Because there are so many types of shipping containers, it is good to know which ones work best for various container home designs. Let’s look at some of the most common types of shipping containers and what their best home design use.
Most shipping containers to be used for home design will be:
8’-0” wide; 20’-0” or 40’-0” long; and 9’-6” high.
The shipping container types include:
- “Standard” that has a four walls, floor, roof, and a door at the end
- “Open Top” that has no roof
- “Tunnel” that has doors at both ends
- “Open Side” that has doors along the long side
Knowing the types of the containers available, their original intended use, and their pros and cons for home design can be summed up with the chart below:
| Name of Shipping Container | Size (in feet) | Shipping Uses | Home Design Uses |
| Standard or General Dry Storage | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0” and 45’-0” lengths 8’-6” and 9’-6” heights | Ship general and dry cargo | Single story homes |
| Vented | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0”lengths 8’-6” and 9’-6” heights | Ship coffee beans, tea, or dry grains that needs ventilation | Single story homes |
| Open top | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0”lengths 8’-6” and 9’-6” heights | Tall slabs of marble or granite | Lower floor of a multi-floor home |
| Tunnel or double door | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0”lengths 8’-6” and 9’-6” heights | Long cargo like steel beams | Homes with full height windows and man doors at the ends |
| Open Side | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0”lengths 8’-6” and 9’-6” heights | Wide cargo that is easier to load from the side of the container | Homes with full height windows and doors along the long side of the home. |
| Refrigerated or Reefer | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0”lengths 8’-6” and 9’-6” heights | Meats, fruits, vegetables, and seafood. | Homes that want to use the prefabricated insulation qualities. |
| Insulated or Thermal | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0” and 45’-0” lengths 8’-6” and 9’-6” heights | Food, pharmaceuticals, blood, body organs, chemicals | Homes that want to use the prefabricated insulation qualities. |
| Half Height | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0”lengths 4’-9” high | Heavy and dense cargo like gravel and coal | Swimming pools |
| Flat Rack | 8’-0” wide 20’-0”, 40’-0”lengths 8’-0” and 8’-6” heights | Cargo that would not fit in other types of containers | Outdoor decks |
| Domestic | 8’-6” wide 48’-0” or 53’-0” long 9’-6” high | Move lighter weight cargo from ports of in land destinations | Not recommended for home design. |
The Standard or General Container is the Most Common
Standard or general dry storage containers has a floor, 4 walls, and a roof. It is watertight. They are designed to be stacked up to 9 containers high. The floor is reinforced with metal and usually has 4’-0” x 8’-0” x 1-1/4” thick hardwood panels as the finished floor. There are metal spacers in-between the sheets of plywood. The “rear” of the container is considered to be the end with the doors.
“High cube” storage containers are standard containers but they are most ideal for home design. These have an additional 12” of height. This is especially helpful because it offers space for insulation while still leaving a comfortable clear height for head room. The 45’-0” long containers are not as common as the 40’-0” long containers.
The standard, general, or high cube containers are what the other types will be compared to in the follow descriptions.
Vented Storage Containers are Like Standard Containers with Vents Attached to the Sides
Vented storage containers are not as useful for home design. A home will need to be able to control the air temperature without fixed vents on the side walls that would allow the conditioned air to escape the home.
Here is a Special Use of Open Top Containers
Open Top containers come with a heavy-duty vinyl tarp top supported by removable roof bows. There are steel loops along the top of the container to connect the tarp to the sides with a steel cable.
This container can be used at the bottom floor of a multi-floor home. This will reduce the cost of cutting the roof if a common dry storage container was to be used in comparison.
This type of container has a hinge header beam over the container door so tall items can be loaded with a fork lift. If used for a home, this hinged header will probably need to be fixed so it will not be movable any longer.
Tunnel Storage Containers can let the Sun in at Both Ends
Tunnel storage containers have doors at both ends of the container. It can be used when the home is to have full height windows at either end of the home.
Compared to common dry storage containers, the tunnel container will not need to have the ends cut off which would save in construction costs. This type of container also has weather-tight seals. The cargo doors can be left on the container to give the home additional security.
Open Side Storage Containers will Increase the Views From Your Home
Open side storage containers have bi-folding doors along the long side of the container. This container is suitable for homes that have windows and doors along the side of the home.
It can be perfect for a home that opens up to a full length outdoor deck. Since the container does not have walls along one of the long sides, it is less expensive than cutting the walls away for the new windows and doors that would be the case with the standard containers.
Save on the Insulation Cost, But for a Price
The refrigerated or “reefer” container has an air conditioner at the front end of the container to provide climate control for its cargo. The air refrigeration requires an external electrical source.
The floors, walls, and ceiling is insulated usually with foam between layers of metal. The floor is an aluminum “T” shape in section to allow air to pass underneath the cargo.
The walls and roof are usually stainless steel or aluminum. But usually, it is constructed with Cor-Ten steel. Cor-Ten is a steel that holds up to weather better than other steels.
This type of container is good when the home designer wants to take advantage of the pre-insulated walls.
But, the walls might not meet the local building code’s R-value of insulation. Also, the walls would be more expensive to cut through for doors, windows, or connections to other containers than non-insulated containers.
This container is heavier than other uninsulated containers. Another negative to using this type of container is the additional fire risk when welding and cutting the insulated walls for windows and doors.
Beware What This Type of Container Might Have Been Transporting
Insulated or thermal containers have the same benefits and challenges as the reefer containers. The walls are insulated with molded expanded polystyrene, vacuum insulated panels, or other types of insulation that help the container function much like a thermos to protect the temperature inside the container from rapidly changing.
But, beware that these containers may have been shipping items that are not usually items that people desire to live around. (See the chart above).
Cool Use of Half Height Container on a Hot Day
Although the image above is a pool in a full height container, using half height containers for swimming pools allows the home owner to limit the material that needs to be cut away, compared to using a general dry container.
Because this container is designed to hold heavy cargo, it is possible that the container would support the load of water filled in it without need for additional structural support.
Be sure to check with a structural engineer and local officials before filling up the container with water without verifying its structural strength.
Flat Rack Containers Have Limited Uses
Flat rack containers have sides that collapse down to be flat. The side, rear and end rails are 16” to 18” high “I” beams. There are springs to prevent the end panels from falling too fast when allowed to collapse.
The uses of this type of container is limited. One use could be for exterior decks.
Leave the Domestic Containers, Not Best for Home Designs
Domestic containers are mainly for land use and not for marine. They are usually double stacked on railroad cars and single containers are pulled by trucks to their on-land destinations.
The floor and walls are not designed to uphold as much weight as containers designed for marine shipping. This is because they are not designed to be stacked nine high like marine shipping containers.
So, it is best not to use domestic containers for home designs.
As you can see, it is best to use the general dry container type for most home design uses.