9 Signs You Need A New Shipping Container
October 20, 2023
18 Shipping Container Business Ideas
January 24, 2024
As a first-time homebuyer, trying to find the right home that is affordable and tailored to your personality is often a challenge.
A shipping container home is an alternative that more individuals and families alike are looking at. They’re cheaper. They provide adequate space and comfort. All that’s required is the land to essentially install your shipping container home on.
The conversion of a shipping container into a home is a surprisingly easy project, with minimal costs compared to what is required to buy a similarly styled home. As the frame is already more or less prepared, the majority of the work is done with the interior and customizing it to meet the requirements of the homeowner.
As we delve into what a shipping container home is, how to make one, and the costs of a shipping container home, for many soon-to-be homeowners, it seems fairly straightforward and natural that they would be attracted to buying a shipping container home over other possibilities.
What Is A Shipping Container Home?
A shipping container home is a house that has been made from a shipping container. In a lot of cases, it’s a shipping container once in circulation that is being recycled, however, one can buy a new shipping container as well and start from there.
With a shipping container, the basic structure of a house is already there. In fact, some shipping container homes are built as tiny homes while others combine two or three shipping containers into a single house design.
There are many examples of custom homes made from shipping containers that you can use for inspiration.
Why Buy A Shipping Container Home?
Homeowners turn to shipping container homes for several reasons. They are cheap to buy, environmentally sustainable as they often recycle out-of-use material, and they are fairly easy to customize if you know what you’re doing.
After a design is settled on, a shipping container home is shipped to the building site in its bare skeleton form. It is then positioned and assembled on-site in a modular fashion. This is very similar to other forms of prefabricated housing.
Any sort of interior work is carried out either by the homeowner or a professional contractor.
Most people find the construction time is shorter, the pricing is more predictable, and there already exists a transportation system to get a shipping container to most locations across the country without hassle. Especially if you lack the expertise to build a custom home from scratch, you may be surprised to learn the simplicity of designing and building around a shipping container.
Rent Or Buy Your Shipping Containers From Us
How Expensive Is It To Buy A Shipping Container?
Shipping containers vary in cost, just as they do in quality. Older shipping containers may have damage you don’t want for a house, for example, but come significantly cheaper than buying a shipping container that’s brand new.
To this point, always check your shipping container. Ensure it has what you need, with minimal damage.
The average cost for a used shipping container is $4,000-$6,000 for a 20-foot design. For a 40-footer, set aside anywhere from $6,000 to $8,500 and above, depending on the condition.
Compare this to what you might pay for building a new house from scratch and, assuming you buy a shipping container used and as-is, you can save up to $100,000 on the building project alone.
Why Is A Shipping Container Home So Cheap?
There are millions of shipping containers sitting unused any given year. They are rotated out of circulation at a certain point and, in large part, do not have another use other than to be recycled into something new. Inventory is high.
Companies that produce shipping containers, used and new, are looking for ways to sell and part with them.
To this extent, be sure to buy your shipping container from the right source. Containers can be damaged, have previously carried hazardous materials in them and be toxic, and have paint and finishes that are problematic to purpose in a residential home.
A shipping container home is also not designed to last forever. Like any building material, the average shipping container home should last a minimum of 25 years, if not longer. The biggest threat to its structural integrity is rust which is why routine inspections and treating rust at the source will reduce its spread.
Depending on what you want to build and the materials you’re entering into a shipping container home, too, the cost may not be so inexpensive in the end. That said, this depends entirely on you, the designer, or the builder.
If nothing else, shipping container homes are incredibly cost-effective at providing a frame and a starting point.
How Large Can A Shipping Container Home Be?
A shipping container home can be as large as you like though each additional container increases your costs.
Shipping containers are available in sizes ranging from 10-40 feet. We have an inventory of:
- New 20 Foot Shipping Containers
- New 40 Foot Shipping Containers
- Used 20 Foot Shipping Containers
- Used 40 Foot Shipping Containers
It is not uncommon to see at least a couple of shipping container homes together, however, some homeowners combine together as many as eight or more, forming multi-story properties with thousands of usable square feet inside.
There are even some developers who have built multi-unit buildings with micro-apartments from shipping containers.
No matter how large you choose to have your shipping container home, the design part is key as one must assign space to plumbing, HVAC, insulation, and other necessary systems. As with any property, space quickly runs out when those systems are put into place and furniture is added in. Plan wisely, preferably alongside someone who has done a shipping container home before.
Buy High-Quality Shipping Containers For Your House Project From Ironclad Containers
When you’re building a home, understandably, you want the best quality shipping containers you can receive, without overpaying for it.
Ironclad Containers offers secure, new and used, shipping containers that strive to be the best in the industry. If you are creating a shipping container home, we offer containers in most common sizes and configurations.
A team member is happy to guide you through the process of purchasing a container and coordinating the logistics of drop-off.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to use a shipping container to repurpose it into a home, customized and personalized to your needs. Just consider the possibilities!
Begin on your journey towards a cost-effective, affordable custom home designed and built to your preferences. Start by getting set up with the best shipping containers for sale from Ironclad Containers. Reach out today.
Related Articles
