Architect w/ container home design experience

[terracore]

"Second, I want a house that can be locked down when we are on the mainland. I could be wrong, but it seems like an all metal structure might allow for this."

We had a (much) heavier duty version of one of these and it took the thieves only a few seconds to breach it:

http://www.amazon.com/Equipment-Lock-HDC...B005CIGVWQ

All they had to do was use a standard set of bolt cutters to snip about an inch off each of the 4 back corners of the steel and then they used forward force (I'm guessing a chain hooked up to a vehicle guessing by the ruts left in the mud they created). Once the corners were snipped the steel bent with ease and gave up its prize. Thieves don't have to understand physics, they only have to be dumb enough to watch youtube.

There is no further question like, "what kind of lock WOULD keep them out"? It doesn't matter: if our locks were any better they would have taken only a few minutes longer to cut through the relatively thin side of the container with a cheap Ryobi cordless grinder.

In the end the joke was on them. The container was just full of junk. The most expensive thing we lost that day was the lock.

In shipping yards where theft is a problem, they stack the containers with the doors of one container against the doors of another. The only way to get in is to either operate a crane to move them, or cut through the side of the container with a grinder. Of course to get that far you have to climb fences with razor wire and avoid security staff. And it still happens.

Like somebody already said, a lock only keeps an honest man out. (My dad said the same thing).

[jm3]

Where is the house you are selling?

[Luke Duke]

Thank you all for sharing. I am getting the impression that the Big Island is not for part time residents. Especially residents who will be out of the U.S. a significant amount of time.

Jm3, we are selling an investment property on the too-busy island of Oahu. We have a property manager there.

[kalakoa]

the Big Island is not for part time residents

Homesteading an ag lot, not so much ... but there are some condos and timeshares too.

[benthudd]

We have been looking at container homes versus house kits and are appreciative for any input y'all container-owners have. One of the reasons they are attractive to us is their durability (I have taken all the termite cautions to heart). But I don't want to spend more than a stick-built home and am still figuring out how to do a container home on pier and post as well as how to do water catchment and also have a roof-top deck. We will be in Fern Forest and live there full-time. Next trip, we plan to talk with the container home builders at affordableportablehousing. But in the meantime, your advice is very much appreciated.

[Tink]

The container cabin I put up on the mainland was up 4 feet using 2 bottle jacks and a beam, lifting in stages using patio pavers as shims. Once up, poured footings where needed using the round tube forms. Had to weld in posts at the large openings, but the door opening made it nice for a 6 foot wide French door set just behind the original doors, with deck at entry.
The roof assembly is too weak for a deck, you would have to joist over to the sidewall framing and plank over for a good one. Make sure you have a good elastomeric coating under the deck on the container metal to deter rot out, maybe put a fly roof over the deck to catch the rain.

Community begins with Aloha

[kander]

So Since I have a container home I built it works out to 45.00 per square foot. I did most of the labor myself. Construction of a container home is quite a bit more work than a standard stick built home. I might add, substantially more work.

The pro list.

Containers are relatively inexpensive.
very Durable and will last virtually forever if taken care of with paint etc.
comes with heavy duty floor decking 1-1/4" (Might be the entire cost of a container there)
6" steel floor joists at about 18".

The con list

Depending on how you want to finish the inside, you will still have to frame walls with wood or steel studs just like a normal house. this includes the ceiling if you want to put insulation and wallboard in.
all materials removed for inside rooms, windows and doors must be cut out with grinder,saw or plasma torch.
if you cut more than 16' of a container wall out you will need to put up beams to support the roof and keep the container lid from collapsing.
The doors are incredibly heavy and tricky to remove, almost dangerous, after spending a half a day grinding out the hinges on one door of mine I decided to leave the doors in instead of framing in a wall in on the door holes.

[PooLaLa]

There's a show on HGTV called Container Homes, playing right now (in CA). Amazing what they are doing with them. Most are multiple container and pretty elaborate, haven't seen oNE built to lockup for security, but interesting to watch a day see what some of the issues are.

[jm3]

As to Big Island part time living and the need for securing a home, here is what I did to build one jungle fortress. I built strong, and also tall.

Ground floor is steel studs at 7" on centers that when screened let in plenty of air but nothing else. Adjacent walls are heavy ICF with super hard locally mixed cement plaster, very rock-like.
House goes up lifting living spaces and outdoor lanais into the trades and out of reach.

This worked for me to be able to build while on breaks and school holidays (I teach architecture on the mainland) and come back to everything being right where I left it.

I used two containers to bring in materials not available locally at the time, and those are about to be recycled (next month) to workers who bought them and will incorporate them into a family home.



John Maloney

[hotinhawaii]

Rob, your kits don't require a permit only if they are not used to live in and only if no electricity or plumbing is added. I realize a lot of people ignore this, but the rule is clear. A residence requires a permit.

I built the first bonded and permitted container home on the Big Island. In hindsight, the owners would not have done it had they known what they were getting into. I took over the job from another contractor who was running the job way over budget. In the end, it cost more than traditional stick frame construction.

The design that was approved and permitted was impractical to build so the plans had to be reworked. That was part of the problem. We ended up having to add a roof over all four 40 containers to shield from sun and especially rain. We had to frame all of the walls inside to allow for running wiring. (This could have been designed differently from the start though.)