Shipping Container Homes

There is a structure built of these in North DaLat. I believe they use it as a coffee house though.

JohnD

In regards to Cathodic Protection (CP) for your containers, it is not possible to use CP as it will not prevent Atmospheric corrosion, CP is used for steel structures that are either underwater or buried underground i.e. pipelines, fixed structures offshore where sacrificial Zinc anodes are used...

Deepsix wrote:

JohnD

In regards to Cathodic Protection (CP) for your containers, it is not possible to use CP as it will not prevent Atmospheric corrosion, CP is used for steel structures that are either underwater or buried underground i.e. pipelines, fixed structures offshore where sacrificial Zinc anodes are used...

Good info, John, thanks!

Hi John , I was in HMC  10/2015 and was looking at doing the same kind of set up as you are '
I instead bought a small home in Dong Nai with my vietnamese wife .
I did find this that could interest you & just look at for Ideas  ..  http://hungdaocontainer.com.vn/trang.ph … _tintuc=26


Tony

Thanks, Tony. Is there a specific page of the second link you suggested that I should look at?

Hi John,
I only have this suggested site to start with if you haven't already researched it '  as this is as far as i got whilst i was in the Container market search .
On the far left side of the site in blue"  you can choose "Home container" to see what types & styles they have on offer , and on the very bottom of that page are contact numbers & exhibition centers 
eg:    Main Office: 62 Nguyen Cuu Van St., 17 Ward, Binh Thanh Dist., Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (848) 3840 3210    Fax : (848) 3840 3209.

But i would at some later stage like to know what you have researched and some of your ideas or plans  !

Cheers
Tony

What is the cost of a used 40' container in HCMC and transport cost to Dalat?

@cabraman

Google is your friend .

cabraman wrote:

What is the cost of a used 40' container in HCMC and transport cost to Dalat?

Dunno, but if this was the UK, you would have several families of refugees living in it by the time it got there.

Oh I don't know about that Stumpy. I asked but didn't get the answer.  Got a lot of other information though that wasn't relevent. A bit like this site at times

Based on my prior experience with delivering and utilizing at least a dozen such containers let me give you a few more things to think about.  The first is that a 40' container has no forklift holes and although the 20' ones do, they are spaced too far apart for small and medium sized lifts.  You could pick one up with a 6000 kg lift but you would need fork extenders to get past the center of gravity.  I have lowered 40 ft'rs to the ground with two small lifts, one on each side, and a bucket loader at the other end by raising the box a few inches and driving the truck away but I doubt that you will be so equipped.  Believe me it is a real nail biter.  I would strongly suggest that you employ a boom truck capable of offloading itself.  The 40 ft container empty is about 4,000 Kg so most boom trucks could handle it.  I have seen many of these on the major highways in Vietnam and the container sellers may have just this type of truck.  Some sellers in Hawaii have specialty trucks that will tilt and gently lower the container to the ground, but  I never used them as I bought my containers FOB California with fertilizer inside.   They came to the farm on standard chassis and were unloaded before being off-loaded.  I expect you will bring your wife along to help with the financial negotiations but if you want to buy the box delivered to the ground, be sure she understands that too so it can be part of the deal.

If you do not place your units on full concrete slabs but over soil, you will need just four concrete blocks, one for each corner.  These are available precast 16x16x6 in the US but you could make something similar.   As I think someone previously mentioned, all the structure rests on the four corners so you really don't want blocks on the long sides.  They will only make things harder to level and may actually work against strength if they are bearing too much of the load.

Every circumstance is different but I hope my experiences will help.

Edit:  You may have noticed that the floors are usually a dark hardwood, maybe mahogany.  I never did it, but If you take care to purchase one with good flooring, you could possibly sand and polish them to a quite attractive floor.  One other thing on the placement:  This may sound obvious but don't go for dead level but slope the floor slightly to the door.   There are no drains holes in the back.

THIGV wrote:

Every circumstance is different but I hope my experiences will help.

This is a great bit of information, thank you! Definitely helpful...

Thank you for the info THIGV, but I am not contemplating using containers to live in. I was just curious as to how much it would cost before a person started spending money doing the necessary conversions and fitouts that would make container living a comfortable alternative to house living.

cabraman wrote:

Thank you for the info THIGV, but I am not contemplating using containers to live in. I was just curious as to how much it would cost before a person started spending money doing the necessary conversions and fitouts that would make container living a comfortable alternative to house living.

I'm having trouble understanding... are you looking for cost comparisons of container homes compared to comparable block housing? It wouldn't be apples-to-apples because most containers use insulation, while the great majority of Vietnamese block homes don't.

-Price for a used container in HCM, goes from 20 millions(20ft) to 50 and up 40ft).
-Hai Phong has a load of those abandoned that are really cheap, but you gotta pay for the transport..

Matt,
re you post, "have you ever travelled to some of the smaller villages in Vietnam and seen some of the dwellings that people live in? "   As our village architect stated to my wife, "This village is classified as countryside, so there are NO building regulations. You can build a bamboo hut if you wish."   

My wife instead insisted that the architect draw plans and design to city building regulations, because one day our area definitely will be part of Nha Trang city when the boundary moves and she wanted a house that was not going to have to be demolished.  We had all the building dramas that you descibe. The build took five months, plus corrections to the septic plumbing. Overall, the builder did a very good job and I was happy with it and he is now doing some repairs for me following rain damage.

more photos, some are brilliant looking homes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpdtMskYQSs

John,

I've researched the container homes, check out YouTube.

As far s regulations and property in VN. I am clueless but Ben Franklins go a long way here. Just make sure you do your home work with the local authority or you will be disappointed. As far as that goes where you have VN family:friends, their property and giving over rights  to them works well. Also, make sure you research the war history of property, old live ordinance is still a frightening thing when it announces its presence.

The containers are available, ck around ports districts. 
Best of luck
Mac

Thanks, Mac! Project is temporarily on-hold.

I will definitely keep your wise words in mind,

John

John did you happen to run across any info about refrigerated containers? Just wondering if there was any Cons against it the pros would be already insulated and AC if it worked. Those refrigerated containers maybe impossible to find also. Thanks

I did not, though I never looked for them.

There are drawbacks to refrigerated containers.  First, working ones are hard to find as most are abandoned due to malfunction of the refrigeration unit.  Second the refrigeration is just that and way outsized to be used as simple air-conditioning.  Also they take 3 phase power which is usually only available in commercial installations.  Third, the insulation attracts rats as a good place to nest.

It'd be easy enough to swap in a residential a/c unit. If the OEM is non-functional, that's a negotiating point.

Any rats would most likely only be at ground level and it's easy enough to repair/replace what they chewed up.

I think reefers would be a good thing to at least look at.

Wondering;

I've  a friend who ships US/VN//US using minimum 20' containers. Would this be of any help?
Secondly, where used containers are available, do you know what conditions render a container unsuitable for continued transit use, without guessing? My maritime opinion is in order to keep manufacturing these they  need be  RFS for new units to come into service.

Also, have you looked into ICF concrete forms for your potential dwelling?
Mac

As I said earlier, this is on-hold, so I'm not that far along.

John,
Yes, I understand. When you've time later.

My wife and I are thinking of making a place in Pleiku. ICF forms make a lot of sense. Once you understand the system, it becomes quite easy to utilize the readily available concrete capability in VN.

Our biggest challenges with be power, water and of course septic.
Mac

to John
This is Ha from Viet Nam, Glad to meet you here,
You want to make a home from a container. I see my friend did it . I will ask him again if you are still on this forum
Ha,
Keep in touch with me

I read thru this thread and im at a lost if it was ever determined if the cost is that much cheaper than building out of cement blocks and steel framed roof? I have a 250 sq mtr lot i wish to build as many small apartments on possibly 2 stories.  Container buildings are very popular hete in thr Philippines and thete are zero building rules.

Please be (well) aware we are in VIET NAM (!!!)

So..?    The 'rules' (and the goalposts) change as often
as your undies.   Maybe more.   Just saying...   

Even as good as Google is, it cannot compete; forget rules
for every village, province, (& district?) has its own,
..and then the powerbroker(s) who also want a slice of
(your) pie.   Any action is their option. 

Get the picture?        Research (might) help; reality will...

* Note too, they will steal more than just money; your ideas to start with...

dok49 wrote:

I read thru this thread and im at a lost if it was ever determined if the cost is that much cheaper than building out of cement blocks and steel framed roof? I have a 250 sq mtr lot i wish to build as many small apartments on possibly 2 stories.  Container buildings are very popular hete in thr Philippines and thete are zero building rules.

Costs were never really discussed. I am the OP and this was meant to be an exploratory/discussion thread.

Vagabondone wrote:

There is a structure built of these in North DaLat. I believe they use it as a coffee house though.

Yes. See post #20 on page 1.

GIRLVIETNAM wrote:

to John
This is Ha from Viet Nam, Glad to meet you here,
You want to make a home from a container. I see my friend did it . I will ask him again if you are still on this forum
Ha,
Keep in touch with me

Yes, Ha, thank you. I am interested in anything your friend would like to add to the thread.

I shattered my right knee and lower leg during my recent trip to the US and, until at least 01/01, am pretty much housebound. During the next two months I hope to do a LOT more reading and research on this topic.

John

Bazza139 wrote:

Please be (well) aware we are in VIET NAM (!!!)

So..?    The 'rules' (and the goalposts) change as often
as your undies.   Maybe more.   Just saying...   

Even as good as Google is, it cannot compete; forget rules
for every village, province, (& district?) has its own,
..and then the powerbroker(s) who also want a slice of
(your) pie.   Any action is their option. 

Get the picture?        Research (might) help; reality will...

* Note too, they will steal more than just money; your ideas to start with...

I've been here two years, so yes, we are in Vietnam.

Your points are well-taken, but also true everywhere else in the world. The only exception to that that I can see is the lack of intellectual property protection, though anything I do on this topic will be open-source and fully available for anyone to use free-of-charge if it will improve his/her life or situation.

I guess that my point is... what's yours?

Sorry John; my reply was for doc49.   Should have said.

Agreed, "everywhere in the world", but 'Zero' building rules..?

Don't get me wrong: I love (my) home, but like me, it has
a few faults to fix.   Just pointing out the obvious...
..and we all can learn from the faults of others, like the
Philippines..?     (The)  corruption is everywhere too.

Sorry if it sounded snarky.   Just (trying to) help

My Bad.     

Bazza139 wrote:

Sorry John; my reply was for doc49.   Should have said.

Agreed, "everywhere in the world", but 'Zero' building rules..?

Don't get me wrong: I love (my) home, but like me, it has
a few faults to fix.   Just pointing out the obvious...
..and we all can learn from the faults of others, like the
Philippines..?     (The)  corruption is everywhere too.

Sorry if it sounded snarky.   Just (trying to) help

My Bad.     

Thank you for the clarification...

Visiting Da Nang a couple weeks ago, almost fell off my motorbike to see a shipping container home. I remembered this old expatcom posting, so I had to take photos for y'all. It is in the south end of town, around the big bend in the coast road on the way to Hoi An. It is a sparsely built up residential area with wide streets, houses, empty lots. Don't remember the street name but if you ride around a block off the coast road you will find it, or I can look at a google map and make a guess.

It is a hybrid, house in the back, containers in the front. My wife spoke to the Vietnamese lady in the picture. It is newly built on a very deep lot. I am pretty sure they live in the back. There is a plan to open up the doors for a cafe. Funny because there is nothing commercial anywhere nearby. I love how they kept the original paint and markings, at least for now. Almost look like boxcars.

5 big pix. Open in a tab to expand.

Go Bot!   

You wiped out the myth & mystery (mostly) in one fell swoop!

Your photos are proof of the validity of utility.  (Love the Flowers)
Obviously a work in progress, allowing the naysayers negatives
but as Matt mentioned; in Ye Olde Englande they would be  full
of refugees..?   Just joking, but we can all see the potential...

Space is the place (I guess?) so a more 'open plan' is out if land
is prohibitively expensive.  But as we have already seen with the
coffee houses, creative minds come up with ways to win the day
and I for one like the ideas of the garden on top and the spaced
cladding on the (sunny?) side.

Sorry to hear John is out of action for the moment, but his mind
will be inspired by this pragmatic proof.

Thanks for sharing, Gobot. 
..I think the silent majority are watching...     I am.     

Thanks, gobot! Great find and excellent photos 

Will check it out on my next trip to Da Nang.

Cheers,

John

Got an email this morning from a site I like offering a hefty discount on a book of shipping container home plans and another on how-to-build. I bought them both--PDFs with instant delivery.

https://www.containerhomeplans.org/plans/ and use discount code xmas16

The home plans alone will save many, many hours of hard work.

Have a wonderful month and happy holidays.

Yeah I think we're all waiting for you to take the plunge first, then, when you lower the drawbridge of your steel castle we'll come to the house warming