Here’s a Challenge!
With the trouble Jodie Foster’s father is in for making unrealistic claims in container construction, I’m going to throw down the gauntlet to some of you guys out there on the Internet that claim container construction is a much cheaper way to build houses.
Here’s the deal for the challenge:
1. Give me SPECIFIC EXAMPLES of houses you have built, and the cost data. I want pictures and locations.
2. Since there have been at least two people that have claimed to have built the container house in Atlanta that my company structurally designed that had nothing to do with it, I want references. Give me the name of the owner, Architect, and Builder.
3. The house must have been permitted.
4. It must provide what is normal construction for residences in the US – HVAC, insulation (not some ceramic paint, I mean insulation), electric according to Code, plumbing, kitchen to include a sink, oven, stove, and refrigerator. It should have at least one bath or shower, a toilet, and a sink in the bathroom. It needs at least one bedroom.
5. It must be permanently mounted on a foundation that is according to Code for the area.
6. It must be permitted as a permanent structure, not a temporary structure.
Provide me the information, and I will happily provide a link to your project once I verify you are telling me the truth. There is nothing I would like to see more than proof you can build container houses for $50/SF as claimed by many websites. So far I haven’t seen that, and I would like proof.
George
i WOULD LIKE TO BUILD AFFORDIBLY FOUR 40 FOOT CONTAINERS THAT WORK BY SOLAR PANELS AND WELL WATER cheap strong plywood walls floors and ceilings or other strong inexpensive materials? Is this possible? If so how much money would it cost to have you or your associates put it on/build it on my some land? Also how much is your cheapest container hor and what would be the cost to prepare the land for the home?
I can’t answer all of your questions because I don’t know where you live, and property values vary greatly across the country. However, here are a few items to consider:
1. Putting in solar panels is expensive. It may pay off if you own the home over a long period of time with the lower utility costs, but I haven’t worked the numbers. In the Virgin Islands, electricity is expensive and unreliable, so solar panels are worth it. The same may be true in other areas of the country. However, in general, “affordable home” and “solar power” do not work as good words in the same sentence.
2. I haven’t seen any bargains with construction costs. If you buy four containers, that cost is fairly low. However, you still have to cut them so you can go between them, put in insulation (otherwise you will freeze in the winter and bake in the summer), stud out the walls (to provide a place for the insulation and electric), put in wall board, put in electric, plumbing, and HVAC. You still have to drill the well, put in a pump, put in the water tank for the well (otherwise your pump will short cycle and burn up), and put in a hot water system (solar or conventional). You will have to put a roof over the container house otherwise it will leak where the containers join. In other words, you still have to do all the same work that you had to do with a conventional house.
3. You are stuck with working with 8′ wide boxes. If you use one for a bedroom, you will have about 2 feet clearance on the side of the bed to the wall. Your kitchen will be cramped, your rooms will be in weird dimensions. Unless you cut the things open, and then your cost goes up even more with cutting, welding, and engineering.
Now, on the positive side:
1. If you are building a structure to locate in a remote area, you can fabricate everything in a shop and haul it by truck to the location necessary. That makes it great for mining housing, oil field housing, and military camps.
2. In hurricane or earthquake prone areas, container houses are excellent. You have to trade some livability for the structural soundness, but I think I could live with that if I saw I still had a livable house after a Cat III hurricane.
3. In some applications, such as what we did in Atlanta, the container construction is actually easier than conventional. The two houses we worked on in Atlanta were on deep thin lots, and the desire was to have a lot of open space inside. It was easier to brace them for lateral loads than conventional construction under the same constraints. I know because I structurally designed a more conventional house a few blocks away and it was a nightmare.
Generally, we don’t work directly with homeowners. The reason is the level of sophistication and risk in building these is very high, and I’m concerned that trying to build one of these yourself is asking for serious trouble.
George
Awesome comments/advice, George. To piggy back on the solar pv issue, I have priced systems from the most popular “retail” outfits, and for a typical single family home, about 1000kwh per month, you’re looking at a system that costs (installed) for between $30,000 and $40,000. This would be a system to take you totally off-grid with possible tie in to provide surplus energy back to the electrical grid. Now, assume your monthly electric bill is average of $200 per month (assuming a 1200 sf home) you’re looking at a ROI of 16.6 years. I don’t know about you, but that’s a little longer than I want to wait to make my money back.
Now, as you said, it would be worth it in areas where the electrical infrastructure is shoddy or even not available, but it’s still a significant investment and the maintenance can be pricy as well. If a panel needs replacing due to damage or general failure, you’re looking at about $250-$300 for the panel plus installation, etc.
Long story short, unfortunately solar PV just hasn’t come far enough to make it viable for typical residential applications. Now, solar hot water on the other hand is amazing. ROI for those whole house systems are 2-5 years I believe. GREAT investment.
Cheers.
Jeremiah, there is probably a reason that power is centrally generated instead of us all having our own generators – I’m sure it’s cheaper and we don’t have to do the maintenance and repair. Putting up your own solar panels to generate power may make you feel good, but It doesn’t make sense.
For hot water, a 2 – 5 year payout is not bad. Of course most of us generate our own hot water anyway.
George