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Been reading through older posts on building with containers. Lots of discussion on costs to acquire container but trying to get an idea of cost difference between traditional construction vs container.
Looking for total cost estimate, excluding cost of purchasing container.
Preliminary design is based on a container home I visited in Hawaiian Beaches which was built with 4 containers- 2 on each side next to each other with a traditional construction room that joined the two "wings". There was a pitched roof for the entire structure. Similar to this:
http://affordableportablehousinghawaii.b...-home.html
Mahalo
Robert
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Looking for total cost estimate, excluding cost of purchasing container.
If built with "the benefit of permits", a major part of that "cost" will be engineering, so you'll need to work with someone who has actually gotten one of these passed.
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Not sure if you've read this thread, but at one point I did a lot of a research on building with containers and eventually learned that the cost of overcoming their shortcomings was higher than any cost savings gained by using them. This may not be true in all cases, for example if the containers were free.
http://punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22289&whichpage=1
eta; fix link
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may not be true in all cases
I believe that containers can be cost-effective **IF** they are left uncut.
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quote:
Originally posted by terracore
Not sure if you've read this thread, but at one point I did a lot of a research on building with containers and eventually learned that the cost of overcoming their shortcomings was higher than any cost savings gained by using them. This may not be true in all cases, for example if the containers were free.
http://punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22289&whichpage=1
I did not see this thread--Thank you
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The spanned roof idea, if attached to the containers, is one that means that "portable" is no longer an option... If you are looking at building with the chance of moving in case of disaster, this would then not be an option...
Rather than making the container a part of the span, it would be more portable to make a covered courtyard between 2 units that are portable... if that is the plan.
& cost/ sq ft would change, like any construction, on WHAT you want.
A true studio, with nothing much added would be very cost efficient, with the potential of being hot, stuffy & dark...If no cuts, using the wood floor & no wall ceiling/ roof treatment, just slapping a framed double door (s) in the bay door (s)(some containers have double ended doors, which would be better for ventilation & natural light)
There are some who live here in fairly un-improved containers, so you COULD get by with very low sq ft costs...
I have seen so many of the designs with interior restrooms, but that adds so much to your cost & takes out so much of the useable sq ft... if you are going for a minimalist cost, I would look into a detached restroom, no need to add more moisture to the container box in a humid environment
This way the container box itself has very few perforations for utilities (if the kitchen is also outside, ie screen lanai bbq, then just electrical drop...)very easy to move if needed (no waste & water hookups to un-do)& good protection for valuables with exterior doors shut
You may want to add the cost of a slant roof to help cool the box, with end overhangs for rain protection, keeping the roof within the roadway limits for portability, if that is a concern...
If you want all of the amenities of home, the costs go way up for these boxes & the practicality of using them goes down...
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For a permitted house it’s going to cost you more than just going to HPM and getting a package home.
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I know a guy that just built a container home as Carey described, with a shed roof extending to a lanai, a door in one long side, and a couple windows on the other. Inside simply painted white and linoleum put down. All told he was done in less than a week. Totally not permitted, but very livable.
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I keep thinking "container as anchor for lanai" would make an excellent "instant home" for a lava evacuee. Same configuration would also make an excellent home for high-risk lava zones: bedroom/office in the container, which also provides storage -- if disaster strikes, load up the container and sacrifice the lanai, you're evacuated in a few hours, and you still have somewhere to sleep.
Of course, such "innovation" would "cheat" the poor contractors out of months of work, so it will never fly...
