10-03-2012, 04:25 AM
I have not noticed mold so much as condensation on heavy objects, jugs of water in particular. As for living in, if you go by code you would have as much ventilation as any other house. Yes, airflow would be a problem unless you specifically address it.
Containers have several limitations as far as housing goes. They are too skinny. It is way easier to lay out a 16' x 20' house than an 8' x 40' house. They have terrible insulation and condensation issues. They are like a guitar in that sound travels throughout the body because the welded seams are all so tight. Overlapping layers of plywood on 2 x 4s connected with nails provides a lot of dampening of noise that you don't realize you need until you try living inside a long welded tube.
They support themselves wonderfully well, along with about 50,000 lb of cargo if it is distributed along the floor. Trying to support serious weight on the roof would cause problems and would necessitate extra reinforcement extending down to the floor of the container, as well as a full set of floor joists for the upper shack. I considered it but realized I wasn't gaining all that much by having the container underneath. There would be some benefit to combining the container and the shack. The container needs a roof and the shack would be the roof. The shack needs a foundation and the container would be that.
Containers have several limitations as far as housing goes. They are too skinny. It is way easier to lay out a 16' x 20' house than an 8' x 40' house. They have terrible insulation and condensation issues. They are like a guitar in that sound travels throughout the body because the welded seams are all so tight. Overlapping layers of plywood on 2 x 4s connected with nails provides a lot of dampening of noise that you don't realize you need until you try living inside a long welded tube.
They support themselves wonderfully well, along with about 50,000 lb of cargo if it is distributed along the floor. Trying to support serious weight on the roof would cause problems and would necessitate extra reinforcement extending down to the floor of the container, as well as a full set of floor joists for the upper shack. I considered it but realized I wasn't gaining all that much by having the container underneath. There would be some benefit to combining the container and the shack. The container needs a roof and the shack would be the roof. The shack needs a foundation and the container would be that.