Container Home Experience

[Jared Kampschroeder]

A few friends of mine and I have this vision of creating new homes from shipping containers. However, we are still new to real estate so we figure the best place to start looking is on the forums for people who have done it before. I have googled already and found mixed reviews about the subject. Some say it is cheaper, some say it is more expensive to build this way. I would love to ask questions about the subject but would rather have anyone interested or with experience to give me questions I should be asking myself and doing research on. All questions and knowledge welcome.

[Adam Mayberry]

@Jared Kampschroeder Unless you cant access the site traditionally - containers are just a gimmick and have no basis in Building code.

You essentially have a steel box system approved for shipping and regulated for it. Then you that system and cut it up and degrade it and have to then prove to those checking for code that

1. The steel your container is made to specific regulations and has not been compromised -

2. Changes you made to circumvent structure has been done to code

3. Your connection to a foundation is approved and meets code.

Best bet is to have a manufacturer purpose build one for you from raw steel members. But then you are building a steel home, and gets expensive.