What to Know Before Buying a Container House or Prefabricated House

The pros and cons of building a container house

Today, containers have become another option for building a house or building, suited to people looking for something new, good value and interesting. There is a current trend of renovating old shipping containers into houses, which is growing in popularity because they are affordable, can be built on limited land and take little time to build. So today we would like to share and introduce the container house, or container home — what it is and what its pros and cons are — before you buy or build.

What to know before buying a container house or prefabricated house

Converting shipping containers into container houses is now attracting very high popularity and interest. This style of building is similar to building a knock-down house, except that instead of ordinary house-building materials, shipping containers are used. It is a very interesting new idea for building homes, turning something you would not expect to become a house into a real home to live in, and it can be adapted into a wide variety of designs as you wish.

Many people will have seen shipping containers turned into coffee shops, resorts, sales offices or even homes, which look very attractive and liveable once decorated. But what do you need to know to build a house from shipping containers? Let's take a look.

1. You need to know the exact size of the container and the usable area, since containers are rectangular, as well as the strength and durability of the steel.
2. If you decide to build a house from shipping containers, piles must be driven, because containers are heavy. On firm soil, a raft foundation can be used; on soft soil, hexagonal piles are used as pile groups supporting all six points of each container.
3. A container house or container home can have doors and windows and can be decorated in every way just like the walls of a house — for example, cut to fit door and window frames. The caution is not to cut at the corners, because these are the load-bearing posts. Also, once an opening has been cut, a reinforcing frame must be fitted around it.

Once you know you want to build a container house, you also need to know the pros and cons of making a container house.

Advantages of building a container house or container home

1. It can be completed quickly, in just 2-4 weeks, depending on the extra finishes and functions you want. The more detail, the longer construction may take, but it is still very fast compared with conventional construction.
2. It is ready to move into or use straight away. Because it is a prefabricated container house, the electrical and plumbing systems are already in place. If it is a finished house design, some suppliers may even fit the air-conditioning and partition the bathroom and bedroom for you, with nothing more to do.
3. Lower total cost. Most container houses are priced from the high tens of thousands to the low hundreds of thousands of baht, depending on the style, size and functions you choose. Compared with building a house of the same size and function using traditional brick and plaster, or buying a house in a housing estate, the price you pay could rise into the millions.
4. No hassle finding builders and no construction waste. When you buy a prefabricated container house or container home as a house, office or shop, you can choose a finished design and have it lifted onto your land. This saves you finding trustworthy tradespeople or contractors and negotiating with them, and you don't have to calculate quantities or run around buying materials. Poor calculations can leave plenty of leftover construction materials, which are not only wasteful but also need space to store.
5. Fits limited space and is easy to move. For a house, shop or office on limited land, choosing a container house or container home to match the size of the plot works very well. Not only do you get usable space that fits the area available, but if it is a temporary office that has to change location often, a container house is a worthwhile investment, because it can be lifted and moved to the new office location straight away.

Disadvantages of building a container house or container home

1. Its service life is shorter than a house with a traditional brick-and-cement structure. Although a container house or container home has a strong, durable steel structure, it does not have cast concrete columns or driven piles like an ordinary house. If you do not prepare and compact the ground where the unit will stand firmly enough, the building may settle after some time in use.
2. It is harder to decorate and extend later. Drilling or hammering nails can damage the walls and structure of a container house or container home, because the whole structure is designed from the start to support the functions planned. Any extension may cause the structure to fail and put users in danger.

That is everything we wanted people interested in owning a container house to know before choosing to build a container house or container home. And if you are looking for a container house, SBT Worldwide Product can convert one from an office unit for you.