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Have any of you had any experience living in or building a freight container tiny home? (aussie.zone)

submitted 1 day ago by arbilp3@aussie.zone to c/environment@aussie.zone

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/33231688

I am considering this for the future and I hear both pros and cons. If any of you have any stories about your experience or of someone else's, let me know.

top 13 comments

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[–] arbilp3@aussie.zone 1 points 4 hours ago

Thanks to everyone. Great brains trust here and lots of experience. The overall understanding I've received is that container homes are not a great idea unless you have the right set of knowledge, skills and equipment (or people who can do the work for you professionally). And, the resulting space may not be great plus there can be additional structural problems down the track. So thank you again for all your comments. I've learnt a lot and the decision is clear for me now. A container home is not the ideal 'granny flat' for me.

[–] KiwiTB@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If you cut into it, it'll lose it's strength.
The metal means it has huge issues with condensation so it needs to be insulated in a particular way to make them safe long term.
It is almost always better to build a new structure instead.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Shipping container homes are entirely driven by Youtube. They make no sense and are worst possible choice for a house frame.

[–] KiwiTB@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago

Yeah. I've been wrong about them before, but in the majority of cases they are not worth the hassle. That's not too say people haven't had success, and good outcomes, it's just a dedicated structure solves most of it's issues immediately.

[–] RedCarCastle@aussie.zone 17 points 1 day ago

I half built one with no building experience, I'm a welder so handy enough but never installed windows or any kitchen or bathroom stuff before, got it up to a semi liveable stage, tv, lights, kitchen, half a bathroom and lived in it for 2 years, even brought the baby home to it, Looking back, did the job, was pretty rough but got us where we needed to be

[–] Stern@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Low natural height gets more fucky with duct work and other stuff typically run through ceilings. You have to insulate which eats into usable space (plus utilities, plumbing, etc.), if you go double wide to have more space, you have to reinforce it because otherwise it'll start to deflect as its lost its base shape.

If you're doing it to save money, all that stuff adds up real fast.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

All that and when it's all said and done it still looks like a container.

Plenty people live out of containers on big island. It's about as good as it sounds.

I'd rather build a small cabin out of block and wood frame.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 0 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

Home Depot sells these 250sqft units for $50-70000CDN/ US$35-50K.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

My friend has a property out in Puna and they built these little cabanas with kitchenettes. Just a block frame with wooden insets to mount the screen windows. They don't even have proper windows, just screening to keep the bugs out. If you can supply the labor could probably build one for 10k, 20k max. And you can buy land in that area for 10k an acre. You could be all in for 50k and have paid for the land, and done a small solar electric and watch catchment system.

[–] gressen@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago

Also, as you insulate from the inside, you risk moisture buildup inside the walls between the sheet metal and insulation.

[–] PagPag@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Neither of these things are of any concern if designed / executed properly.

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 6 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I thought about it but if I was living in a place like Tara/Dalby and wanted a super cheap home to live essentially off grid, why wouldn't I just get one of these: https://teenytinyhomes.com.au/

they're like 1/6th the price of an actual home and a million times better than a container

[–] arbilp3@aussie.zone 3 points 21 hours ago

Thank you for that ikt. I don't live in Tara/Dalby but the message is still very valid. I looked up the link and they even provide a e-book to explain many aspects of tiny homes in general and what the company offers specifically. Very interesting. Thanks again.