A container home is an excellent alternative for people who wants to have their own house without getting themselves tied to any mortgage. More and more cities are now catching up to the trend and are now using it to provide housing to homeless people.
Buena Park is planning to build a facility that can house at least 150 homeless people. It’s a beneficial project, especially to those that can’t afford to have a home for their own. What they like about shipping containers is that it doesn’t take too much time to construct the houses from start to finish.
Aside from getting a dumper for hire to help with the construction, the cost is relatively cheap. Shipping containers also have a robust structure, which is a stable foundation for any building.
Experts say that each container can carry more than 60,000 pounds of weight. Thus, making it strong enough to carry equally heavy bottles on top of it.
A sustainable form of living
Shipping containers have always been an excellent tool for carrying goods on ships, trucks, and trains. But now, people use these as giant Lego blocks to build their own homes. The smallest size of a shipping container is at least 100 feet of floor space. But if combined, it can make a large apartment building.
Aside from its trendiness, people are getting attracted to the idea of a shipping container home because of its affordability. It has a lower cost for construction and requires very little money to maintain it. Even more, container homes also contribute to recycling.
One of the things that make container homes appealing to people is its contribution to sustainable living. Most companies often market container homes as being environment-friendly.
That’s because they say that it came from used containers. Since there are a lot of old shipping containers left to rust, repurposing them is an excellent idea. But like everything else, it does have its cons.
The truth behind shipping container homes
People most often don’t know the items that were inside the shipping container before they bought it. It could be serious, primarily if the previous owner used it to deliver hazardous industrial materials or waste.
Although the corners of a shipping container are stable, you can’t say the same thing about its roof. Most experts advise building another roof on top of it, especially if you’re in an area where there’s snow.
Also, the corrugated steel walls play a crucial role in its stability. So, if you’re planning to cut out a large window or door opening to it, you need to install new reinforcement to maintain its balance. You also need to weld reinforcements around the container if you’re planning to stack another one on top of it.
Choosing to live in a container home has its pros and cons. Aside from the limited space, you still need to ensure that it’s maintained. Although people often say that it’s cheaper compared to a regular home, the actual cost of a container home depends on you.
Various factors can affect its construction cost aside from its size and types of finishes. So, it’s best to coordinate with an engineer so you can get a more accurate value to build one.
