Table of Content
Introduction ... 11
Chapter 1. Understanding Shipping Container Homes ... 14
Chapter 2. Preparing Your Plan ... 19
2.1 Planning Financially ... 21
Set Your Budget ... 22
2.2 Government and Local Code Considerations ... 22
2.3 Sourcing Containers, Materials, and Equipment ... 23
2.4 Examples of container homes projects ... 27
2.5 Planning utilities installation ... 33
Electrical Lines ... 35
Plumbing ... 36
Natural Gas Systems ... 37
HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) ... 38
2.6 Designing your home ... 40
Sample Plans ... 41
Floorplan 1 ... 41
Floorplan 2 ... 43
Floorplan 3 ... 45
Floorplan 4 ... 47
Floorplan 5 .... 49
Floorplan 6 ... 51
Floorplan 7 ... 53
Floorplan 8 ... 55
Floorplan 9 ... 58
Floorplan 10 ... 61
Floorplan 11 ... 63
Floorplan 12 ... 65
Planning Checklist ... 67
Chapter 3. Choosing the Containers ... 68
3.1 New or Used? ... 69
3.2 Where Can you Purchase It? ... 71
Container Purchasing Checklist ... 72
Chapter 4. How to Build Your Container Home: Step-By-Step Procedure, Techniques and Tips ... 73
4.1 Site Preparation and Soil Types ... 73
What Soil Type Do I Have? ... 74
4.2 Foundations: Which Ones Are Best Suited to Your Soil Type and How to Build Them ... 76
Preparing and Placing Your Concrete ... 83
Site Preparation Checklist ... 85
4.3 Converting Your Container - On or Offsite? ... 86
4.4 Container Delivery ... 89
4.5 Placing Your Container ... 91
Tilting the Container into Place ... 91
Placing with Crane or HIAB ... 91
Lining and Insulation ... 91
Cleaning the Containers ... 92
Stabilizing the Containers on the Foundation ... 92
4.6 Connecting the Containers ... 94
Clamping ... 94
Bolting ... 94
Welding ... 94
Conversion Plan, Delivery, Placement, and Connection Checklist ... 95
4.7 Insulation ... 96
Types of shipping container insulation ... 98
Non-traditional insulation ... 98
Blanket insulation ... 99
Expanded Foam Insulation ... 100
Different types of foam insulation ... 101
Spray insulation ... 101
Different types of spray foam insulation ... 102
4.8 Building Walls and Ceilings ... 104
4.9 Planning for Appliances, Cabinets, and Electrical Outlets ... 109
4.10 Building the Roof ... 111
Roofing Styles ... 111
Flat Roof ... 111
Shed Roof ... 113
Gable Roof ... 115
Roofing Checklist .. 118
4.11 Water, electricity, sewage and phone line services ... 119
Installing Your Services ... 120
Electric Services ... 120
Sewage Installation ... 121
Water Line Installation ... 122
Telephone Line Services ... 123
Services Installation Checklist ... 124
4.12 Flooring ... 125
Container flooring basics .. 125
Removing Hazardous Flooring ... 125
Installing a Subfloor ... 126
Non-Breathable Flooring Underlay ... 126
Concrete Flooring ... 127
4.13 Finishing the Flooring ... 129
Laying Carpet ... 129
Laying Floor Tiles ... 130
Laying Laminate Flooring ... 132
Flooring - Checklist ... 133
4.14 Finishing interior walls ... 134
Painted Drywall ... 134
Real Wood Walls ... 135
Finishing Interior Walls - Checklist ... 136
Chapter 5. How to make containers self-sufficient ... 137
5.1 How to transform your current home ... 140
Chapter 6. Design ideas and creative ways to save space ... 142
Saving and gaining space ... 142
Design ideas gallery ... 146
Chapter 7. Exterior finishes ... 151
Finishing Your Exterior - Checklist ... 155
Conclusion ... 156