ACerts Shipping Container Home

Container homes are the fastest growing type of housing all over the world. Building homes, shelters, and survival bunkers from recycled shipping containers is a very economical and efficient way, and a fast, green, and sustainable approach to build your home.
Container housing construction differs from traditional construction in many respects. ACerts guide you through home building process, container home design, how to plan, design and build your own dream container home and everything and more you will need to know about container homes.

Container Buildings  are so easy weekend builder can build their Home

Home Base of ACerts Taxes, restrictions, and a ban on Canadian softwood imports have caused lumber prices to jump up  and sock the weekend builder in the eye. The devastating hurricane season of 2004 has created an  unexpected demand for lumber, raising prices and reducing supply even more. To hope that lumber  will once again become affordable is wishful thinking. The free for all that was the Lower 48 States  pool of natural resources (last century), not surprisingly, has ended. Even mainstream builders have  begun to use alternative structural products. The most obvious examples of this trend; OSB (chip  board sheathing) in place of plywood, and OSB engineered joists.

planning a small do-it-yourself building project, I propose the reader consider using a heavy duty  welded steel box with 1.5-inch marine grade hardwood flooring. A premade, and ready to go small  building that is very strong, able to support ten times its weight. The ISO Intermodal Shipping  Container. Ocean going cargo is shipped in steel boxes called Intermodal containers. The freight industry refers to  these as TEU’s. One 20 ft container equals one TEU. One 40 ft container equals two TEU’s. Volume of  TEU imports and exports are the factors that display consumption and create prosperity in nations.  These cargo boxes are built to strict international quality standards, to survive harsh treatment and a  violent life in the marine environment. These steel boxes are also known as cargo containers,  containers, sea boxes, or ISO containers (International Organization for Standardization).

This book will provide an assortment of various building designs made from these containers. Some of  these are designs I’ve seen here on the (Olympic) Peninsula, and many are my own creations. Most of  you will have your own ideas for designs too. I have attempted to include all the necessary info to  obtain your container, customize it, and wrangle it around your little chunk of the earth.  The term Intermodal refers to the unit’s ability to be loaded on ships, trains, or tractor trailers with its  integrated stackable chassis. Container cranes (usually, a rail-mounted gantry crane located on a  wharf for the purpose of loading and unloading containers on vessels) pluck containers from train cars,  or trucks, and stack them on freighters. Thousands of dock workers, once a major work force, have  been replaced by the lone crane operator.

Improvised containers were first used by the U.S. government during WWII. Instead of shipping  commodities in bulk, army and navy specialists began to mix cargo by loading freight onto pallets,  then loading the pallets into specially constructed boxes. Nearly five decades later, the majority of dry  cargo moves in containers. And customers around the world are reaping the benefits of a groundbreaking advance that started with a concept as simple as a steel box.  As you read on you will notice a heavy emphasis on rural placement of container buildings, less time  devoted to container buildings within established city limits. This is due to the obvious problem of  zoning.   Let us assume that your container building will be located on private land away from the eyes of code  enforcement or zoning officials, if any. If these buildings were to fall under any zoning or building  category, the closest thing would probably be prefabricate structures. With that said, I should note  here that many of the container buildings I have studied were located in commercial areas of the city.  Rural zoning is best for personal usage, but if you have commercial property within a city, you could  most likely setup a container building without issue.

If you encounter a zoning roadblock while erecting a container building, I would advise you to use the  position that, in general, containers are portable structures, and do not fall within the permanent  building city codes. A container building is no different than the 39 ft RV, your neighbor has parked out back. Of course, you can always apply for a building permit before you build, and if your situation is  such that you must, then by all means do. You may find some of the documents presented in this book  helpful if you include them in your building plan when you apply. The containers covered in this book are steel built, 8’ wide externally, 8′ or 8’6” tall externally, and  available in standard lengths of 20’ and 40’. After taking into account the thickness a basic 2×2  framework (if you choose to use interior frames) and minimum of insulation material, the remaining  rough interior dimensions the container builder has to work with are width of 7.5′, and height of 7.5′.  There are many other types and sizes of containers on the market, but I wanted to design with the two  most common sizes of dry cargo units for sake of simplicity. The 20′ standard unit, and the 40′  standard unit. The 8ft high and 8.5ft high models appear for sale most commonly, and at about the  same frequency, and can be substituted   for each other in my plans. Weld, or rivet new 20-gauge sheet metal (or salvage the steel removed from the walls) across the top (ceiling) seam running it down each wall a foot or so. Then seal each side (the walls), overlapping  to prevent leaking as you would with shingles. Lastly lay a thicker gauge of sheet metal on the seam of  the floor. Then apply rubberized roofing or hot tar into the cracks of the seam from the outside. This  will provide a watertight seal between the 2 segments of building. You might also consider installing a  gable roof over the entire building as an added measure against rain and snow.

Special Safety Note

 Air ventilation is a  primary concern for anyone utilizing a  shipping container for shelter. Newer   containers are made with built-in air  vent fittings, but older units are close to  airtight.  When entering any unmodified container,  you need to employ a safeguard against  accidentally becoming locked inside  (possible suffocation may result). The  locking steel doors can be a great  deterrent to would-be thief’s, vandals,  and also mother nature, but they must  be temporarily secured to the sides (in  their open position) to prevent accidents.  This safety measure can be discontinued  after the first cuts (for doors, windows,  etc.) are made.

overhanging 2nd story decks, and balconies. If using  concrete footings, a separate footing is recommended for each beam. Framing container interiors is an easy task. To save money and valuable interior space, the affordable  and easy to work with 2×2 can be used. Since the container already possesses all of its load-bearing  qualities built- in, strength of the framing material is not an issue. This interior framework merely  serves to hold insulation, paneling, windows and doors. Avoid fastening 2×2 studs to the corrugated metal of the container with drilled holes, bolts, or other  fasteners. This is not necessary and will fill your water-tight walls with holes.

The best method is  precise cut studs that will fit snugly in place (they should require a light tapping into place with a  hammer). Then run a bead of Liquid Nails style construction adhesive on each stud. Liquid Nails is  effective on steel and wood. This method will produce more than satisfactory results, while saving  time, effort, and money. Studs should be placed every 2ft-4ft to allow for easy attachment of  standard 4×8 paneling or other interior sheathing material. Thin layers of fiberglass insulation placed  under the paneling will help retain heat in the wintertime and should be considered. A 2×2 frame is adequate to support and mount a standard vinyl pre-made window. For windows and  pre-hung doors requiring a wider mounting surface, you should build-up the frame using 2×4’s or 2×6’s  inside the opening(s). Exterior decks, supports, and roof framing aspects of your building can be built using standard readily  available pressure treated decking lumber and connecting hardware. 4×4 beams and the corresponding  concrete anchors should be used for support or

Military Container Handbooks and ISO

MIL-HDBK-38 is the U.S. Military Intermodal Container Handbook, otherwise known as; The Guide to   Container Inspection for Commercial and Military Intermodal Containers. Published by the Department  of Defense, it is updated often with the latest pertinent intermodal information. As a civilian container  builder, you will find the information presented in the handbook to be quite valuable. This knowledge  of intermodal chassis construction, and inspection for structural damage, can be extremely useful not  only in building, but when purchasing used containers. It is recommended that anyone interested in purchasing new or used containers, or beginning a container building project, spend time studying  MIL-HDBK-138 beforehand.JOCOTAS (Joint Committee on Tactical Shelters), along with The Defense Ammunition Center & School,  is a major contributor to the constant revision of this handbook. JOCOTAS was formed in 1975 under  office of the Secretary of Defense with purpose of streamlining the design and deployment of  military shelter systems with implementation of ISO rigid wall (container) shelters and ISO deployment  systems for non-ISO shelters.