building with shipping containers

[MarkP]

The only thing I know to do is to look on Craigslist, where you will find only the occasional private seller, and where you will find commercial operations such as Affordableportablehousing.com. A 20' from them costs over $3,000 plus shipping and a 40' costs around $4,000 plus shipping. The fact that there are so few private sellers shows that containers are in fact valuable. Affordableportablehousing keeps some on the ground at Kawaihae but not always, so usually a container must be shipped from Oahu.

Interestingly a 20' is not all that much cheaper than a 40'.

I bought a 40' high cube container from affordableportablehousing 3 to 4 years ago for $3,700 plus trucking from Kawaihae harbor. Hindsight being 20/20 I wish I had bought two. They really work great for storing things just as they are. Strangely I still want to put something together that will make people say "Wow! Thats cool!" Something where a substantial amount of the house is hanging in space with no visible means of support, cause that is one of the few things a container is good for. I imagine I will end up paying for the privilege.

[Rob Tucker]

I Googled "used container prices" Just at a glance:

http://www.buyerzone.com/industrial/stor...r-pricing/

http://www.360mobileoffice.com/storage-container-quote.html?theme=Shipping%20Container&gclid=CJfJ84Cz3KYCFQEGbAodq0o-0Q

http://www.business.com/directory/transp...d_leasing/

I would also suggest calling local freight haulers like Conen's or Mihara.

[hotinhawaii]

Here is a link to a container home I recently completed in Hawaiian Beaches. It was the first container home on the island bonded by HPM. http://web.me.com/punabob/Kirk_Construct.../Hale.html
My advice would be to carefully plan every detail before starting the project. I came into this project in the middle. Some of the major issues were: shedding water off the flat roof into the windows, how to install the windows, where to run wiring, heat buildup, massive condensation on ceiling and walls in the morning. We addressed all these and more and ended up with a beautiful, functional home, however, in the end, it was an expensive way to build.

[JerryCarr]

Thanks for the suggestions, Mark and Rob. I have some leads to work from now.

[aline]

Big Island containers sells them in hilo. Affordable Portable Housing quoted me $4700 plus shipping to hilo. I am not sure they would be cost effective really.You need 2-3 for a decent size house and then you have to cut the inside walls out,roof,windows,doors,the ceramic coating that they recommend to deflect heat is $200 a gallon. I like the idea and have seen several nice plans but it doesnt come out to be much cheaper than a conventional stick built if you are doing it yourself.

[Rob Tucker]

A few years back Matson's headquarters in San Francisco told me they buy brand new 40' containers from China for $1,200. They use them for fifteen or twenty years and then sell them used for $1,200.

Smart business plan.

[OpenD]

From my experience, I'd say that about half of what has been posted in this thread so far is... well... misinformed. []

I'll do my best to shed some light:

First, ISO Containers are available in different materials and different conditions, for purchase or rental. The ones sold in the past for storage purposes typically could no longer be used for shipping because their certification had been canceled due to some damage. So they were fairly cheap. And people found they were handy modular units for storage and building purposes because they were inherently very strong... their 4x4" box beam framework allows them to be stacked up to 8 high when locked together,and they only need to be supported at the four corners to safely carry their full rated load.

Among other things, they have the advantage of being inherently portable. So you can have a basic building unit, strong and safe and weatherproof, trucked to your property,and dropped onto 4 corner piers within 24 hours. And they'll withstand storm winds or earthquakes that would flatten a trailer or wood-framed building. I'm designing independent basic living units out of them to be configured for rapid deployment disaster relief. And if desired, they can later be removed easily, or converted to permanent use.

Over the last 20 years or so, architects have worked with this Lego-block-like module, coming up with a wild range of applications, including a 500 unit student housing complex in Europe, fully permitted luxury homes in LA and San Diego, and a big shopping and entertainment complex on New York City's Hudson River, now under construction.

In the process, availability has changed dramatically. It used to be that ISO containers were all pretty rusty and dented up before they were sold, so there was a lot of prep work required to turn them into decent residential or commercial space. But as people discovered more and more uses for them, the demand rose for containers in prime condition, specifically to be converted into temporary offices, commercial storage units, and yes... residential use. So now you can buy "new" containers (that's a Hawaiian term that means "lightly used" [] )with no rust, no dents, made of rust-stopping Corten steel (or even aluminum or carbon-fiber if your pockets are deep enough).

The prices on these primo containers are higher than the other kine, because demand is high and supply is limited. "High-cube" containers are a foot taller than the standard 8.5' height, and they get a premium price. Double ended containers, with full doors at both ends, have been available for about 3 years but are in very short supply, and they get a premium. So today in Hilo a container in very good condition, either 20' or 40', will run about $5K, with maybe $500 - 750 bumps for high cube or double ended, if you can find them. With certification for shipping gonna be mebbe $750-1000 more. Older units with some rust and dents can still be purchased for less, but you'll have to dig more to find them. But the key is you need to carefully inspect the unit you want to buy like you would a used car, then get the serial number written on the invoice, and then check that number against the unit that gets delivered to you. Re-read that last sentence several times, commit it to memory, and read between the line, if you know what I mean. Unfortunately this is very important.

I highly recommend a company called Big Island Containers in Shipman Park, S Hilo.http://bigislandcontainer.com/. They have the good stuff, including rentals of units fitted out as construction offices, etc. And Kimo Pa is great to work with, a real straight shooter with integrity. Sorry but I do not recommend Affordable Portable Housing at all. PM me if you want details.

OK, more to come, but this is a start...

OpenD

[Dinamight]

The containers I have seen near the ocean are rusting badly. Would there be any way to prevent that?

[OpenD]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dinamight

The containers I have seen near the ocean are rusting badly. Would there be any way to prevent that?

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Coupla things...

First, we've been building steel ships that sail the oceans for more than 100 years. Q: How do we deal with rust there? A: With proper maintenance. Removing rust when it appears, prepping and painting to prevent future rust... it's not complicated, it's just work.

Second, in recent years more and more ISO containers are being built of Corten steel, which rusts to a point and then stops. Chicago's Picasso was built of Corten 40 years ago. Skyscrapers are made of it today. A container built of Corten will likely outlast your memory.

[chip]

latitude which would induce a magnetic dipole field oriented like the Earth's. ... In electrochemistry, the anode is where oxidation occurs and is the positive ... When a positive voltage is applied to anode of the diode from the circuit ... As an example, an iron or steel ship's hull may be protected by a zinc