Once you know the steps to building a shipping container house, the fear of uncertainty goes away. Shipping container homes have some unique steps that are different from conventional home construction.
The Seven Steps to Building a Shipping Container House are:
- Step 1: Decide where you want to build your house
- Step 2: Design your shipping container house
- Step 3: Financing your shipping container house
- Step 4: Purchase and delivery of the shipping containers
- Step 5: Select a builder
- Step 6: Construction phase
- Step 7: Move into the shipping container
While all projects have their own challenges and will require their own quirky tasks to be completed, the following are some important considerations you need to be aware of when going through each of the seven steps in your shipping container home building process.
Step 1:
Decide Where You Want to Build Your House
You will find that there will be a larger choice of shipping container home communities relatively near the ports that shipping containers are stored.
To see a map of the United States with the location of the main US seaports and the the general locations of where shipping container homes are already built, go to Map of US Seaport Map.
Maybe you want to live near your work, family members, or a favorite recreational area. There are plenty of choices for you.
A lot of people are wanting to live in my home state of Texas. If you are curious where in Texas you can build a shipping container house, go to Texas cargo living.
As we will discuss more in the step #3 about financing your home, you will have a better chance of getting a construction loan to build your shipping container house if you purchase the land you want to build upon.
Finding a Shipping Container “Friendly” Community
Not all locations that you might want to build your shipping container home will welcome you.
Some locations have restrictions of the home size, density, and character. Deed restrictions and Home Owner Associations often have rules that must be followed if you are to build a house controlled by them.
The best approach is to decide what type of lifestyle you want live. For example, do you want to be close to the mountains, water, or already established close friends.
Then, look in the areas that will offer the quality of life you and your family want to live and pick an area you have already seen innovative and well designed homes.
Step 2:
Design Your Shipping Container House
Now that you have found the location you want to live and you have purchased the land, let’s get a design of your dream house drawn.
Designing your shipping container home can be a little intimating. But, knowing that it can be done in three simple steps will help you find that designing your home is easy and fun.
Three Easy Steps to Design Your Shipping Container House
- Get inspiration by looking at what has already been built.
- Draw a simple “bubble diagram” to figure out how many rooms you will need and which rooms will need to be near and far from other rooms and spaces.
- Draw a more refined floor plan that shows the same organization of rooms and spaces you drew as a “bubble diagram” of step 2 above.
To better understand the “Three Easy Steps” go the these resources that I have prepared for you.
“Designing Your Own Shipping Container House” will break it down for you to follow in the in easy to follow steps. This article will also give you some design basics to apply to your own home design.
You will find a cool download giving you a designer’s “kit-of-parts” that is filled with various pieces that go into a shipping container house. Just can cut out and rearrange these pieces to fit your own design needs.
Another great resource is a video on our YouTube channel, Live In A Container Video that demonstrates how to design your shipping container house in 3 simple steps. This is illustrated in a way that you will be amazed at how easy it really is.
Using shipping containers as the initial building block of your home already has a lot of basic things decided for you. Such as, the dimensional parameters are already set and will to be a derivative of the set dimensions common in all shipping containers.
To find out what those set dimensions are and which type of shipping containers are better than others for designing and building homes, go to this article, “What Types of Shipping Containers are Best for Homes?,” that has some really helpful tables to follow.
Buying Stock Plans is Another Way to Obtain Your House Plans
There are online services that have shipping container homes already designed. They can be bought for a flat fee.
Some will allow you to reproduce them. Others protect their copywrite by limiting how much you can copy the plans. So, be sure to understand what you are allowed to do with any stock plans that you buy.
Many municipalities will not allow you to build your home without drawings that are submitted to the local construction department. These drawings often are required to be signed and sealed by a licensed architect and/or an engineer.
Stock plans are not necessarily drawn by a professional who can sign and seal the drawings. So, whether you design your own dream home using the three easy steps described above or you buy predesigned stock plans, you will probably need to hire a licensed professional, who is familiar with your local building codes, to sign and seal your drawings before filing for permits.
Hiring Professionals to Produce Permit Drawings
Finding the right professional to produce the filing set of drawings is often done through word of mouth.
As an architect, I have paid for the referral services in the past to be put in front of potential clients. But, the best way I was able to find clients that wanted to hire me and work with me as part of the design team were clients I met through the recommendation of past happy clients and from others who learned about me through “word of mouth.”
Some people will be shopping for a professional only to use their “rubber stamp.” They only want that professional to sign and stamp the drawings someone else produced.
This is frowned upon by the controlling licensing boards who monitor who is a licensed professional or not. They require professional to “oversee” the development and production of the drawings they sign and seal. This way, there is more protection for you, the home owner.
The professional signing and stamping (or attaching their seal on) the drawings will be responsible for the code compliance of the design. If some other 3rd party group developed and drew the drawings in one country, it is very likely that those drawings will not fully comply to the building codes adopted in the country/state/town you want to build.
Be sure to hire a professional that understands the construction codes in the area you will be building your shipping container home.
I strongly suggest that you hire a structural engineer to design all the foundation, beams, columns and every additional supports necessary. The structural engineer should sign and seal their own drawings – even if you have an architect prepare signed and sealed architectural drawings.
To better understand what services you expect your architect to provide for you, check out, “Do you Need an Architect to Design Your Container House?”
Step 3:
Financing Your Shipping Container House
To estimate how much you will need to spend while building your shipping container, check out the article, “Cost to Build a Shipping Container Home”, that breaks it all down for you in dollars per square foot. There, you can download a free Construction Cost Calculator to estimate your own shipping container home construction costs.
You will find in the article linked above that there are significate savings if you do some of the construction tasks yourself. Below, in the Step 6, we will look some of the tasks you might want to DIY.
Lending institutions often require a set of signed and sealed drawings of the house you want to build before they consider loaning money to you for part of the construction costs.
It is not easy to find a loaning institution that will offer a construction loan for a new shipping container home. Large banks like Wells Fargo and PNC will not offer that type of loan.
Quicken Loan, with their “Rocket Loans”, are more targeted to offering loans to buy or refinance existing homes.
The reason large institutions are not willing to give shipping container home construction loans is because of a few concerns they have including:
- Shipping container home construction has not been on the market long enough to understand their resale value
- Shipping container homes are often considered to be a pre-manufactured homes which is a different market from conventional stick and brick construction that is done at the property from ground up
- Shipping container homes are often viewed by lenders to be a home on non-permanent foundations. Mistakenly, they considered to be more like a recreational vehicle that can be relocated in their eyes. This is why buying the land that the shipping container house is to be permanently placed upon has a better chance of getting a loan compared to a house placed upon land that is leased.
I have been researching for institutions who offer loans for the construction of shipping container homes for awhile. The large banks I have talked to have advised me to seek loans through institutions who offer loans to modular pre-fab home constructions.
You might start there when looking for a construction loan for your shipping container home
Other options are to use your own savings, borrow from non-institutional lenders (like your friends and family members), or find a way where you can spend money from a personal loan without violating the rules of the institution who might offer you a personal loan.
Some institutions might not allow you to spend your personal loan to build a shipping container home. Be sure you understand what the restrictions are that you will need to follow.
Step 4:
Purchase Your Shipping Container
Like buying a car, there are salespeople who sell shipping containers that are more reputable than others. Be sure to check for references.
Because you have already bought your land, you know where the shipping containers will need to be delivered.
You also already designed your home and acquired your set of permit drawings. Now, you know that the home is detailed by the professional so it can be built under the regulating codes. You also know how many and what size of shipping containers you will need to purchase.
One trip shipping containers are often the best choice of shipping containers to purchase. They are less expensive than new and unused shipping containers. And, because they only were used once, they should be in relatively good shape. This means they should not be damaged and structurally unsafe.
But, inspect the shipping containers before buying them to be extra sure that they are not damaged and are still structurally safe.
There is a lot of information about what to look out for when arranging how to transport your shipping container(s) to your site in the article, “Transport a Shipping Container.”
Two nuggets of information from that article are:
- The Cost of transporting the shipping container to your construction site often does not include the cost of unloading the shipping container from the truck.
- It also does not include placing the shipping container upon the foundation or on top of other shipping containers.
So, negotiate the cost to do this BEFORE hiring the trucking company to transport your shipping container.
You might not want to have the shipping container delivered to your property until you have hired your home builder. This might require you to pay for a storage or holding fee if your are not ready for it to be delivered to the site yet.
It is often best that the builder has already prepared the foundation before the shipping containers arrives at the site. This way, the company delivering the shipping container to the site can hoist it onto the foundation directly from the truck that delivered the container(s).
If you have to have the shipping container delivered before the foundation is prepared, you will need to store it somewhere on the site that does not interfere with the area needed to prepare the foundation.
Sometimes you will want the shipping containers delivered before the foundations are ready because they might need to be altered before placing them onto the foundation. More about that in the discussion below about welding the shipping containers.
You may have to hire someone to come back out to the property to hoist the container(s) onto the foundation.
This would be an additional cost compared to having the same delivery company do all this for you at the time of delivery because of additional start-up fees.
Step 5:
How to Select Home Builder
In the discussion below, I will use “builder” and “contractor” interchangeably …they refer to the same person in this article.
Word of Mouth is the Best Way to Find a Home Builder
Like finding professionals mentioned above, the best way to find a contractor is through word of mouth. It is a lot more reliable to get a referral from someone you know and trust.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY: Ask your friends and family for referrals to home builders that they have worked and happy with. If they don’t have any names of reputable builders to share with you, maybe their network of friends do.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Join a Facebook group of homeowners who are also learning about finding a builder. They can share what they learned with you. This would be an online version of the “word of mouth” method.
Look for Local Builder’s Advertisements
YARD SIGNS: Drive around the community that you want to build your home and look for yard signs with contractor’s names on them. Often, builders will advertise that htey are working on a certain property and place a yard sign at the property while they are still finishing up their contract.
Call the homeowners who have the yard sign and ask them if they are happy with the contractor’s work.
BULLETIN BOARDS: Many hardware and construction supply companies have bulletin boards where contractors will post their business card on them. I would not recommend looking for the home builder this way. But, if you plan to do a lot of the construction yourself and only need certain trades to help you out, then this is a way you might find a plumber, carpenter, and other tradesmen.
MUNICIPAL CONSTRUCTION DEPARTMENT: Most construction departments will not share a list of contractors that they often issue building permits to. They don’t want to be liable for their work and they also don’t want to interfere with free trade. But, it might be worth checking anyway. They might have a builder’s name to consider.
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU (BBB): Check with your local BBB for a list of names that they might have.
Online Referral Services
Contractors will often pay to have their names listed in online referral services. Some of these website have comments from past customers of these home builders. They will share their experiences with the builder and what to look out for. Here is a list of websites you might want to look through:
Contract Between the Owner and the Contractor
Most builders will have their own contract. But, that does not mean you have to accept theirs.
The American Institute of Architects has a large library of contracts. They have been written and revised by lawyers for several decades. They have been written with the protection of both the client (you, the homeowner) and the builder in mind.
You should check them out at AIA Contract Documents.
Even if you live in a different country, you should check out what is in these contracts so you can make sure you are protected when you enter a business contract with your builder.
Although your home building needs may vary, this is a common contract used for residential projects: “A105 2017 Standard Short Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor”
Maybe have your own lawyer review the contracts.
Get the Project Construction Schedule from the Contractor
The contractor should provide a project construction schedule soon after you hire them, if not before. This schedule should break down all of the tasks that they will perform with the start and end dates of each.
Breaking down the schedule by individual tasks will also help you when you want to monitor what has been completed compared to what you are being billed for by the contractor as discussed in more detail in the below.
The list of individual tasks is called “schedule of values” because partial amounts of the overall construction costs can be assigned to each of these tasks and used during the billing process as discussed below.
My preferred type of construction schedule is written on a Gantt chart format. There are a lot of versions that can used. Some are plug-ins to a simple excel software.
Microsoft makes a project management software that is used in the building industry called Microsoft Projects.
Smaller construction companies might not have as a sophisticated software for scheduling. Whatever they use, make sure it takes out the uncertainty and helps you establish accurate expectations.
Establish How the Contractor will Be Paid
“Payments in Thirds” Billing Method
Oftentimes, for residential renovation projects, the contractor will want to be paid 1/3 up front before they do anything.
Then, 1/3 in the middle of the project. Determining the middle of the project can be subjective. It is easier to figure out when 1/3 of the project is complete if a well thought out project schedule is written early in the construction process as mentioned above.
Then, 1/3 is paid at the completion of the project.
Payments With a “Schedule of Values” Method
This is my preference as to how I almost always insist the contractors bill my clients.
The contractor lists all of the tasks that they plan to perform while building your home. For example, if the contractor is charging a certain amount to install the doors, I will ask the contractor to break it down further and have a line item cost for the material (buying and delivery of the doors) and a separate line item cost for the labor (installation of the doors).
This list of broken down tasks with a percentage of the overall construction cost assigned to each one of the tasks is called, “schedule of values.”
If you want to write your own Schedule of Values to give to your contractor to follow, download yours at Construction Cost Calculator for Shipping Container Homes
You might be your own construction manager on your project. If so, monitor the progress of completion for each task. Since each task has an amount assigned to it, you will be able to quickly determine what percentage of that amount is due to the contractor relative to the percentage of that task being completed.
The AIA has a great set of forms to track all of this. They are called AIA Documents G702 and G703.
There might be some construction tasks that you will want to do in order to save on the construction costs. This has been a successful money saving tactic. But, it will require a lot of coordination with the builder so you two don’t get in each other’s way and end up delaying the completion of the construction process.
Step 6:
Getting the House Built
While every project is unique, the following list of tasks are listed in the order that I have found they follow on most of the construction projects that I have worked on during the past over 30 years.
Your project may have quirky issues that will require the following list to be altered.
Mobilization
The signed and sealed drawings that you were able to have prepared in the earlier steps will be taken to the municipality, usually by the contractor, to “pull” (obtain) all the permits required to do their job.
The contractor will begin to set up shop at your property and prepare the area to be a safe construction site.
Portable toilet(s), temporary electrical and water connections, parking of the contractor’s vehicles, storage of construction equipment are some of the items that is part of this initial task.
Site Work
The builder will begin clearing and grading the land in preparation of setting the foundation. If there are trees and other natural features to remain, the contractor should protect them so they will not be damaged during the selective demolition tasks to follow.
Selective Demolition
If there is a building already on the property that needs to be removed to make room for the new construction, this is when that selective demolition is usually done.
Foundation is Built
Once the land is clear and is at the level it needs to be for the new construction, the foundation work will begin.
Foundations installed under your new house will already be designed by your licensed structural engineer.
The foundation work might include piles, form work, cast-in-place concrete, concrete masonry units, concrete mat slabs, or stem walls. To get a better idea of the three most common foundations used under shipping containers and why one is better and more common than others, go to “What is Under a Shipping Container.”
Check with your professional engineer about any requirements of having the construction materials tested. These materials may include the concrete, rebar, and the presenting product data of the masonry units that declare their structural capacities.
These tests results should be reviewed and approved by the licensed structural engineer that designed the foundations.
Utility Services
The utility work may include the installation of drainage & containment systems (drywells), septic tanks, fresh water retention, wells, and/or solar panels mounted on the ground (or later mounted on the house).
These items will also need to be inspected and approved by municipal authorities.
Shipping Container Delivery and Placement on the Site
Now that the foundation is prepared for the shipping container(s) to be placed upon them, arrangements will need to be made to have them delivered and placed on the foundation. Refer to article about Transporting a Shipping Container
Cutting Out Doors, Windows, Floors for Stacked Container
The order that this set of tasks occurs relative to other tasks will vary too. If there needs to be additional steel welded to the bottom of the shipping container, that might need to be done before it is set upon the foundation. Welding the metal framing around cut outs and the addition of beams and columns will need to follow the structural engineer’s drawings and specifications.
Cut-outs may be for doors, windows, or access to other floors, or for double height ceilings.
Some home owners have been learning how to weld in order to save on doing the related tasks themselves.
Build Roof Framing, Skylight Openings
Not all shipping containers have roofs added to them because the shipping containers are originally construction to be water tight. But, your design might require an additional framing on top of the containers.
This is a task that you might want to do if you want to save some money.
Install Exterior Doors and Windows
Some doors, windows, and skylights (as mentioned above) have a long lead time. That means it takes them a little longer to be fabricated and delivered to the job site. So, plan early. Get your orders in to the manufacturers before you need them at the site for installation.
Installing these items early in the construction process will allow the builders to work inside a dry space while it might be inclement outside.
This can also be a good DIY set of tasks.
Install Interior Walls
Building interior walls with studs and gypsum board can be a DIY task.
Build Stairs
If you have a shipping container with several floors, you will need stairs. Stairs are usually complicated items to build. You probably will want the contractor to take care of this task. Stairs also can have a long lead time.
Install Plumbing Piping and Electrical Conduits, HVAC Ductwork, Fire Sprinkler System
HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning.
The installation of these items might be only to the point they “poke” out of the walls, floors, or ceilings. The actual plumbing fixtures are often installed during a later task.
This is a set of tasks that is usually not done by a DIY’er.
Rough Inspections: MEP and Building and Fire Protection
MEP stands for Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing.
Before the gypsum board is installed that would cover up all the pipes, conduits, and ducts in the walls, floors, and ceilings, the contractor will need to have it inspected and approved by the municipality.
Install Insulation
The best type of insulation for shipping container homes is usually spray-on closed cell foam insulation. Installing it is expensive, very messy and smelly compared to other types of insulation.
Once it is installed, it is difficult to install anything else in the cavities that is filled with the insulation. So, it takes some planning to be sure everything is installed in the walls, floors, ceilings before covering them up with insulation.
This is a task that should be done by a professional. Schedule a waiting period until the insulation has had time to off-gas and before other trades re-enter the building to perform their services.
Go to “What is the Best Way to Insulation a Shipping Container Home” to learn what insulation might be best for your home.
Install Gypsum Board
This task is often referred to as “buttoning up” the walls and ceilings. It can be done by DIY’ers.
Install Subfloor
Depending what you type of finished floor you will want to install, a subfloor will often be installed to support it and to cover the toxic wood floor that is sprayed with pesticides before sent out on the seas to carry cargo.
Refer to all government recommendations about how to treat any hazardous materials. Here is an article to get a first glance of some things to be aware about, “Are Shipping Containers Safe to Live In?”
Install Specialty Items Like Fireplaces
Maybe your house has some specialty items that need to be installed now so it will not damage the finishes surfaces installed in later tasks.
Install Finish Flooring
Putting the finish flooring in now will help establish the level that other items will need to be placed – like the base cabinets, appliances, and door thresholds.
This can be a DIY task. But, it might require you to rent or buy some special equipment. This task will also need to be coordinated with other trades. You will not want people walking on top of your finished floor surfaces until they are installed and protected.
Wall Tile
If you are handy and have the right equipment, you might want to install your own tile. Tile walls (and floors / ceilings) are common in any room that is expected to have water in them. This would include kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and even mud rooms because glazed tile is easy to wipe clean.
Install Cabinets and Countertops
This is another task that usually has a longer lead time than other tasks. So, plan early to have these items arrive at the site when you need them.
The countertops with sinks and lavatories will need to be coordinated with the next task. The contractor will need to make a template over the base cabinets so the holes cut for the sinks will fit perfectly.
Install Plumbing Fixtures
This set of tasks should be done by the contractor.
Install Light Fixtures
Light fixture are another item that sometimes takes a while to be delivered to the site after they are ordered. But, there are some “off the shelf” light fixtures that are available and can really look nice in your new home.
Install Appliances
Now that the walls and cabinets are installed, you will now have the space provided for the new appliances to be delivered and installed.
Install Interior Doors
The doors are often not installed until later in the construction process so they don’t get damaged by other trades working around the construction site.
Paint Walls and Ceilings ( and Floors?)
This is a good Do It Yourself task for you to consider if you want to save some of the construction costs by not hiring others to paint for you.
The painting is usually on the walls and ceilings. But, sometimes, you may choose to have a painted floor as the finished surface in more industrial looking designs.
Install Wall Mounted Air Handling Units
Wall mounted air handling units are called “split HVAC systems.” They are very common in shipping container homes because they do not require ducts and can condition the air in spaces the relatively small areas that shipping containers create.
This set of tasks should be done by the contractor.
Exterior Improvements
Exterior Improvements could include seeding for grassy lawns, landscaping (shrubs, flowers, trees and gravel/mulch beds), sidewalks, driveway paving and specialty items like awnings, patios, pergolas, seating, and water features.
Hiring a landscape architect to design the exterior layout of your property can transform your home with impressive curb appeal.
Final Inspection (Certificate of Occupancy)
After the plumbing fixtures and air handling units (HVAC) are installed, the inspectors will want to come back out to make sure they are installed per code. The building inspector is often the last one to perform the final inspection before the certificate of occupancy is issued.
Final Payment to the Builder
Once the certificate of occupancy is issued, the project is considered to be “substantially complete.” When a project is substantially complete, the contractor is paid the balance of their fee.
Sometimes a retainer of a certain percentage of the overall construction project is held back from the payment during each billing from the contractor.
Be sure to get all the warranties and instructions how to maintain the equipment installed in your house from the contractor before they are paid in full.
A “punch list” is written with items needing to be adjusted or corrected by the contractor before they are paid all of the remaining retainage.
Step 7:
Move-In Day
You did it!
Now you have a shipping container house designed and built to fit you and your family member’s lifestyle. Move into it and enjoy your new home.
