Shipping containers for better housing

Dad was an old school master builder and known for his quality workmanship. When his teams built a house, it was solid, square, and built to last. Before I could follow in his footsteps, the credit crunch of the 1960 coup closed the business and we went into agriculture, but I’ve always been interested in developments in the construction industry.

Traditional structures are built with wood or steel frames, and with materials that are not as abundant as they used to be, the frame beams do not have the quality they used to be. I still have friends who are in the construction game and one of them is a drywall repairman. These days one of your biggest frustrations is trying to hang drywall on frames that are not square and have warped joists. If the underlying structure is not square and flat, the finish may not look as good as it should. She is often late in her work while copywriters are called in to reorganize their work.

Also consider the use of time and material to construct the frames, erect them and finish them, all of which add to the cost of the structure. Also consider the foundation of the traditional structure, the many stumps to stabilize the floor or concrete slab. Then there’s vermin protection and decay protection to drive up costs.

Used shipping containers are built to transport 20 ton payloads across the world’s oceans without warping or corroding. They are built with precise measurements so they can be stacked on top of each other, loaded onto trucks, trains, and ships, and precisely locked in place so they won’t move in transit. They are designed so that they can carry their 20 ton payload supported only on the four corners of the container, without distorting and I repeat, they can be pulled one on top of the other. They are sealed to be weather resistant and secure to prevent theft and theft.

Of course, they have been used for storage sheds and construction offices for some time now, because they can be easily relocated without damaging them. They are designed to be lifted and moved by cranes and forklifts. In places like Papua New Guinea they are used as corner stores due to the security they offer as burglar and burglar proof structures. They are built to be safe.

Mining companies have seen the benefits of using shipping containers as accommodation for their mine workers for some time, as they can be fitted out in a workshop, transported to a mine, and quickly installed and inhabited.

It has recently been argued that the use of shipping containers as housing could be a useful alternative to house the poor and the homeless, but criticism has been that this will create ghettos of substandard housing, creating more problems than would be solved. .

I would suggest that the humble shipping container represents the biggest revolution in the construction industry for some time. As other materials become less available and the problems described above persist and increase, shipping containers, which have outlived their original purpose, are littering shipyards around the world. They are prefabricated housing modules, waiting to be discovered and used. They are inexpensive building blocks, stronger and more durable than traditional materials and methods, that can be erected faster and with greater precision than our current living styles.

When placed on solid foundations, they are cyclone / hurricane proof, would better survive earthquakes and landslides, and can be used both above and below ground level.

Of course there are some limitations. Modules predominantly come in 8 foot widths and 10 or 40 foot lengths. Cutting them smaller would compromise their design strength. They already come up to standard ceiling height for homes. However, the side walls can be opened for larger living areas, but designs must be multiples of standard shipping container dimensions. And of course they look like shipping containers, unless of course, with a little imagination, you cover them like you would any other form of housing. And there will be some building authorities for whom these are beyond their ability to perceive the benefits and approve.

Realistically, the limitations are just our lack of imagination in utilizing these amazing building blocks for safer, greener, and cheaper shipping container homes. They have been approved as housing structures and additions by various authorities around the world and any changes require an effort to achieve.

For those who can catch the vision, this is an opportunity waiting to be further explored.