Our “Build-your-Own Shipping Container Cabin Checklist” provides you with the methodology we use for our projects. We will custom design your requirements, share our R&D, techniques and tricks to building your own Shipping Container Cabin seamlessly. Most importantly, our learnings from this 7-container project have been documented in detail to ensure other builds can avoid some of the surprises we have encountered.
BUILD-YOUR-OWN SHIPPING CONTAINER CABIN CHECKLIST:
- Concept and Design
- Needs, Wants, and Philosophies
- Low cost
- High security
- Sustainable, independent, and unique
- Maximize and exploit inherent benefits of container structures
- Turn the inherent weaknesses of containers into strengths
- Design Strategies
- Insulation and Interior Strategy for container ceilings, walls, floors, inside versus outside, cold climate and condensation considerations, thermal break concept, R value of steel
- Insulating Coatings, fundamental research and findings
- Center Great Room, features and functions
- Roofing System and Cupula Effect
- Off grid features
- Stepwise Construction Approach
- Concept Drawings
- Google SketchUp concept PDF images
- Google SketchUp electronic working files for additional views and customization
- Final AutoCAD rendered concept drawings in PDF format, basis for Construction Drawings
- Containers and Materials Selection
- High cubes versus standard cubes
- New “one-trip” containers versus used “wind and water tight” units
- Treated plywood floors – understanding pesticide treatments, construction techniques to encapsulate, alternative measures
- Off Grid, Sustainability and Reliability Features
- Interior water tower
- Solar water pumping
- Plumbing with quick and natural draining
- Wood fired sauna and shower area
- Patio mist natural air conditioning
- Optimizing power supply and demand
- DC versus AC
- LED lighting and DC alignment
- Refrigeration options, highest efficiency designs, DC options
- DC HVAC options
- Construction strategies
- Concrete piers and container fastening
- Container interface and connection
- Post and Beam structure and fastening
- Bill of Materials
- Detailed list of construction materials
- Local suppliers versus big box stores
- Exercising buying power for materials
- Issue Final Construction Plans
- Obtaining Building Permits
- Building project support with Local Building Officials
- Building code treatment and structural integrity validation
- Taking Delivery of Containers
- Scheduling and accepting deliveries
- Tilt and load truck capabilities and constraints
- Alternative methods to unload and move containers on site
- Inspections and contingency planning
- Project Coaching available from Jason Rioux
This is very interesting but I wonder what do you use for cooking? Also for refrigeration of food? Both of these things are difficult to do running solar power.
Hi Dennis, thanks for your questions. We have a propane stove in the kitchen for cooking. In the winter, we also cook on the wood stove. And of course, BBQ cooking outside. As for refrigeration, we used an ultra-efficient DC refrigerator from Europe that uses 1/10th the electricity of conventional refrigerators due to a very efficient compressor, very thick insulation, and top loading door which does not drop all the cold air when you retrieve your food. By using an ultra-efficient fridge you can significantly reduce the size of your solar and battery storage systems. Gone are the days that we need to use propane for refrigeration in off-grid applications. Hope this helps.