Shipping containers used for affordable housing (Houston, Dallas: rental, homes, construction)

[brock2010]

Interesting. Do you think this is a good idea?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dal...outputType=amp

[mastershake575]

"Affordable housing project" - 300 sq ft starting at $900+ a month lol.

[brock2010]

Originally Posted by mastershake575

"Affordable housing project" - 300 sq ft starting at $900+ a month lol.

Right, I'm like good luck with that.

[Rakin]

I can see the Biden Presidency start stacking these up in places like Southlake and West Plano to bring forced "affordable" housing to those area.

[turf3]

Yuck.

By the time you do all the welding and cutting and converting, you'll have spent more than just building a normal building with wood and concrete.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by turf3

Yuck.

By the time you do all the welding and cutting and converting, you'll have spent more than just building a normal building with wood and concrete.

Not really. Used containers are actually pretty cheap, for the size, the price can't be beat. Lumber and concrete prices have gone up dramatically the last few years. There's a couple who do YouTube videos under the name Life Uncontained, they've broken down the costs before and for what they ended up with (granted, doing almost all work themselves) they made out like bandits.


I've seen some insanely nice container homes using multiple containers, with multiple levels, decks, etc.

[jpushiys]

Originally Posted by Katana49

Not really. Used containers are actually pretty cheap, for the size, the price can't be beat. Lumber and concrete prices have gone up dramatically the last few years. There's a couple who do YouTube videos under the name Life Uncontained, they've broken down the costs before and for what they ended up with (granted, doing almost all work themselves) they made out like bandits.


I've seen some insanely nice container homes using multiple containers, with multiple levels, decks, etc.

+1

In the end, price may be a key reason to think of shipping containers as an alternate building material, and not just for 'affordable' homes. One of the best examples of a how a shipping container can be repurposed in a very aesthetic way is in Dallas : https://www.archdaily.com/576258/pv1...-gooden-design

[aggie972]

Originally Posted by Rakin

I can see the Biden Presidency start stacking these up in places like Southlake and West Plano to bring forced "affordable" housing to those area.

Highland Park first.

[Peter5457]

Originally Posted by Katana49

Not really. Used containers are actually pretty cheap, for the size, the price can't be beat. Lumber and concrete prices have gone up dramatically the last few years. There's a couple who do YouTube videos under the name Life Uncontained, they've broken down the costs before and for what they ended up with (granted, doing almost all work themselves) they made out like bandits.


I've seen some insanely nice container homes using multiple containers, with multiple levels, decks, etc.

There's a guy in Houston who has some airbnb's he built one on one of his properties and was ugly as hell. Totally burning up inside and wasn't even summer yet. If you gotta reconstruct it that's when it starts getting expensive i'd imagine.

Might as well use some old 53' dry vans. Probably pick those up real cheap.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by Peter5457

There's a guy in Houston who has some airbnb's he built one on one of his properties and was ugly as hell. Totally burning up inside and wasn't even summer yet. If you gotta reconstruct it that's when it starts getting expensive i'd imagine.

Might as well use some old 53' dry vans. Probably pick those up real cheap.

He didn't do it right then. Framing out the inside of a container and using insulation, going with a split unit AC system makes them very energy efficient, much more so than a contemporary home that has central air and ducting.


The idea has intrigued me enough to do the research, we have 30+ acres of land that we have not yet started construction on. We're only looking for a fairly small home, probably 1200 sq ft, and about another 800 sq ft for an attached garage/workshop. Building with containers is by far the cheapest option, I could do a lot of the work myself if I needed to as well. Ultimately though, the wife has a different vision in mind and so do I. However, someday we may subdivide the property, and I'd certainly look at a ready made container home solution as a rental unit to put on there.