How To Build A Container Home – Do It Yourself Home Construction

Shipping container homes are becoming more popular today because they are relatively cheaper yet very sturdy and convenient to live in. The best part is that you can make your own if you really want to. You can use materials from shipping containers that are no longer being used. You can buy the things you need easily and for a reasonable price.

Here are some steps in building a container home.

Create a design. Before you start buying materials, you should create a design first. Visualize the house that you want and put it on a paper. This will help you know how many cargo ships you need to build your home. You must know also that shipping containers come in fairly standard sizes. The most common ones are 45, 48 and 53 feet long. If you are near a port, you can check the sizes there. Depending on the size, they can be stacked up to 10 shipping container height. If you are having some difficulties in creating the design and the plan, you can ask help from professional architects. They can help you in determining what important aspects are needed to be considered for your home plan. They can also help you in transforming the dull shipping containers into gorgeous houses.

Check the rules. You cannot just build a house or a facility wherever you want. You need permission from the local government and you need to abide to the rules of the construction. Check the building codes in your area to ensure that the home you are building will not be requested to be put down in the future. Always make sure that you follow everything written in the building code because that is also for your safety.

Build a strong foundation. Every building or house needs a strong foundation. If the foundation is not well-built, then everything will fall apart. In particular, shipping container homes need solid and cemented foundation. This is to prevent moisture from building up. Since the containers are made of metal, they will be prone to rusting once their protective coatings come off. As much as possible, you want to prevent this from happening so you need a foundation that will not encourage moisture build-up.

Build a strong skeleton. Aside from a strong base, you also need to have a strong skeleton. This will ensure that the house will not be easily destroyed by bad weather or natural calamity. If you are living in a snowy area, you may want to modify things more as the snow can be really tough for the roof. To make sure that the frame is really sturdy, you need to ask the help of a professional welder. They can make sure that all cranes are joined correctly and steadily.

Have a good finish. Finishing touches are very important for shipping container homes especially when it comes to weather-proofing. You need to make sure that the container is well-coated in order to prevent any metal from being exposed to rain and moisture. You also need to put some insulators or other materials that will prevent the interior from becoming too hot or too cold during extreme climate conditions.