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if you dont mind me asking where is your friend from? is it rural or urban? i've been really interested in these but they are a nigthmare when it comes to code from my understanding. i want to buy some land in chicago and do this but chicago is already a nightmare with zoning and code god knows who i'd have to pay off to get the approval for this. also shipping containers are actually more structurally sound than almost anything they are meant to be stacked and beat up but because there's really no one approved expert its tough getting a city to recognize someone as bieng legit to certify this when it comes to artchitects or engineers or whatever.
Rural. Zoning is not a nightmare as they are allowed everywhere mobile homes and temporary sheds are, in addition to most residential home lots. Not to mention virtually every commercial area. The one place you can count on them never being allowed is within a HOA.
The DIY'ers moving straight into cheap containers aren't doing themselves any favors. You must remove the original floors and lead paint as they are obviously toxic. They are not meant to lived in without being restored. When done right, they are non-toxic, 100% waterproof, and insulated enough to withstand North Dakota winters and Arizona summers.
Picking up a $1500 unit and slapping a window in it will get you nothing but heat stroke, nervous system problems, and kidney failure.
if you dont mind me asking where is your friend from? is it rural or urban? i've been really interested in these but they are a nigthmare when it comes to code from my understanding. i want to buy some land in chicago and do this but chicago is already a nightmare with zoning and code god knows who i'd have to pay off to get the approval for this. also shipping containers are actually more structurally sound than almost anything they are meant to be stacked and beat up but because there's really no one approved expert its tough getting a city to recognize someone as bieng legit to certify this when it comes to artchitects or engineers or whatever.
Hubby and I have been interested in getting one for a workshop for him. We are facing the same issues. Zoning everywhere we have lived has been a BEAST and no matter how you anchor it, pretty it up outside, the Code Nazis still say they're a no-no.
Modsinternational.com sells them built up to all International Building Codes. A 20 or 40 foot workshop from them will be approved anywhere worth living. The roof of your house will blow off in a hurricane long before a properly installed container home will be significantly damaged.
Modsinternational.com sells them built up to all International Building Codes. A 20 or 40 foot workshop from them will be approved anywhere worth living. The roof of your house will blow off in a hurricane long before a properly installed container home will be significantly damaged.
I checked out the site and they're very nice but they kind of defeat the purpose of purchasing an inexpensive container and having DH improve it himself. His standards are much higher than theirs. He would have not left the exteriors un clad. I think the problem is, in Florida at least, even if you pretty them up and make them a permanent install, the State still views them as "Mobile"...hence they're zoned out of most good neighborhoods. Meanwhile, your neighbor has a cheap, $600.00 shed from Wally World that will fall apart the first good hurricane that blows by....
Modsinternational.com sells them built up to all International Building Codes. A 20 or 40 foot workshop from them will be approved anywhere worth living. The roof of your house will blow off in a hurricane long before a properly installed container home will be significantly damaged.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bad93ex
Ran the idea of a container home by my wife the other day (for a house after the kids have all moved out) and she responded with an emphatic NO.
Run it by again ...
MODIFIED Version... Storage container would be a good home for the kids BEFORE they move out!!! When the last one leaves, they can take the container and the DOG and you will be Free-at-last!!
Kids are far less likely to become a boomerang with this plan.
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