Comments on: How to Live in a Shipping Container

By: Joseph Lambert

Joseph Lambert — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:30:31 +0000

Im looking to retire in 10 years to a secret spot in costa rica. We’re looking at three containers laid out in a capital I with the two ends being smaller and serve as bedrooms and full shower. Main part with French doors out to patio to dine out in the year round spring weather. Also full show outdoors like at a beach house . Any insight into container living in cr would be appreciated.

By: matt

matt — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:52:29 +0000

The costs of constructing a container home are often exaggerated on the negative side. But very little gets said about the fact they can be pre-constructed or prefabricated in factories ahead of delivery. The site hours are heavily reduced and that saving in labour alone can be at least 30%. Adding to that many container home owners are more into the environment and building a small functional home compared to a McMansion many people on the negative side lose sight of the fact the people who are for shipping container homes want different things out of life. E.g. a small or non-existant mortgage, Green living, more open spaces than concrete jungle.

By: G

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:52:27 +0000

Your website is great and informative..wether the links work or not. I’ll have to check them out. Thank you! We are considering a home and wonder how to find out if our town will allow this type of building. We are 90 miles of NYC.

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:27:22 +0000

Hi Ali, thanks for leaving us a comment. This article is actually two years old, and while we do our best to keep updating links as we go along, sometimes we miss a few. There were only two broken links in this article anyway, which we’ve now fixed. We appreciate you letting us know, but maybe next time you could cut us a bit of slack before writing off the entire website due to 2 faulty external links. Best – BS.

By: ali.t.

ali.t. — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:16:20 +0000

are you aware of all the bad links in your article? I gave up on bothering to view other pages because it keeps giving 404 errors.

By: tony mckenna

tony mckenna — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 01:36:09 +0000

nice examples of some of the innovative things being done with shipping container modifications these days.

By: Jen

Jen — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 10:39:42 +0000

JK,

Honestly, I understand how you see a correlation between a container house to a mobile home considering the modular/prefab aspect of the Quik House (I checked out the website). However, the amenities you are describing are far beyond that of a mobile home. I have never seen a mobile home with the permanence of a radiant floor slab, footings or finishes at that price point for a 20k+/- sf house. What you are describing are the amenities you would have in a single family stand alone house. Not to mention that the container house could be designed to withstand hurricane force winds, a condition that could not be found with a mobile home. Based on the numbers for a 6 container house your cost per SF, your cost is a good bit lower than a traditionally built house.
I think you should re-evaluate this. Maybe find a local architect that can help you reach your goals.

I commend you on seriously looking into the shipping container housing option. I hope you find an option that works for you. Good luck.

By: jk

jk — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:26:54 +0000

The 184,000 is for a house created out of 6 containers, with all the amenities of a typical western house, plumbing, electrical s, insulation etc.
[Quik House]
includes :
- 6 modified shipping containers
- all the glass necessary to enclose the Quik House
- basic plumbing and electrical
- standard plumbing fixtures
- walls ready to receive your local inspection
———————————————————————–

$119,000
[Cost to Finish the Quik House]
Shipping (based on destination)

N/A
Quik House Assembly $2,500
Site Preparation
- excavation $2,000
- foundation and slab $6,000
- in slab radiant heat $6,000
Infrastructure
- glass installation $4,000
- HVAC $7,000
- plumbing $7,000
- electrical $7,000
- insulation $5,500
- wall finish and painting $6,000
- flooring $5,000
- built in shelves and closets $2,000
- interior doors and hardware $2,000
- roofing $3,000
———————————————————————–
$65,000
Quik House $119,000
Cost to Finish the Quik House $65,000
———————————————————————–
Total Estimate

$184,000
plus shipping

By: jim

jim — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:11:12 +0000

where did you get the cost of $184k?
a 20×40 delivered is about 5k . you could build a seriously pimp house with these for 184K.

By: Swenson

Swenson — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:27:38 +0000

$184,000 for the equivalent (or less) of a mobile home???? Don’t see the value, sorry.