Shipping Container Manufacturer: Living in a container
Shipping Container Manufacturer: Living in a container
Despite the rather gloomy-sounding title, living in a container isn’t some kind of ancient torture, it is a choice that more and more people are making year upon year. By container, we mean a shipping container. And by living in it, we mean when it’s no longer shipping goods!
So, what is the reality of living in a metal box formerly known as a shipping container? This blog post will – or should – help you to find out if living in a converted shipping container is what you want.
Shipping container manufacturer: It isn’t one container, it’s multiple
I know what you’re thinking – “how can I have my entire house in one single shipping container?”
Fortunately, you don’t have to fit your bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living space into one container: shipping container homes are generally made from multiple containers.
In most cases you won’t have one room per shipping container but it’s down to your personal preference. There is no right or wrong when designing your perfect container home; you can have as much space as you need and therefore as many containers as you need.
Shipping container manufacturer: A ‘retired’ container is still serviceable
“Well, if it’s not getting used for shipping, there must be something wrong with it!”
In response to this, we’d say that it’s pretty reasonable that steel boxes designed to withstand weather such as terrible winds and shattering waves can cope with the English weather. Or weather anywhere in the world, for that matter. As trendy housing, they don’t have to face anything nearly as bad as what they faced at sea, so they’re bound to be a long-term solution.
The boxes, considering they were built for shipping goods, are constructed to stay resilient and tough for years. In fact, most containers can last for over 25 years at sea if they have regular maintenance.
Shipping container manufacturer: It needs all the fixtures and fittings found in a home
With so many containers available, new and recycled, purchasing the containers for your shipping container home isn’t going to cost you too much. Even the modified insulated models, designed to offer the container better protection from the elements, can be purchased at a relatively cheap price. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that your dream home is going to be cheap by the time your project is done.
Like in a traditional masonry construction, there’s a lot of work that has to go in before it’s the perfect home; in the beginning, it’s just an empty shell – you have to fill it and make it right for you.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that it will be cheap to turn your new home from void to perfect: it’s not going to be. It needs complete electrical wiring, plumbing and potentially even central heating. Depending where you’re situated, it might also need air conditioning. As you’re undoubtedly aware, these are all of the basics for modern homes, so you need to budget for this when you’re planning your new home.
On the other hand, if you choose to purchase insulated shipping containers, they’re going to be significantly cheaper to heat. This means that you can save plenty of money, and your new home will be ‘green’ and sustainable. Also, you can save money in other areas too: your shipping container home will not require deep foundations in the way a traditional construction inevitably does.
Are you planning to build a shipping container home? Well, it is going to be a lot of work and it certainly won’t be easy; once the work is complete however, you’ll have the home of your dreams that you can live in all year around for as long as you like. What could be better?