Shipping Container Housing

[deevey]

120,000 pesos - thats the cost of a 40ft shipping container appx which is apps 300sq ft

 

While the thought of it initially seems crazy there are some amazing homes built from shipping containers which are infinity expandable, seriously robust and easy to convert.  

 

Maybe I've been watching "The Preppers" too much, but it would seem like a fantastic low cost solution to retrofit as actual houses/apts 

 

In disaster hit areas it could be a re-usable solution that could be thrown on a boat and be ready-to-use (rather than building ridiculously high priced temporary housing which is currently costing more per sq meter than a condo in Metro Manila!) 

 

Some examples: 

 

http://inhabitat.com/prefab-friday-homes-for-tropical-environments/bamboogroves-4/

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchirico/surprisingly-gorgeous-homes-made-from-shipping-containers

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/9243318/Container-living-a-home-for-under-50000.html

 

Anyone heard of it being done over here ? 

[Hewy09]

Yes it is being done in the Philippines just do a google search and you will find everything from small businesses to university housing being made of shipping containers.

I agree with you that they would make great disaster relief shelters.

Sent from my iPhone. buhay ay mahusay na! magsaya.

[Mike S]

The problem I'm told here in the Phils when I looked it to it several years ago is that the Philippines uses the containers until they rot so unless you buy a new one .... which I couldn't find anyone willing to do .... you're getting nothing but a rust bucket to put over your head ..... other countries sell still reusable containers .... but I was told not here .... JMHO ....

 

I was thinking of buy 2 and putting them side by side with a roof over top of it and extending a good 4ft of eves for the heat and rain .... as I can weld and cut metal it would have been little trouble for me to construct the containers they way i want ..... :thumbsup:

:cheersty:

[scott h]

Yes, in fact, not to far from my place some interprising folks stacked a bunch of cargo containers 3 high, two end to end, in a horse shoe. Total of 8 Units. They are being used as apartments. I am sure that they got the idea from Iraq and Afganistan. Set up exactly the way troops and OFW contract workers while in country. Can be kept quite cool by a smaller air con unit. I know from personal experience lolol.

[Thomas]

Maybe I've been watching "The Preppers" too much, but it would seem like a fantastic low cost solution to retrofit as actual houses/apts

A good idea to have such, because they are stronger.

 

A while ago we had a topic about container housing in general.

(I have a FOLDABLE container house (beside my old common house in Sweden). It's very strong when it arrive as a container, but some less strong when it's folded out. It's both foldable and premade for connecting more ones together if having more than one.)

I am sure that they got the idea from Iraq and Afganistan. Set up exactly the way troops and OFW contract workers while in country.

Or perhaps they got the idea from offshore oil platform houses. My container house is built to be one such.

[deevey]

How about getting a build for one "signed off" by the authorities ? 

[Hewy09]

I have read some where on the inter web that in the Philippines that there are two types of containers. One for international shipping and one for inter Island shipping. And the rusted out ones are usually the inter island ones made of sub standard steel.

It must be true there are no lies on the inter web! Are there? Lol.

Now if that's the case buy one from China where they are all made and let a shipping company use it to ship goods to the Philippines then go collect it from them once it's in country. Works in theory but I've never done that and never read of anyone doing that.

Sent from my iPhone. buhay ay mahusay na! magsaya.

[robert k]

I would check out the old thread. I believe that there is a company on Luzon (Indigo) that makes container type new construction. They are amazingly cheap [to me] free delivery in the metro Manila area. The probelm is if you aren't going to set it up in Manila. From what I understand getting anything on a ship is a pain and expensive and after that it costs pretty much the same whether you are shipping to the next port or 1,000 miles. Then there are the transport and set up fees to get it from the port to the desired location. It might be faster, easier, more cost effective to build or have built your own, on site, you may well be able to greatly increase your floor space at negligible cost because you can build something where the finished product that does not have to fit on a truck.

 

The prefab container housing I was looking at was Indigo. Be careful looking at their floor plans as I don't think the beds are to scale! :hystery:

Edited March 13, 2014 by robert k

[joeatmanila]

We have been doing that in Greece more than 40 years now. There are advantages and disadvantages.

The only big plus is you do not need a building permit (which in Greece was difficult and costed fortunes) and slowly slowly you were transforming it to a house. By the time is a home....no one will bother you, it's a container after all.

 

Everything else is a disadvantage. Transforming it to a house, isolate it from the heat (do not forget, it is like living in a tin can under the sun) etc etc will end up costing you way much more than a proper house.

[scott h]

Frankly, I do not know why anyone would want to move to a new country, start a new life and start off living in the low class housing. Any Milvan housing I have seen is frankly nothing more that durable squatter areas. Having lived in a Milvan for over a year, they are cold in the winter and ovens in the summer, Just like Joe says. Keep in mind that any hole you cut, (aircon, plumbing, electricity etc) will disrupt the structural integrity of the container. Also anything that hits the side or roof will sound like the inside of a bell. ( I know because I would get my troops up this way :thumbsup: ). Some thing that I have not seen addressed is bugs. Unless the Milvan is elevated high enough so you can sweep under it regularly it will be a breeding and hiding place for all sorts of critters (and there are more than a few in the Philippines heh heh). IMHO this is one of those cases where a good idea is really not that practical.