?

Shipping container homes are suitable for just about anybody. The main drawing point for a shipping container home is that it can fit into a much smaller land area than a traditional home. Using just one shipping container, you can convert it into a cozy living space with minimalist furnishings; it is perfect for a couple or single person. If tiny living is considered a drawback, multiple containers can be fixed together, fitting perfectly against each other, making the space much bigger than just 20 ft to 40 ft.

The Benefits of Shipping Container Homes

There is a plethora of reasons to decide on a container home as opposed to traditional brick and mortar homes. The main benefit of shipping container homes revolves around its affordability, but there are so many more positive points to look out for. Some of the best benefits include:

Affordability

Traditional buildings are expensive. At an estimated $400,000 for a new-construction home, shipping container homes are the affordable choice. The general estimated price for a shipping container home is around