Shipping Container Home

[tfish]

the-gnole> What kind of flooring did you use? it looks like cement boards?? How did you choose the solar and battery arrangment? Any information on it? Looks ideal.

[the-gnole]

the-gnole> What kind of flooring did you use? it looks like cement boards?? How did you choose the solar and battery arrangment? Any information on it? Looks ideal.

The flooring is just ply-boards, either 19 or 25mm IIRC

The solar panels are from Maplins, £200 for the four including frame stands and the charger control kit, The batteries I just put them in parallel with some Hi-amp cable and ran it through to the distribution box to the various appliances. Still not finished yet time and tide you know what I'm saying, but with 12v CFL (Compact Flourecent LAMPS) it does what I need at the moment. I have a few invertors for low powered stuff, maybe get a big one one day

[tfish]

My girlfriend has some pals who are "hippys" or similar! They live on some farm land thats being converted into a full on "street" of cabin style huts, each has solar power charging a lot of batterys and a wind turbine too. All the homes share a water suppy at the top of the "street" and each has a human compost loo that they have to swap over twice a year.
I havent been myself my GF fears what I might say to these hippy types so i am keapt away but shes being gathering infomation on the homes each time she gos up there. Its totally illegal as far as i can see, no planning or council tax is involved but they have been there for a decade and the homes can be bought and sold for about 30k i think. Oh they have sokme kind of solar water piping on the roof as well... it sounds brilliant. I intend to vist one day and ill report back with my findings!!

Your cabin reminds me of the picture shes painted for me describing their set up, looks great lets see how it gets on in the winter. Are you planning to Kingspan board it inside?

[tfish]

Back to Shipping Containers.

I have been thinking about this but the problem I have is getting the Container onto the right patch of land on my site. Theres no way a delivery wagon can get onto the farmland and get off again.

Someone said companys that deliver Oil or Water tanks have a kind of 4x4 vehical that is capable of getting onto sites and craning things into place, i doubt it would do a 20th shipping container though.

There is a way of lugging these things around with the front bit attached to the back of a tractor but i imagine it to be a bit of a nightmare.

Once at the location the Container will then need to be placed onto some kind of rasied platform like breeze blocks or patio slabs... you would def need to keep it OFF the wet cold floor and let air get to it.

[the-gnole]

It's all lagged and has gone through last winter without any problems.

I used the £3 a roll stuff from the DIY sheds, 200mm thick fibreglass in walls and roof void, 100mm thick rockwool in the floor void, cool in the summer, warm in the winter. Now have a couple of superser fires to heat it as well as adequate ventilation at high level so it can breathe and so can I.

Deepending on how far off the track you want a container placed you can get them Craned off, rather than Hiabed. also on a trailer is good, or just a chuffing big fork-lift/load-all

[tfish]

so you just put air vents in the shed but "high" up?

why not low down? whats the thinking behind them being up a height

so no condensation problems so far? thats a big worry for me with both cabins and containers

[the-gnole]

At the moment I am working on high level ventilation as it will keep draughts at low level to a minimum but still allow air changes and that will reduce any condensatiuon due to LPG burning.

[JohnRio]

At the moment I am working on high level ventilation as it will keep draughts at low level to a minimum but still allow air changes and that will reduce any condensatiuon due to LPG burning.

Something to bear in mind - LPG is heavier than air, and the molecules are bigger too. If you get a leak into an otherwise air tight space it just pools at the bottom = an explosion & fire hazard!

This is a big issue on boats, which being watertight are also gas tight! (LPG > air > water molecules).
The iron hulled boat I owned had been burned out two owners before, due to an LPG leak!!

Of course on land you can put vents low down, which will allow LPG gas leaks to slowly dissipate, so you might want to consider that.

Also, if you have any kind of burner that needs a chimney e.g. wood or coal, a low vent helps the fire get a good draw going. If you set your low vents away from bed / seating areas then draughts aren't such an issue...



Oh, sorry, my comments are re. the steel shipping containers!

Your (very nice) shed is probably porous enough not to be an issue, and I see you have your gas bottles outside, so you can always turn them off at the bottle before you bed down at night and there's no danger of a leak in the living quarters anyway.

[JohnRio]

It's all lagged and has gone through last winter without any problems.

I used the £3 a roll stuff from the DIY sheds, 200mm thick fibreglass in walls and roof void, 100mm thick rockwool in the floor void, cool in the summer, warm in the winter. Now have a couple of superser fires to heat it as well as adequate ventilation at high level so it can breathe and so can I.

Deepending on how far off the track you want a container placed you can get them Craned off, rather than Hiabed. also on a trailer is good, or just a chuffing big fork-lift/load-all

So, roughly how much did you end up spending on your "shed"?

[JohnRio]

i like the ex site office for £1,200 now all i've got to do is find some land

Thats the price I was given for the ex office kind. One window (Shuttered) in the side and one at the back end. The front doors open and can be locked outwards with a another studwall inc a plastic upvc door fitted so you can lock open the doors and get some light while being covered from the elements too.

One huge worry it... if you in the container and someone sneaks up and locks you in for the outside. Your fracked.

I was told the "recession" had increased the price of these by 30% with companys buying old stock and not making new.

No worries about being locked in - make sure it's up on blocks at least 18", make a "skirt" around it to keep wee critters from setting up home underneath you. Make sure a couple of those skirt panels can be easily hinged / slid open from the inside.... and cut an escape trapdoor in a discreet spot in the floor (use an angle grinder if the outer skin is steel)...

Hell, it worked for that one guy who lived in a trailer on "Dexter"!