Top Tips For Building A Shipping Container Home

You may wonder why anyone would want to live out of a shipping container. They’re dull steel modular appearance may leave one feeling cold and impersonal, and that’s definitely not what you would want in a new home. The shipping container’s potential may be difficult to imagine, but container homes are rapidly catching the interest of the general public. Container homes are strong, safe, and even more eco-friendly than most conventional wood-framed family structures. There are a few concepts you should take into consideration if you are considering building a container home for yourself and/or your family.

Purchasing Your Containers

It’s important to know what you are buying when you purchase the containers that will be used to build your new home. You want to make sure that you physically see the containers before purchasing them if you are buying them used. Your structure’s integrity could be compromised by using damaged containers. If you plan to purchase newly built containers, make sure to formulate your home’s floorplan before doing so. You don’t want to waste money on extra materials, but you also don’t want to get stuck being short of materials. There are several different types of containers to offer flexibility to your design, so look around and be creative in your design.

Placing Your Container Home

Just as your conventional home has a concrete foundation, a container home must be securely attached to a thick concrete foundation for stability as well. The method is just a little different. The foundation is reinforced with steel rebar, and half inch steel plates equipped with a j-hook are embedded into that concrete to secure the containers. These will help connect the containers to the reinforced steel rebar.

When your containers arrive, they will be crane-lifted into place and then welded to the j-hooks to marry them securely to your foundation. The containers themselves are so strong that they only need to be fastened at the corners to securely attach them to the foundation. Once the containers are secured to the foundation, the corners are then welded together to create one complete strong structure.

Insulating Your Container Home

The method of insulation you use in your container home will depend on the climate in which the home is placed. For example, in a colder climate, you will need more insulation to stabilize the temperature inside of the home, but also to prevent condensation and electrical issues from developing.

Spray foam will insulate your home from the outside in, and a typical blanket insulation will work from the inside out. Blanket insulation will require wooden studded walls to be installed in the home, so think about the square footage and what you wish the inside surface to visually achieve.