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we are looking at homes/property that have existing homes/catchment tanks, landscaping/gardens.
However, really interested in shipping container buildings or shops.
Is it better to buy a shipping container and ship it over (full), or rent a container fill it and ship. are permits for shipping container buildings fairly easy to get? (like for a shop, with electricty and maybe water, and a roof over?
Also, do you have to permit green house? Even if is pvc hoops with plastic sheeting?
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If you email me, I have the info on building with shipping containers. We have one client doing this right now.
Catherine Dumond
Blue Water Project Management 808 965-9261
Dakineworkers.com
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You seen this right?
http://www.affordableportablehousing.com/
I'm planning a container home as well.
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I have gone back and forth with this idea. One thing that is not as good here as it is on the mainland is that there are not as many excess shipping containers here and consequently they are not as cheap.
My design philosophy is that you should take advantage of those characteristics that shipping containers have that other methods of construction don't, such as:
They can be cheap.
They can be strong.
They can span 40'.
Containers have the following negative characteristics:
They can rust.
They are NOT strong in certain ways. The roof and sides are like the roof and sides of your car. A 200 lb man can sit on the seats but if he sits on the roof he will dent it. I have stood on the roof of one and it was bouncy like a trampoline. It was also full of dents. A guy who works with them said that that is usually from tree limbs while they are being transported on the road.
They are highly engineered and they are no stronger than they need to be. They were designed to be stacked and supported at the corners although they can also generally be lifted with a forklift along the bottom. If you cut too much out of the side, they are no longer strong.
They are skinny. It's hard to lay out a good floor plan unless you are putting a couple side by side.
So, if you intend to combine them in creative ways, you have to cut and weld a lot. You lose the advantage of an off the shelf box and you lose the strength so it is more like building a house up from metal sheets than building down from a functional box. The challenge is to not compromise the positive characteristics as you work around the negatives, or you might as well start from scratch.
I'm an engineer and also rather an AR guy. I was sort of hung up on the challenge of making a permitted house of a single container. I would elevate the container by supporting it at the corners so as to get a full 8' x 40' covered area underneath, since the container doesn't care how high you hang it. The cranes lift these things 100' up while they are full of 50,000 lbs of cargo, lifting from the corners. I am now of the opinion that a single container is just too little space to make it worth the hassle of permitting. Putting two side by side and cutting out the adjoining sides makes them not strong and not portable. I'm not saying it is not worth doing, just that you give up some of the original advantages of containers.
I am now working on outfitting a 40' container with minimal accomodations in one end and the 10' with the big doors walled off for storage. The living quarters will have a regular door and some small windows. This will obviously be substandard as housing but will be quick, easy, portable, and relatively secure.
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I think I posted a link awhile ago about the guy in the Northwest who used one for his surf shack! I will find the link for you.
It was an awesome space with a 20' container and a deck.
Catherine Dumond
Blue Water Project Management 808 965-9261
Dakineworkers.com
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Interesting comments. Especially that the containers are not as easy to come by over there. Might be worth while to buy one (or 2) here and use it to ship belongings. 2 would probably be prohibitive price-wise for shipping.
Saw a tv show about simple housing where a shipping container used for refrigeration was used because apparently had wonderful insulation.
I saw one idea for a vacation cabin where the deck folds up and locks when not in use.
There are some really nice designs out there. They are narrow, though.
We just want to use them for a shop. 2 with space or deck in between with roof over both. Maybe just one with a deck in front and roof over all?
Think now it is more cost-effective to buy an existing house.
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This is more my husband's idea than mine, but he has convinced me that container building is a really good idea. We have seen lots of good design.
The link was very useful, thanks.
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Anyone know (or know where to find) the current Big Island price of 20 and 40 foot containers? I want to get one for a storage shed.
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I'm not saying the concept is bad. Heck, I'm still halfway down that road myself. It's just that I have been burned myself by getting infatuated by an idea and not looking at things objectively.
Usually, articles about building with containers start out with how there are thousands of empty containers stockpiled at ports that can be had really cheaply because it costs too much to ship them back to China empty. Such articles strongly imply that these containers can be had for a few hundred dollars although they don't give any specific examples. Meanwhile here on Oahu there are a couple of companies that turn a profit selling containers to the general public. Any time salesmen are involved you know you've lost the element of surprise. One refurbishes and repaints their containers, and a 40' will set you back on the order of $4,000, more by the time you get it to Puna.
Even so, containers are probably cheap compared to a fully finished regular house, but only if you don't finish the containers to LOOK like a regular house. If you get too carried away and deviate from the original concept of using the container because it is already container shaped, which is supposedly a good thing, then expenses begin to rise and you are taking the long way around to get to your objective. If you can't live with the concept of living inside long skinny metal boxes that look like such, then quit while you're ahead.
For the record, I have still not given up on the concept. At the moment however my needs are best met by crudely outfitting part of my existing 40 footer for living, keeping the end with the big doors for storing the lawnmower and other garden tools, and not burdening the county with any paperwork. If at any time I need to change things I can hook it up to a truck and drag it out of there. To do otherwise would be to squander one of the most valuable assets of containers, that they are self-contained and portable.
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We have a one-acre lot we would sell that comes with three prefabricated steel structures installed plus alternative plans for commercial or residential build-outs. A second lot has plans in plan check for a steel frame or panelized sustainable solar home. Also additional specialized IMP, ICF and other materials that could be used on either project. Finally an advanced sustainable home with built-in insulated concrete water tank and solar hot tub
dried-in shell house requiring finishes. These are surrounding our off-grid home in HPP (
www.greenrentalhawaii.com)
I can also get advanced/seminal structures permitted as a licensed Hawaii architect. Currently teaching architecture and urban planning on the mainland but can work by phone email until B@BI. John 310 562 0362
John Maloney
310.562.0362
johnmaloney3@mac.com
Hawaii Architect AR8082
www.jmagreenbuilding.com
www.greenrentalhawaii.com
John Maloney
310.562.0362
johnmaloney3@me.com
Hawaii Architect AR8082
