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By Luke Hunter
Rise Writer
Jul 16, 2017
Container homes are exactly what they sound like; homes made from the steel shipping containers that you see carrying goods everywhere on trains, trucks, and ships. From these giant Lego blocks, people are building homes of all shapes and sizes.
Shipping containers are generally available in 10ft, 20ft, and 40ft. The smallest shipping container can provide about 100 square feet of floor space for a shipping container home. Eight larger containers together can make a two-story house at about 1400 square feet. Hundreds of container micro-apartments together can make a huge apartment building.
Shipping Container Home, Costa Rica. Photo Credit: Benjamin Garcia Saxe
Why are shipping containers being used to make homes, studios, cabins, and offices? Well, with about 14 million ‘out-of-service’ containers in the world, there are lots of them available. And playing with giant blocks has a definite appeal!
Besides trendiness, interest in container homes is also part of a wider interest in saving money with prefabricated and modular homes. Many potential homeowners are looking for lower construction and maintenance costs. There is also a perception that container homes are contributing to recycling.
Container Home. Photo Credit: Patrick Bradley Architects
Could a container home be a good choice for you? Here are some pros and cons to consider.
Many shipping container homes are available as prefabricated modular homes, making construction time shorter. Some companies advertise delivery within 10 weeks! Most of the building code inspections are done at the factory, which makes things simpler and quicker. Or if you are designing a custom home or building a do-it-yourself project, the container gives you a fun prebuilt structure to work with.
A worldwide system exists for moving containers around. Once they reach your site, they are relatively simple to set in place on a prepared foundation.
Most of the work is completed on a factory floor for a fixed price. Delivery to the site, site preparation, foundation, assembly and utility connections are the only variable costs. That said, container homes are not always less expensive. Estimates vary, and some put the savings at 5-10%, depending on what you’re comparing against.
The environmental appeal of a container home is the idea that you are re-using a leftover product of the shipping industry to make a home. This can be a good thing, but as we will see, it’s not always true or the best thing.
Some of the advantages, like short construction time and predictable pricing, are the same for all prefabricated and modular homes, not just those made with shipping containers. But container homes benefit uniquely from the worldwide infrastructure built to move shipping containers. Even container home skeptics admit they can be useful where local building expertise is lacking or for emergency shelters that can be moved easily. In these scenarios, the versatility of container transport is a huge advantage.
Catskills Container Home. Photo Credit: Porter Fox
Container homes are often marketed as being environmentally friendly because they are said to be made from used containers, thus conserving metal resources. There are lots of old shipping containers out there, no longer in circulation, and repurposing them into homes has a strong appeal. But is a container home really the best use of a container, from a sustainability perspective? Many would disagree.
Most factory-built container homes are built from ‘one-use’ containers that have only had a single trip. These containers tend to be in good shape, without dents or rust, so they are nice for building with, instead of containers that have gone ‘out-of-service’ and may be damaged from years of use. Taking a box with lots of shipping life out of service after a single use isn’t effective recycling. And there is way more steel in a container than you need to build a house - if recycled as steel, it could make enough steel studs for 14 framed houses the same size.
A shipping container is very strong at the corners, but the roof is not that strong, so typically you need to build another roof over it, especially where there will be snow. Also, the corrugated steel walls are essential to the strength of the structure. This means anywhere you cut out a large window, or door opening requires new reinforcement. And when they are stacked together to make larger homes, welded (expensive) reinforcement is needed wherever two containers join at a spot that is not a corner. Any later renovations require significant engineering and welding.
It’s often not possible to know what has been shipped in a used container – anything from harmless consumer goods to hazardous industrial materials – or what the container has been through. The paints and finishes used on containers are industrial and intended for shipping across the ocean, not residential homes, so that they could contain lead and toxic pesticides.
The size of shipping containers is quite limiting and can quickly be consumed by plumbing, HVAC, insulation, and other systems. A container was designed to fit on a train, which means it’s narrow, and ordinary furniture doesn’t fit right. A standard container is also only 8ft wide and 8 ft 6 in high, which doesn’t leave much headroom after insulation and wiring are installed.
The narrow shape of a shipping container doesn’t lend itself to insulating the exterior very well. To avoid using up interior space, a relatively thin layer of insulation with a high R-value per inch, such as polyurethane spray foam, is often used. Although spray foam is an effective and airtight insulator, the blowing agents used in many brands of spray foam are powerful greenhouse gases.
While shipping containers are reinforced at the corners, the existing roof may lack structural integrity. Those looking for container homes capable of support weight, such as weather, should consider if building a roof is right for them. A roof can also provide aesthetic and architectural flair that is common amongst homes in North America. While there are multiple styles of roofs that can be used for a shipping container home, flat roofs, pitched roofs, roof terraces, and living roofs are the most common.
Making a poor insulation decision can have a negative impact on climate change than other kinds of insulation. To construct a well-insulated wall, it would be better to build outward for more wall thickness and use a more environmentally sustainable type of insulation. But then what use is a heavy, corrugated steel exterior if it’s buried in insulation?
Buddina Beach Box. Photo Credit: OGE architects
As container homes continue to rise in popularity, so do requests for homeowners to build homes with them. Repurposed shipping containers are even popping up as markets, hotels, fairs, and mobile shops at local events. Even with the increasing popularity, your ability to build a home with shipping containers relies heavily on zoning regulations and building codes set forth by the local government. It's essential to do your research, understand zoning and building codes, and speak with the proper housing authorities if anything is unclear.
Suburban and rural areas tend to be more open to shipping container homes; however, some states are visibly more open to alternative living. Texas, California, Tennessee, Louisiana, Missouri, Oregon, and Alaska are among the more progressive states that have, to some level, opened their doors to shipping container homes. Texas already plays host to many container homes. Even though California is known for its red tape, it has been open to container homes and hybrid container homes. Louisana and Tennessee experience some of the most lenient and forward-thinking zoning regulations in the United States. As alternative living options continue to grow, it's only a matter of time before more states in the country begin to allow shipping container homes in designated areas.
So what will a shipping container home cost? Smaller, more basic container homes can range between $10,000 to $35,000. Large homes built with multiple shipping containers and amenities can range in price from $100,000 to $175,000. Shipping container homes, in some cases, can cost half as much per square foot than traditional stick building. However, it isn't easy to compare apples to apples, and there are many factors to consider.
So what can increase the cost? While land costs and climate requirements are significant considerations, it can also depend on many factors, including:
There is a report of a simple shipping container home self-built by an engineer in Canada for only $20,000. But a pre-manufactured container home has a price tag that looks more like a regular home.
Shipping container homes should last at least 25 years but will last much longer if they are well maintained or if you use siding to protect the exterior. Rust is the single most common issue that can reduce the lifespan of a shipping container home. It's important to inspect your shipping container home and look for rust spots. Any problematic areas should be treated and repaired to reduce the chance of rust spreading.
Since shipping container homes are made out of metal, there is the possibility that they may rust. Some shipping containers are initially manufactured with alloys, a process commonly referred to as weathering steel or corten steel, which helps to form a surface level of rust that mitigates further corrosion. The climate where the container is located factors into whether a shipping container home will rust as wet and dry climates affect shipping containers differently.
A well-maintained shipping container home can retain its resale value much like a traditional home. They're relatively easy to resell since they can be loaded onto a truck and shipped almost anywhere. Before purchasing, you may want to inquire as to whether the shipping container home was manufactured for your climate and, if not, inquire as to the modifications you may need to make so that it's appropriate for its intended location.
Image courtesy of Honomobo
Here is one example. Honomobo is a builder of pre-designed, factory-built container homes based in Edmonton, Canada. They create homes using one to eight containers with high-quality finishes. Their largest model, HO8, is a two-story home with just over 1400 square feet of floor area.
NOTES: All prices are approximate, based on available data. The land is not included in this comparison and is assumed to be the same for both. *Posted price from Honomobo. **Estimated $220 per square foot construction cost in Canada, not including land or foundation. ***Estimated $1.30 per km per container for shipping, considering Edmonton (Canada) to Winnipeg (Canada) (1300 km).
Image courtesy of Honomobo.
You might love to have a container home because you like the idea, the look, the chance to play with blocks in a DIY design, or the quick delivery time for a manufactured model. But don’t assume it will cost less or that it’s necessarily more environmentally sustainable.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute a product endorsement however Rise does reserve the right to recommend relevant products based on the articles content to provide a more comprehensive experience for the reader.
Last Modified: 2023-08-23T12:45:59+0000
Article by:
Luke Hunter
Much of the attraction to and buzz around shipping container homes is related to price. Some of it is fair, some of it is not. In many cases, shipping containers can be built quite cheaply, perhaps even cheaper than an equivalent house made with traditional construction techniques.
While there are a huge number of variables that influence cost (geography, size, design, interior finish-out, etc), we generally find that container homes do offer some cost savings for most owners. And, if you’re interested in doing some of the work yourself while being resourceful with some of the other expenses, the savings can be more significant.
This doesn’t necessarily mean container homes are inexpensive overall (though they sometimes can be). Instead, it means when comparing a container home to a similar equipped traditional home, you may see lower costs. Calculating exactly how much less requires getting really specific on details.
To start, it’s important to frame the subject of affordability in terms of why cost is an important consideration.
No matter if you’re a fixed-income retiree, a Silicon Valley millionaire, or a middle-aged middle manager, we all have a housing budget. And as with all budget line items, if you can spend less while still adequately meeting your needs, that free up funds for other purposes.
A common rule of thumb says that you should aim to spend no more than 30% of your income on housing. Survey data from the US Government’s Bureau of Labor and Statistics below shows that most families, regardless of income, achieve that for the raw cost of the housing itself.
However, when factoring other housing-related expenses like utilities and maintenance, many families on the lower end of the income range exceed 30%.
In most households, housing expenses make up the largest percentage of their expenditures. Why is this relevant? Impact.
Small changes on a percentage basis can have large impacts on the bottom line. Think about the actual cost savings of reducing your mobile phone bill by 10% versus reducing your housing expenses by 10%.
Clearly, focusing on large expenses like housing can really help your overall financial pictures. And thus, analyzing if container homes can offer cost savings in your specific situation is an effort worth undertaking.
The conclusion from the previous section is clear, right? Spend as little as possible on housing, and reap the benefits of the saved cash. Well, that’s actually not exactly what we’re saying at all!
Before going forward, it’s important to understand the difference between being frugal and being cheap. The two terms seem almost synonymous, but they actually have very different meanings in your day to life.
Cheapness generally equates to paying the lowest price for something, period. It’s a short-sighted view that truly does lead to cost savings up-front, but not necessarily over a longer period of time.
Frugality, on the other hand, is about prioritizing spending to ensure your limited resources are allocated to the things you most care about.
When you’re frugal, you:
We hope we’ve convinced you that having frugality mindset is not only a helpful way to live in general but also a great way to approach the decision of using shipping containers for your next project.
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Xindian Construction.
Let’s talk about some of the choices you can make to generate cost savings.
The first area of savings are those due specifically to using a shipping container. These are somewhat ‘passive’ savings as they don’t require any other real adjustments to your design or lifestyle and just take advantage of the positive properties of containers.
When compared to traditional types of housing, container houses have different line item costs. However, these do vary somewhat depending on your design.
A few of the common areas of savings are:
However, there can also be some areas where containers may end up costing you more money, such as:
The table below from the National Association of Home Builders shows what percentage of an average single-family home’s cost goes to different construction line items. While every home is different, this table can help give you a rough idea of where you might be able to save with a container home, depending on your choices with some of the items above.
Understand the costs in the above table are inclusive of material and labor, though often paid through subcontractors. If you’re doing some of these tasks yourself, you can expect the cost to be lower (your labor is free), which will, in turn, change how the percentages flow together.
Again, don’t treat this information as the gospel, as it is based on averages taken across a huge variety of home types, sizes and locations. Rather, just use it to get a rough idea of how much different construction tasks cost in comparison to others.
Armed with this information, you can decide if the container home you’re envisioning may offer cost savings just by being made from containers. Then, you have the choice of a cheaper house of the same size or a larger house for the same price.
However, looking for these container-based cost savings isn’t the only way to keep some money in your pocket. Read on to find out some other options you have available.
A second way to reduce the cost of your container building is quite logical: reduce its size.
Let’s start with some data. The following charts were created based on data compiled by this site, which itself is based mostly on US Census data with some other sources used for earlier years.
The first chart shows two trends that are seemingly at odds with each other. The average household size has been going down over time, while the average house size has been going up. What this intuitively means is that average square footage of a house, per person, has been going up even more. That can be seen in the 3rd line on the graph.
However, given the different axes and starting points, it’s a bit hard to compare the changes in each measure to each other. So, we’ve normalized all the numbers in the next chart based on what they were in 1920. This highlights the growth (or shrinkage) over time for all measures.
These are pretty surprising statistics! The average household size has almost been cut in half from 1920 to 2015, presumably a function of fewer multi-generational households and fewer children per household.
But look at the square footage numbers. The average house size has increased a little over 2.5x, while the average house size per person has increased almost 4.5x.
We get it, that was a lot of numbers, but what do they mean? Let’s start with a question.
When you look back on old family photo albums, newspaper clippings, or even movies from the early 20th century, what do you see? Are people sad and feeling hopeless about their small house?
Or are they strangely happy? Maybe, even happier than a lot of us seem today? In most cases, they generally seem to be doing pretty well, right?
The takeaway then is that despite having 4.5 times as much room in a house now than they did back in 1920, people don’t really seem 4.5 times more fulfilled. Yes, it’s 4.5 times as much space to spread out and impress your neighbors with. But it’s also 4.5 times as much space to clean, heat, cool, and furnish.
Of course, while the numbers are scientific, the sentiment behind them is just our opinion. And maybe you disagree, which is completely ok.
Regardless, we’d urge you to stop and thoughtfully consider what is driving the size of your house. Think about if you could still be happy with a bit less.
We’re not talking about living like the below picture shows! Instead, what size home would your grandparents or great-grandparents have probably thought was normal when they were your age?
This idea of living small isn’t for everyone, and if you have the means and desire to build a large house, we fully support that as well. We only ask you to challenge your assumptions about why before committing to such a large purchase.
Perhaps being frugal on your house size might free up resources for other things that are more important. That could be higher furniture quality, a better neighborhood, or even a nicer family vacation.
Let’s say you’re on board with this idea of “less is more” and practical minimalism. How do you start?
Media exposure and societal pressure have conditioned almost all of us to believe that ‘bigger is better’. And in some cases, that’s definitely true. But not for everyone. To find a better way, you need to ask yourself the right questions.
Let’s say you have a consultation with a financial advisor about the idea of purchasing a home. One of the first things they’ll try to calculate is how much home you can afford. But that’s the wrong question.
Have you ever heard of bottom-up and top-down thinking? The above case is an example of a top-down approach.
It’s kind of like going to the market and getting the biggest basket you can find, then filling it full of bread. But what if you don’t actually need that much bread and some of what you bought ends up moldy and stale because you couldn’t eat it all?
Using a bottom-up approach would start with your needs. How many bedrooms do you need, and what size should they be? Do you need a bathroom for every bedroom, and if so, how big do they need to be?
Perhaps there are rooms you think you need, but you’re just holding on to old habits. For instance, if you only use a formal dining room two or three times a year, would you be better off renting out a restaurant or park pavilion for those times instead? Think about the thousands of dollars of construction, maintenance, utility, and furniture costs you’ll pay over the years for that under-utilized room.
Questions like this will help you determine the combined square footage you actually require to meet your needs.
It’s more like figuring out how much bread you actually want to eat and only buying that amount, regardless of how big your basket is. No bread is wasted, and now you have room to buy some fruit!
Remember this: what you can afford and what you need are two different things. Both are important, and there is nothing inherently wrong with buying more than you need. Everyone likes to splurge now and then. If you do so, just make sure that’s a conscious choice, and that you clearly understand the difference between what you need and what you can afford in your mind.
Another way you can affect the price of your home is by adjusting the level of extravagance.
Container homes have been built across the entire spectrum of luxuriousness. Some of them are barely one step above camping. Others almost seem to be built to five-star resort standards.
Remember that you start with a roof, floor, and walls in your container. You’re completely in control of what you add (and what you spend) after that.
Quality can be important across a couple of different measures. Think about the difference between high-quality materials vs high-quality craftsmanship.
A skilled artist can make some beautiful items out of trash. But some people may never get over the fact that it’s still trash.
A novice artisan can have access to the finest tropical hardwoods and the most beautiful granite. But their work may not look very good because they don’t have the skills and experience to shape the materials into something beautiful.
Some materials may look nice, but are fragile or wear easily. Some craftsmanship is very exacting and yet is almost impossible to notice without a trained eye.
Of course, most things exist somewhere in the middle of all these qualities. But you need to find where on the spectrum you want to be for both materials and craftsmanship.
Your container building will present hundreds of choices for you. What type of floors, what type of appliances, what type of handles on the cabinets.
Almost every item will have multiple options at various price points. Ask yourself how you want it to look and perform, how long you want it to ask, and what type of maintenance it will require.
Remember what we talked about in the section above on Frugality and pick the characteristics that you most value.
Being conscious about these choices can enable you to save money on your container home while still getting quality in the specific areas that matter to you.
Would you rather have a Ferrari with a few scratches on it or a flawless Hyundai sedan? The answer is different for everyone.
Some people would go crazy having to look at those scratches every day and the Ferrari wouldn’t be worth it to them. Others would be happy that they have the experience of driving a Ferrari every day, even though it’s aesthetically less pleasing.
There isn’t a right or wrong answer. As we keep saying, you have to pick what you value.
Quality and condition are two different things, though they are often confused with each other. Keep them separate in your mind and you might find some great deals.
Oftentimes, the stores you buy materials from will have slightly damaged materials for sale. Maybe something happened during the trip from the factory, or maybe an employee at the store accidentally damaged it. Occasionally, the damage is so minor you have trouble even spotting it.
A lot of container homeowners have also had success with used or surplus materials. Sometimes they source materials from specialty stores that deal in second-hand building materials. In other cases, materials are found a piece at a time from owners doing renovations and selling the old stuff on a local marketplace or website.
Finding used or worn materials like this is not only economically advantageous, it’s ecologically beneficial as well. You’re keeping trash out of a landfill and saving yourself money. Win-win!
The final area we’ll highlight for cost savings is the cost of land. Most people focus on the container home itself while failing to recognize that using containers presents some opportunities to use different types of land than you might otherwise be able to with traditional construction.
Given the strength containers and their minimal foundation requirements, you could build on land that might be unsuitable for traditional construction without extensive (and therefore expensive) site work. If the land is full of rocks and low spots, just bridge over the problem areas. Land that’s in a floodplain would scare a lot of people away, but it’s easy to build off the ground with containers.
Or, think about a building lot that’s full of trees. Your city may even have regulations about how many and what type of trees you can cut down. This can make it really hard to find a large, clear area for a suitable home. But containers are long and skinny, so you can route around and between trees as needed.
What about land that’s strangely shaped? Maybe it’s long and skinny, or wedge-shaped, or has the appearance of an ‘L’. Arrange your containers in a way that works with the boundaries and offsets of the land is comparatively easy.
When traditional home buyers and builders see land that’s similar to what’s described above, they often skip over it. It’s too difficult to fix the land and too complicated to change their design. They’d rather have a wide-open property with plenty of room for their building.
These pieces of land can be great opportunities for prospective container homeowners though! Let the design flexibility translate into land savings.
Get in touch with a local realtor that specializes in land sales and ask what’s been sitting on the market for a while and hasn’t been selling, then find out why. Is it something you can accommodate and work around with containers? If you do this early in the planning and design process, you still have a lot of flexibility in your design to work around narrow lots, strange topography, etc.
We hope that we’ve convinced you not only how you can have an affordable container home, but why that might be a goal worth achieving in the first place. There may be more paths to get to cost savings that you had initially even considered!
Can you think of some other interesting ways that containers might present cost savings when compared with traditional construction methods? Let us know below in the comments section.
For more information, please visit Apple Cabin Container House.