Shipping Container Homes in Costa Rica
Are you looking to become an expat in Costa Rica? How about living in a shipping container? You can do both in one tidy package from Container Homes by Jimmy Lee. Lee designs and delivers surprisingly airy and open shipping container homes with a full kitchen, bedroom and a small bathroom.
Jimmy Lee and his shipping container home
Each of his homes is earthquake, fire and hurricane proof. And since they do stay within Costa Rica, you probably don’t have to worry about heating the place. He is selling a 45 x 8 x 9 foot finished home for $17,000, and a land and home package for $60,000. You can also order the raw containers from his company and build your own house. A 20 x 8 x 8 foot container sells for $2,700 and a 40 x 8 x 8 foot container sells for $3,600 to $4,100. Transportation costs are extra, but he can have a home delivered to you in 3-5 weeks.
This might be the best time to purchase one of these home/land packages. Costa Rica is no longer an undiscovered paradise. When I visited the country about 10 years ago it was just starting to cater to travelers, and now it’s a refuge for American and European expatriates. Prices are only going to go up.
Before opening up his business, Jimmy worked as a Greenpeace team leader for six years in Washington, D.C. He left Greenpeace to study to become a chiropractor. Weeks after receiving his Doctorate he moved to Costa Rica where he has been established for ten years as a chiropractor in the town of San Ramon, Costa Rica. He is also a yoga instructor.
He believes that shipping container homes are the most environmentally sound form of home construction on the market. It’s been estimated that 85 percent of the building materials used in each shipping container home have been recycled. Also, the foundation design is less expensive, uses much less material and is faster to install. The infrastructure for transport already exists, so the container homes can be easily moved by ship, truck or train. This component reduces the amount of transport time. Everything is delivered in one trip. You don’t have to pay for multiple deliveries of separate construction materials. Additionally, no building permits are required. Because the unit is on its wheels, it is referred to as a “non-permanent” structure.
The 45 foot container home includes:
- The wheels. This unit is attached permanently to its base
- Total insulation on all walls and the ceiling, backed by fibrolite board
- All bathroom fixtures. Shower, toilet, sink, mirror, shelves and tile
- Kitchen counter, sink and faucet, shelves, breakfast bar with two benches
- Bedroom rug, shelves and bamboo curtain rod installed
- All windows and doors are equipped with metal bars
- Ceiling fan in master bedroom and lighting
- All electrical outlets and light switches
- Interior and exterior paint
The home does not include the following. However Jimmy’s company could supply the following for an additional cost:
- Furniture and appliances
- Second bedroom if requested
- Transportation to your destination
- Solar power
- Rainwater catchment system
- Hot water pump
- Bamboo roofing (the container naturally has its own roof, this would be on top of that)
- Deck
The first step to ordering from Jimmy is to visit the prototype and decide what changes you would like to make. If you cannot visit, and wish to place an order, you can do so and then as soon as the model home is picture ready he will send you the photos. A deposit of 50% is required to begin the building of your portable home. Estimated time to completion is between 3-6 weeks.
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12 Responses to “Shipping Container Homes in Costa Rica”
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I like this container home, it would look good overlooking the ocean.
http://www.containerhomes.net/_images/gallery-shipping-containers-homes1.jpg
Are shipping containers rigid enough that tiled surfaces can be transported w/o damage?
Great idea. There must be millions of these out there that are waiting to be put to good use once they are finished as containers.
More cool containers.
1) http://www.muvboxconcept.com/index_en.html#
2) http://www.runkleconsulting.com/ShippingContainerHouses/shippingcontainerhouses.htm
Yeah, you do have to worry about heating. Having lived for years in Costa Rica and having visited a couple of container houses, they can be REALLY hot inside! I certainly would recommend caution if you’re interested in this type of building a tropical setting.
I wonder could this container be damaged when transporting a lot?
how you get heat and electricity?
That box he’s sitting in IS NOT a shipping container. It’s a tractor trailer. That’s an entirely different animal. It’s lightweight, underbuilt, mostly cheap aluminum and skin, and not fit for anything but hauling freight across highways.
To live in one would be foolish, for too many reasons to list here in a comment.
I’ve been teaching families to build their own ISBU based (Honest to goodness, REAL Shipping Container) homes for years, and on my blog;
http://renaissanceronin.wordpress.com
We’re documenting several builds, as I type this.
Don’t fall for this “fast and easy” hucksterism. He might mean well, but he’s doing a huge disservice to people looking into building homes out of “real” Corten Steel Shipping Containers.
Your life, and your families lives are at stake.
And like Expat, I too have spent many years in Central America, and Costa Rica specifically. To claim that you don’t have to worry about “heating and cooling” is just ridiculous.
To house a family, the box must be strong. Tractor trailers aren’t. This is just another attempt at shoddy housing, and the families that buy in, will waste their money.
To Renaissanceronin: I believe he is NOT selling the container he is sitting inside (above). that is just a proto-type.
@Dave;
The article makes it pretty clear that he’s selling “Container Homes – WHEELS ON.”
Further, he says that the fact that they roll means “NO PERMITS.”
And, I’ve done further investigation since into this alleged “housing solution” of his.
Beyond that, the claim that any housing type, especially this one, is “Earthquake, Fire and Hurricane PROOF” is just outright lies.
I’ve written a post on MY blog (about REAL Shipping Container Homes), which you can find here:
http://wp.me/pfIoi-VH
That post defines this further, if you’re interested.
I’m still calling “BS”. With MY “OUTDOOR Voice.”
Ronin
Shipping containers make great homes but insulation has always been a problem.
Straw bales are great for insulation but have less strength in earthquake and hurricane country.
I designed a straw bale and shipping container home to solve both problems!
Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cc1QyUNt-A
LaMar
This is truly amazing and brings a whole new concept of purchasing in another country!How affordable and inventive!
Very cool idea. Though the heat could be an issue. One of the ways people are getting around the problem of living in a steel box in the the sun is by coating it with a spray on ceramic insulation. Super Therm I think it’s called. (google bob vila container home to see some video of the process). I don’t know what exactly the stuff is or whether it will cause you to grow a third eye, but it’s extremely dense. With just a few coats it’s like 10 times better than traditional insulation. You can also get containers that were for refrigerated goods that still have the insulation in them.
Building with containers is worth taking a look at if you are contemplating a new home.
Good resource is the Residential Shipping Container Primer website. A DO IT YOURSELF (DIY) REFERENCE AND FOR CONVERTING RECYCLED INTERMODAL CARGO SHIPPING CONTAINERS INTO BUILDINGS AND ARCHITECTURE.
http://www.ResidentialShippingContainerPrimer.com
Lots of example buildings, details, facts, and links to other articles. They have something new that you can setup your own project wiki to get help with your project if you are the design build sort…