# cool housing concepts from shipping containers



## mike_dubb (Oct 14, 2013)

wife strangely enough posted this on my facebook. wanted to share this with yall. These 15 People Built Entire Homes Using Just a $2,000 Shipping Container. #4 Looks Like Modern Luxury!


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Kinda misleading. Current prices are about $2,000 for a decent 20ft shipping container yet several of those posted are of multiple 40ft containers.


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## mike_dubb (Oct 14, 2013)

In retro-spec , i didn't post this for luxury purposes. i realize some might see it that way. i wanted to spark some creativity.


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## mike_dubb (Oct 14, 2013)

ive noticed that also. but thought they just put 2 together.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

I personally find the concept very interesting. I wouldn't go to the lengths that many of this people did, but you could make a fairly comfortable place without paying a butt load of money for it.


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## nephilim (Jan 20, 2014)

What about the land it sits on, surely that would cost more than the "house"?


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## mike_dubb (Oct 14, 2013)

The concept was what sparked my interest. The idea of building a comfortable bug out shelter for cheap was there. And if you have some land already, this style of shelter is cheap and fortified.


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## MrsInor (Apr 15, 2013)

I liked this comment: When rich people do it 's "innovative, eco-friendly, forward thinking, environmentally conscious". when poor people do it it's called a trailer park.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

I have a 20ft on my property as a storm/hurricane shelter. Its anchored at each corner so not going anywhere. The inside has been framed off & osb added to the walls & ceiling.


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## spokes (Feb 22, 2014)

Missouri land, rural, timber, remote, is going for around 1800 dollars an acre around us. Some places even less. We were at a land auction 5 years ago where prime grazing land with a house, outbuildings, etc went for 800 dollars an acre.

I can see turning one into a bugout cabin with very little trouble and very low cost. Your big challenge would be getting it hauled into a remote setting. That would probably cost you as much as the land and or container.


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## Charles Martel (Mar 10, 2014)

I did a lot of research on shipping container structures a few years ago. I considered building a shipping container house on a family property, but, in the end I decided that there were far better options for our climate. 

Shipping containers are made of metal. As such, they are like refrigerators in the winter and ovens in the summer. They require ALOT of insulation in order to make them habitable. As demand for containers has gone up, so too have their prices. Prices have roughly doubled over the last 5 or 6 years. It's currently less expensive just to build a cheap stick or log style house than to buy multiple shipping containers and then have to throw several thousand additional dollars into them to make them livable. 

I've become much more interested in natural building techniques such as earthbag, cob, rammed earth, etc. over the years. These types of homes are literally dirt cheap. I know people who have built incredibly attractive, comfortable, efficient, bulletproof earthbag homes for as little as $800. 

Just my 2C.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

When you deal on a shipping container you figure delivery into the price. Special trailers are used for delivery.


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## Go2ndAmend (Apr 5, 2013)

I bought a 20'er last year and hauled it 3 hours up the road to my house. I put in my 22' flat-deck trailer and used 4 chain binders and 2 30' straps to secure it. I pulled it behind my F250 across the golden gate bridge (it was an adventure!). It currently is in my barn and I am now adding the shelving for supplies. What I like best about it is that it is bat, mice, insect proof!


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## mike_dubb (Oct 14, 2013)

I did not know so much was possible with sandbags. Thats a very interesting concept. Going to read more about it.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Why can't something like this be done to improve the number of prison cells available?


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## Charles Martel (Mar 10, 2014)

mike_dubb said:


> I did not know so much was possible with sandbags. Thats a very interesting concept. Going to read more about it.


It's amazing what people have done with earthbags. I've become convinced that natural/earth building techniques are the answer for those wanting an alternative to slaving their entire lives away in a meaningless 9-5 job to pay banker interest on a home mortgage (at 5% interest, you will pay roughly $145,000 in interest for a 200,000, 30 year home loan).

You can build an earthbag home for next to nothing. The main building material is literally free, and can be found right beneath your feet. If you are willing to do the work yourself, you can go completely off the grid and build a sustainable homestead for little more than the price of the raw land. I know of people who have gone off-grid for less than $10,000, including the price of the land.

They raise and sell a few cows, pigs, and chickens, and sell organic eggs and produce at local farmers markets to pay their annual property taxes, but they have totally removed themselves from the modern banker controlled system that enslaves most of us.

In any event, I really like what this guy did with earth bags and ferrocement. This is the first of 11 videos documenting his project. I plan to do something like this on a 200 acre property owned by my wife's family.






Obviously, you would probably start smaller than this guy's house. You can build a basic earthbag dome with a usable loft (like the one below) in less than a month, and for little more than the cost of the bags.


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## pastornator (Apr 5, 2013)

Here is a concept that I like, and there are versions still standing in Wisconsin that were built by the earliest settlers to the region in the late 1700s!

It seems that "cob" constuction is the way to go for the filler mud around the wood, as it needs to be flexible and able to move a bit as the wood expands and contracts.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

its not a new concept, 

its big in the UK apparently, a shipping container high rise has been built in Brisbane, sold as luxury apartments (seen it on a current affairs show) but had a architects touch so it was "fashionable"

grate foundation to a strong building and is excellent to work with, transport costs need to be factored.... so some places its unviable unless one comes up locally (it happens, but adds to the cost) 

but I would go a min of 2 side by side (20 or 40 feet) before I would even start, they are what 2.2 mt wide (what's that 8/9 feet??) not a lot to play with, unless your setting up for 2 ppl


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

I like the container "concept" but even though they look like pre-made houses just looking for a little creativity, they have a lot of faults that require engineering solutions way above what a traditional house would need.

I prefer the Tiny House format - a little more money but a much better investment.
Tiny Texas Houses | Building the Future with the Past


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## Casie (Feb 26, 2014)

Pretty cool vids there Mr M.

Wood rots pretty fast here in Louisiana, especially if it is near the ground. I am trying to convince my guy to form up some 10' raised beds with fancy landscaping bricks but this picture has me considering bagged concrete. I'm not picky. I just want them to be fairly inexpensive, quick to install, last forever, be super easy to garden in, and look lovely. That's all!


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