With the cost of real estate these days, people have gotten creative in property ownership. From the soaring popularity of tiny homes to manufactured ones, there are more ways to own a “house” than ever. One unusual and increasingly popular types of homes are shipping containers.
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Yes, shipping containers.
According to HomeGuide, the average cost to build and install a container home is $25,000 to $250,000. While that’s no small chunk of change, it’s significantly less than you’d expect to pay for a traditional house in most parts of the country. Let’s explore the costs associated with shipping container homes so you can decide if one is right for you.
What is a container home?
First off, let’s more accurately define a container home. A container home is a house that’s built with one or more shipping containers. Shipping containers are designed to transport cargo across the world on ships, so they’re built to be extremely durable and weather-resistant, making them solid foundations for a home.
Shipping container homes are not the same as manufactured homes. Unlike manufactured houses, shipping container homes must meet traditional building codes. Successfully constructed, a shipping container home may last 25 to 30 years without needing significant maintenance. Of course, that duration is dependent upon how well you treat it and the local climate.
How much is a pre-built shipping container home?
Building a shipping container home is a lot of work, and depending on the features you’d like, it might not be that much more affordable than building a traditional home. Buying a pre-built shipping container home won’t give you the same custom experience, but it’ll probably save you a lot of money.
The average pre-built shipping container home costs between $20,000 and $50,000 from a company that specializes in these types of home. Obviously, that’s significantly less expensive than a traditional home or building a shipping container home from scratch.
That said, there are fewer investment benefits of a shipping container home. The market likely isn’t going to rise dramatically for these types of homes any time soon, so there’s less high-end investment opportunity. You trade affordability for a stagnant investment.
How much does a shipping container home cost to build?
As we mentioned at the start, HomeGuide estimates that a shipping container home costs anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000 to build, and will take anywhere from three to six months to complete. The wide net is because there are many, many factors that impact how much a shipping container home will cost.
Here’s a look at some of the primary factors that impact the cost of building a shipping container home.
Number and size of containers
While you can certainly build a home with a single shipping container, you don’t have to settle for a studio apartment. Shipping containers are 8 feet wide by 8.5 feet high and are available in 10-foot, 20-foot, and 40-foot lengths. Containers cost $1,200 to $10,000.
The average cost to build a shipping container breaks down to about $150 to $350 per square foot, depending on the features you incorporate. You can build a shipping container home that’s greater than 2,000 square feet, just expect to spend more the larger the home gets.
For reference, the average cost to build a house is a little under $400,000, so even if you build a larger shipping container home, you’re probably doing it for cheaper than it would cost to build a new traditional house.
Custom vs. prefabricated
There is a shipping container home industry, which means you can buy prefabricated containers or entire container homes for a set price. Prefab container homes generally cost $120 to $300 per square foot. Customer-designed homes are more on the $250 to $400 per square foot range.
Generally, prefabricated containers are single-story and single-container. Custom homes can be configured to include multiple stories and be laid out any way you like.
Prefab containers are popular as extra structures on the same property to be used as a home office, in-law suite, or rental unit. In most states, a single-container unit qualifies as an accessory dwelling unit (ADU).
Land, permits, and zoning
If you already own the land where you want your shipping container house to sit, that’s great! You’ll save some money. Otherwise, expect to spend anywhere from $5,000 to $18,000 per acre of land.
Because shipping container homes are typically placed on a permanent foundation, you also need to ensure that local regulations permit you to put a shipping container home on your land. That will entail land surveys and work permits to prep the land for construction.
Land surveys cost anywhere from $200 to $1,200 while land clearing, permits for new construction cost $500 to $2,000, and excavation will cost between $2,500 and $9,000. If you have to grade the land, expect to pay a little more.
In many cities, you can’t build shipping container homes, so make sure to check local zoning regulations before starting your project.
Design
Sure, a shipping container isn’t exactly silly putty, but there’s a still a lot you can do design-wise with a shipping container home, especially if you’re building it fully custom. Hiring an architect will cost 8% to 15% of the construction cost, but will help you create a home you’re truly proud of and that meets all of your specific needs.
Basic construction
Building the actual home involves many expenses that will have a significant impact on the final cost. Expect those costs to include:
- Roofing: $3 to $6 per square foot
- Insulation: $0.80 to $4.50 per square foot
- Electrical: $1.56 to $3.75 per square foot, plus electrician fees of $40 to $100 per hour
- Plumbing: $4 to $6 per square foot, plus plumber fees of $45 to $150 per hour
- Water heater: $300 to $1,800, or $800 to $3,500 for a tankless water heater
- Flooring: $6 to $10 per square foot
- Doors and windows: $230 to $820 each for interior doors, $500 to $1,900 for exterior doors, plus $400 to $650 per window
- Framing: $18 to $24 per linear foot, depending on ceiling height
- Drywall: $1.50 to $3.50 per square foot
- Painting: $20 to $50 per hour, or $1 to $4 per square foot
- Heating and cooling: A ductless mini-split AC is ideal for shipping container homes and costs $2,000 to $10,000 to install
Appliances and fixtures
Shipping container homes tend to be smaller than traditional ones, so you may opt for smaller appliances to maximize the space in your home. You can save some money by getting a smaller range, refrigerator, laundry machine, and other typical appliances.
Likewise, multi-purpose furniture is very popular in container homes, like futons, fold-down tables, furniture built into walls, and more. This is another area where you can save money by investing in utility over style or design.
Utilities
Finally, you’ll have to connect your shipping container home to water and electrical services. Installing a new water main costs $32 to $53 per linear foot, but you may have to pay as much as $3,000 for a new water meter.
If you’re connecting to the sewer line, that costs $40 to $180 per linear foot. Otherwise, a septic tank system costs $3,500 to $8,500 to install.
Connecting to the local electrical grid will cost $250 to $1,500 depending on the distance to the nearest utility pole. If you need to run new power lines to the home, it could cost another $2,000 to $5,000 or more. Many shipping container homes opt for solar power due to its more affordable nature and the tax credits you can receive for installing panels. If you’re going to pay to get on the electrical grid anyway, it makes more sense to pay for solar panels, get a tax credit, and save on future utility bills.
→ Read more about the value of solar panels
Taxes and insurance
Just like traditional homes, you must pay property taxes and have homeowners insurance for a shipping container home. Homeowners insurance tends to cost from $50 to $150 per month, but you’ll likely have to shop a bit to find an insurance company that offers a suitable option.
Should I get a shipping container home?
There are many benefits of building or buying a shipping container home rather than buying a traditional home or tiny house. They’re not the right option for everybody but there are several key benefits to consider.
Affordability
Buying a shipping container home may cost just a little more than a year’s rent on an apartment, and you’re likely getting a larger living space. You’d still need to buy the land to put it on, of course, but putting a container on a plot of land is a much more accessible path to homeownership than buying a traditional home.
They also tend to be more affordable than even some tiny homes, especially if you purchase prefabricated containers.
Learn more about the hidden costs of buying a home
Durability
As we’ve mentioned before, shipping containers are built to endure the absolute worst weather the planet has to offer. They’re often stacked on top of one another without damage to the container or the contents within. These things are tough. The typical container home can last for 25 to 30 years with regular maintenance and may withstand storms and other severe weather even better than a house.
Versatility
Local zoning regulations permitting, you can put a shipping container home basically anywhere. So, if you really love an area, all you have to do is buy the land and you can drop a container home on it. Since these homes are built to ship, you can get a container home delivered practically anywhere with relative ease and put it down on the exact spot you want.
Because of their standardized nature, you can build one far faster than you could build a traditional home. Sometimes, you can design and build one in as little as ten weeks.
Eco-friendliness
If you’re concerned about waste and the environment, shipping container homes are a great option. By buying a shipping container, you’re recycling it rather than letting it simply go to waste in a junkyard somewhere. Plus, they’re extremely flexible, allowing you to add energy-efficient features and green building materials like spray foam insulation, green roofing, solar panels, or Energy Star appliances.
The use of shipping containers in home design and construction has been on an upswing. A report estimates the global market size for shipping container construction will reach $73,070.5 million by 2025, up from $44,788.6 million in 2017. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% from 2018 to 2025.
Not too shabby.
This surge of shipping container architecture is well documented in the public eye.
Among countless construction-related TV shows, and YouTube videos on the subject, we’ve seen everything from prefab shops pushing out custom designs to pre-used shipping containers finding a new purpose—in keeping with the “reuse, reduce, recycle” sustainable construction mantra. Through these stories, we can live vicariously as environmentally conscious home buyers with the means and determination live simply and off-grid. We can even turn to some of the best construction video games, like The Sims “eco lifestyle,” to find striking shipping container designs amid entertaining, hands-on gameplay, and simultaneously meld environmental perseverance with inspired architectural eclecticism.
Despite being quite compelling in theory, in practice shipping container construction raises some important questions. We will answer each of these important questions throughout this article:
- Is it cheaper to build a house or a container home?
- Are container homes safe?
- What are the pros and cons of building a shipping container home?
- How long do container homes last?
- How might you incorporate shipping containers and prefab into your builds?
Is It Cheaper to Build a House or a Container Home
?
The question on everyone’s mind: Are container homes cheaper than traditional houses?
At face value, yes. But there are plenty of factors that could drive the price of a container house to be similarly priced with a traditional house, and in some cases even more.
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For reference, Forbes estimates the average cost to build a house to be $300k, excluding the cost of land. Similarly, Realtor quotes $296,652, and Rocket Mortgage quotes $290,314 with the national average for the absolute lowest being $15k and the high being $750k per Home Advisor (via Rocket Mortgage).
So, how much do shipping container homes cost?
Purchasing a used or recycled shipping container will set you back around $1,500-$5,000 on average, though the cost of a container may widely vary depending on your geographical location, the condition of the container, size requirements, modifications, and delivery cost.
By contrast to traditional houses, completed shipping container homes cost far less than a traditional home, typically ranging between $10k and $35k, and a far cry from the average $300k of building a traditional home; however, there are many factors that could lead container house to a ballooning budget and the dreaded cost overrun, such as modifications and structural engineering necessary to make a highly modified container home structurally sound (and we’ll discuss this a bit later).
On the other hand, an even more cost-effective solution may soon be a 3D-printed home.
Are Container Homes Safe
?
From a structural standpoint, shipping containers (in their existing state) are made from strong industrial materials, making them very strong and able to withstand harsh offshore weather conditions.
This, of course, changes when you start cutting holes in them.
However, the more pressing safety issue that presents itself with using recycled shipping containers as building materials is the very real possibility they’ve transported toxic chemicals in their former life. To avert this unknown entirely, you can opt to purchase a single-use shipping container; that way, you’ll be able to more precisely verify where the shipping container has been, and what it’s transported.
Pros and Cons of
Building a Shipping Container Home
Building a container home purely out of recycled shipping containers may be more of an uphill battle than what meets the eye. Despite having the mystique of sustainability, clients seeking this kind of build may be unaware of certain illuminating factors, like how insulating a shipping container will typically be more effective when using a less eco-friendly method such as spray foam over more sustainable options like recycled cotton or wool insulation.
It’s worth noting that other offsite construction methods like modular construction may deliver on client needs with a greater degree of customization.
Pros of Shipping Container Homes
- Cost-Effective, to a degree: Provided that you are building a relatively simple shipping container home, the cost will be generally much lower than building a traditional home from the ground up. As we discussed previously, you can, on average, source a pre-used shipping container for around $3,250. Adding the cost of land, say $3,160 for an acre (reported in the United States Department of Agriculture August 2019 report), and labor costs and architectural drawings, that’s still a far cry from the above-mentioned $300k. However, it’s important to note there are many variables that may drive this initial price through the roof (which we’ll discuss more in the below “cons” section). Going with a prefab shipping container home over a recycled shipping container home can offer clients additional benefits of what you would expect with prefab: predictable costs, in-factory installation (quality control), onsite delivery and preparation, etc.
- Faster build times: Similar to prefabricated construction, building a house with a shipping container can take as few as a couple days to construct modest designs or months to piece together more intricate builds, still a far cry from doing it the old fashioned way. An important thing to keep in mind: Working with a prefab shop versus sourcing perused shipping containers, while not necessarily in line with that “reuse, reduce, recycle” mentality in a literal sense of giving a windswept shipping container a new life, can help solve some of the issues we’ll discuss below that shipping containers pose, such as health risks and QA concerns.
Cons of Shipping Container Homes
Belinda Carr, a YouTuber, architect, and building scientist, outlines in her video titled “7 reasons why shipping container homes are a SCAM” the general problems with creating a home out of a shipping container:
Size constraints
: Standard shipping containers come in two sizes. Smaller shipping containers measure 20 ft long, 8 ft wide, and 8.5 feet tall, while larger shipping containers measure 40 ft long, 8 ft wide, and 8.5 ft tall. While you
can
custom order taller 9.5 ft tall shipping containers, Carr notes the modifications needed to make a shipping container livable significantly cut into the living space available in what’s already so narrow and awkward: adding insulation, mechanical systems, plumbing, electrical systems, sprinklers, and flooring.
- Possible structural problems: Shipping containers are structurally sound in their existing state. But when cuts are made—to add doors, windows, roof openings and skylights, large hollows to conjoin multiple containers, etc.—the original strength of the shipping container becomes compromised. Clients seeking a container build, thus, should be made aware that reinforcements with metal or wood will need to be made, and necessary framing with traditional drywall will significantly cut into the overall living space.
- Expensive reinforcements if adding cantilevers: The most inspired of shipping container architecture solves the inherent size constraints of building with these narrow modules by bridging multiple shipping containers together in unique configurations that maximize space and adding balconies and wrap-around porches that seamlessly blend indoor and outdoor living. While certainly inspiring, accomplishing these novel architectural feats naturally come with expensive steel reinforcing beams. Prospective clients selecting shipping containers purely as an “affordable alternative” to traditional building should thus be made aware of the limited space and architectural customization of a shipping container build.
- Thermal conductivity of steel: As Carr notes, steel is not a good insulator, thus when using corrugated metal shipping containers as your primary structure, you’ll likely want to insulate the outside of the shipping container and add cladding to avoid mold and rot.
- Health risks with buying old shipping containers: If you’re buying a pre-used shipping container for your build, tracking down where it’s been may be a challenge, and you won’t necessarily know if it was used to carry general consumer goods or toxic chemicals that could cause a health risk. Carr notes that some states like California only allow one-use containers for residential reuse, so you can verify what has been transported in the shipping container. Heavy duty paints on the exterior of the shipping container, she adds, which are added to withstand harsh ocean conditions, contain carcinogenic elements like phosphorus and chromium.
- Cost to transport, depending on the location, may not be logical, especially considering that building with native materials is “the most eco-friendly and cost-effective method.”
How Long Do Container Homes Last
?
According to All States Containers, the average life of a container is 25 years with minimal maintenance.
The main problem impacting the longevity of a shipping container home is rust. This could be addressed by adding external cladding, which as discussed above, can also help to insulate and protect against mold.
While the materials used to build a house ultimately help to impact its overall longevity—just as the legendary fable taught us that brick withstands wilder external forces than straw—user input is also important and maintaining a home, regardless of whether it’s made with traditional materials or shipping containers, will require a certain degree of continuous maintenance.
Which States Allow Shipping Container Homes
?
All states technically allow shipping container homes. You’ll want to see your state and specific area zoning requirements with regard to building a shipping container home to ensure compliance.
California, for example as previously discussed, allows the use of shipping containers as a building material, but they stipulate ONLY single-use containers to be used.
Beside California, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Missouri, Oregon, and Alaska are among the states that have a more lenient stance toward container homes. For a more complete list, YoungAlfred.com notes the states with “more lenient” zoning laws or “non-restrictive” building codes.
How Can Shipping Containers and Prefab Be Used in Your Projects?
Despite being relatively easy to transport by trailer bed, Belinda Carr notes that it might make the most sense to use recycled shipping containers “in coastal regions near port cities where shipping containers are readily available.” They may similarly be useful in areas where material shortages are common, or areas that are recovering from a natural disaster.
Working with prefab, or even better modular prefab, may drive the kind of outcomes your clients are looking for and provide even better sustainability outcomes.
Additionally compelling applications for this type of construction material may be explored on Hulu with Impossible Builds, where engineered “kit” houses are delivered to particularly challenging sites, like mountainous regions with harsh storms and intermittent, quickly waning opportunities to build.
Bottom Line:
Do Shipping Containers Make Good Houses
?
Are container homes worth it?
Of course!
As with any home, what you put into it is what you’ll get out of it. If homebuyers are simply after a more cost-effective solution, they can potentially achieve these ends through building a modest container home, quite possibly a “tiny home.” Additional modifications can drive the price to make the container livable and, if intricately designed, structurally sound.
Surely, container homes represent a unique architecture trend that will continue to inspire designers, engineers, and builders to incorporate various materials to design the most innovative and thought-provoking of projects.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Space Capsule House. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.