How do I get a shipping container?

September 3, 2005 12:55 PM

Many schemes for making a house out of one or more shipping containers have been proposed, but if I wanted to buy them in small quantities (one or two), how would I go about doing so?
posted by phrontist to Shopping (17 answers total)

Response by poster: Oh, and how much would it cost?
posted by phrontist at 12:57 PM on September 3, 2005

"These things cost about $2,300 to build in China but cost $900 to ship back empty from the East Coast."
posted by trevyn at 1:00 PM on September 3, 2005

"Costs of purchase are approximately $1,600 for a used 40 foot container and $900 for a used 20 foot container."
posted by trevyn at 1:02 PM on September 3, 2005

They are on EBAY.
posted by priorpark17 at 2:08 PM on September 3, 2005

Sorry if this derails the thread: I've noticed that people often talk up the 'green' aspect of containers as homes (from the re-use angle), but I've always wondered how the heck you'd insulate them. The pictures on that treehugger site show bare metal for the ceilings! Wouldn't the climate contro for thatl be insanely wasteful in all but the most moderate climates? I'm hoping someone has an answer since I think this is a cool idea!
posted by kimota at 2:16 PM on September 3, 2005

The extra l in "thatl" should be appended to "contro". I hate when the process of editing introduces more typos!
posted by kimota at 2:18 PM on September 3, 2005

Shipping containers are sort of a pain in the ass; for one thing, they rely on the corrugated walls for their structural integrity. This is no real problem if you're only building one level high, but if you're stacking them you have to be careful putting in your window holes etc.

As far as insulation goes, one solution would just be sprayed-on insulation covered by wallboard. But then it would be easy to forget you're in a container, which I suspect is part of the appeal for many.
posted by aramaic at 2:29 PM on September 3, 2005

Shipping containers are sort of a pain in the ass; for one thing, they rely on the corrugated walls for their structural integrity

At the same time, though, they're designed to have tons and tons of weight stacked on top of them. I don't know if putting in windows would really cause that weakening.

You could also weld on support beams pretty easily, I would imagine.
posted by delmoi at 2:46 PM on September 3, 2005

Plank insulation is also an option. A little glue and up it goes. A little more and some sheetrock and you have a solid wall.
posted by jmgorman at 3:13 PM on September 3, 2005

I've always wondered how the heck you'd insulate them

Bury them? They've gotta be able to take the weight of a few feet of dirt on top of them.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:16 PM on September 3, 2005

Burying them is an interesting idea. Are the air tight? That is to say, would there be leakage?
posted by meta87 at 3:33 PM on September 3, 2005

meat87: The ones I found for sale on ebay after reading priorpark17's comment are airtight and already have wooden floors of some sort, perfect for laying carpet on or polishing up.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 3:57 PM on September 3, 2005

After reading the ebay listing further, they also seem to have units with refrigeration available. The refrigeration might work well as air conditioning if the temperature setting goes high enough.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 4:05 PM on September 3, 2005

My husband runs a company that sells these containers. You will have to be careful about the condition since some have been used for years and can be rusty and structurally weaker. Try your local semi trailer/container rental places - they will be able to give you a quote on purchasing a couple as well as the fee for trucking/moving them.
posted by dual_action at 4:28 PM on September 3, 2005 [1 favorite]

Best answer: This should cover most of it
posted by arruns at 5:49 PM on September 3, 2005

I'm in the process of buying a home. Based on some rough calculations, I could build a 60k, 3,000 square foot house using buried containers, and that includes solar cells and pergot floors.

Wish I had the guts to do it, and pay it off in five years.
posted by mecran01 at 7:39 PM on September 3, 2005

In my area there's little point in saving all that money on the home construction - it's the land cost that would kill you.

I have to say though, a mostly buried house resulting in a yard lot that was primarily grass would be pretty damned cool.
posted by phearlez at 10:29 AM on October 3, 2005