02-21-2011, 06:49 AM
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Originally posted by Davesinhilo
I have just finished building a container home for some folks and, as a builder I am on the fence wheather or not building this way is more economical in the long term.
Who says it has to be more economical to justify its use? It's simply another building option, which has advantages and disadvantages, like every other construction method. I've seen a cantilevered 4 unit, two story house that was assembled in 3 days and fully livable in a couple of weeks. The "Surf Shack" others have referred to opens out to be a light and airy weekend getaway for the guy who built it, yet it buttons up tight as a bank vault when the end doors are closed and locked. And there were a number of container houses featured in the Dwelling Show at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC a couple of years that inspired a whole NEW way of thinking about container reuse... after 20 years of a successful first wave of such thinking. This is NOT a new concept.
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It has to be done right and rust proofing is a big part of that.
The recent adoption of Corten steel for better containers greatly reduces that issue. Consider, every major city in the US now has skyscrapers built of bare Corten steel that require no paint or other maintenance. They turn a lovely chocolate brown and then stop rusting. Termites have no clue what to do with them. [
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It really depends on how "nice" of a house you are looking for.
Million dollar houses have been built using containers, and there have been a number of high end architectural books written on the subject. You can have as nice a house as you want. Seriously. It's just not a big part of most people's thinking because it's still not all that common. Kinda like ferro-cement thin-shell dome homes. In the right circumstances, it can be the perfect solution. Doesn't mean it's right for every situation. It's simply another approach.
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Shops, storage, and maybe guest houses would be probably a resonable use for a container if the container is cheap enough.
That's pretty limited thinking. Consider, both the County and the State are building offices out of containers, among other things because they are inherently more earthquake and storm resistant than frame construction. And they can be moved in, or moved out relatively quickly. Just to name a use that is on the rise.
quote:Not everything. Temporary buildings, no. Unattached decks, no. Etc. And of course, not everyone chooses to go through the permit process. The County estimates there are more than 1,000 residences in Puna District that were built without benefit of permit. Not saying it's right, just saying it's so.
Just about everything has to be permited here on the Big Island.
But in any case, yes, container buildings of every kind can be built under permit. It just takes a different way of designing and engineering and building. One configuration I find very promising uses two containers, placed parallel to each other, but some distance apart... maybe 12-16'... then deck and roof over the space between, using the strength of the 4x4 box beam frames to carry the load, and enclosing the ends. This yields a big Great Room in the center, surrounded by smaller rooms, a very practical arrangement for family dwelling. This is how the high-end house in San Diego was built that was featured in Dwell magazine a year ago.
Here's another legitimate use... drop a container on site to serve as construction office and material/tool storage while the residence is being built. Incorporate the container into the finished structure, say for utility room and storage (In San Diego they turned it into the Kitchen). OR, keep it separate for use as an ohana, or an office, or studio, even a storm shelter. It's a big, strong box. There are lots of things one can use a big, strong box for. [
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