Tiny House Blog

Guest Post by Daniel Sokol

I started my container business because I wanted one for myself. My goal was a practical, well designed, cost-effective living space. Being an interior contractor, I had the skills for the finish work but never worked with a shipping container.

Everything I saw online was either an extremely expensive “one off unit” or renderings of proposed containers. My research didn’t yield enough useful construction information so I learned as I went along and made a lot of mistakes. The learning curve was a wonderful experience and, after building several containers, am still learning and experimenting with different components and designs.

A shipping container, used as the primary construction unit, has almost unlimited possibilities for any living environment (desert, mountains, forests, etc.) Although the
housing industry is in a major transition – along with our country – I believe there is a future for small, energy efficient, well designed living. Continue Reading »

A friend and fellow tiny house lover recently sent me this link from Container Home on this shipping container cabin retreat in Sri Lanka. The house was constructed with local reclaimed material in about a month by architect Damith Premathilake. The tiny house is located on an Army base and was built for a lieutenant colonel.

The 700 square foot retreat is constructed of two shipping containers, timber strips from old bunkers and weapons boxes and used railway sleepers. It is designed to embrace the views and climate of the surrounding environment, and create a place of relaxation and beauty while using already available resources. Continue Reading »

Sunset Magazine’s Celebration Weekend in Menlo Park, Calif. was held at the beginning of June, and one of the stars of the show was the cargotecture c-series Sunset Idea House by HyBrid Architecture. The c-series represents a group of pre-designed, factory built units made from recycled cargo containers that can be combined or customized as desired by the owner.

Hybrid coined the term cargotecture to describe any structure built partially or entirely from recycled cargo containers. The c-series consists of five models ranging in price from $29,500 to $189,500. The home featured at the Sunset show was the c192 nomad which costs $59,500.

The prices of the c-series include:

• Recycled ISO cargo container with new paint
• Soy based spray foam insulation
• Aluminum clad wood windows and doors (one 10 feet long opening and one side door)
• Bamboo finish floor
• 5/8 inch drywall ceiling and walls
• Panelized wet room bath with redwood decking.
• Duravit bath fixtures
• IKEA cabinets and kitchen fixtures and lighting
• Summit appliances
• 30 gallon electric water heater (gas if available on site)
• Convectair Apero heat
• Factory plans, State L&I permits and inspections

Green and off-grid options are offered including solar panels, composting toilets and “green machine” sewage treatment and roofwater harvesting.

All the models are insulated about 15 percent above IBC and UBC building codes in the floors, walls and roofs. The building can be placed in cold climates as well as moderate to hot climates. The recycled plastic and soy sprayed-in insulation creates R24 walls, R44 ceilings, and R32 floors. The roofs can handle 60psf snow loads.

The HyBrid homes are shipped complete. A local contractor will need to be arranged for electrical and sewage hook-ups as well as foundation work. In many jurisdictions, if your project is less than 200sf there is no permitting process required. HyBrid has completed residential and commercial cargotecture projects in California, Oregon and Washington and has designed over 20 projects on 5 continents. They will ship their cargotecture homes worldwide. Continue Reading »

Poteet Architects in San Antonio, Texas recently constructed this shipping container house for a local client to use as a tiny guest house in her artist community. The plan is to also use it as a summer house, an art house and for entertaining. The owner enjoys the shipping container house for its uncluttered, sunlit appeal and the wonderful blue color.

The shipping container was chosen specifically for its bright color. Shipping containers are a readily available resource for building because they are usually abandoned by shipping companies. The architects mounted the container on recycled telephone poles, and the floor and walls were covered with bamboo. Sliding doors, windows, heating, air conditioning and an 8 foot by 4 foot bathroom with a composting toilet and red sheet metal walls were also added. A garden storage room was also added at the end of the container, which retains its original access doors. A patio with a cantilevered overhang was added to the front of the house and a rooftop garden with a drip system was installed by Madrone Landscape Architecture. Continue Reading »

Several of you have sent me recent craigslist ads that I thought were great and worth highlighting. I am pooling all three into a single post and you can follow each one that you like. Craigslist ads do not stay up long if the items sells so I have put screen prints of the ads in this post. Following are a school bus, a floating home, and a container.

1953 School bus, 1981 cadillac (Albany, Oregon)

1953 chevy school bus house car with old dodge front fenders and hood. mounted on top is a Volkswagon van cut in half. inside is a small antique wood stove and full size stainless kitchen sink and cabinet. queen size bed platform above storage compartments in back and a small deck on back bumper. v8 engine 1965 283 chevy, remanufactured in 1985, balanced. 12 volt system. Needs break work, as is. $3000.00 or Offer.

$7500/1br – Floating home

Floating home is a fixer but has potential. Must be moved. Home is currently owned by our moorage and is being sold for the back rent. A good opportunity for the right person to gain “sweat equity”.

Price slightly raised due to prep work done for a potential buyer, but the deal fell through.
Houseboat is a one bedroom, one bath around 700 sf excluding decks.

40 foot shipping container – $1600 (Morris, IL)

40 foot shipping containers. Several to choose from. Also have a few 20′ containers. $1600 for both 20 and 40 foot containers. Contact me at 312-543-5155

Jimmy from Costa Rica contacted me about a new home he has developed for his business ContainerHome.net which we covered in a post back in July. There seems to be lots of container homes being developed lately, it’s good to see these used containers being recycled.

A 20ft standard ISO shipping container converted into a small apartment.

A shipping container with a giant unfolding door. The size of the opening of the unit can be done with several options depending on the client’s budget.

We will be installing the motor next month, so for now we are using a long cable and my truck to open the sidewall.  A 12V wench should lift the 1000lb sidewall. This is the total  weight of the cutout, the reinforced steel and the wooden deck.  With this particular project, we are going with a pulley system most commonly used for small bridges and very large doors. Continue Reading »

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.

Visit the video gallery

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.

By Christina Nellemann

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