Container Homes

Ahh, the container home. Where your Lego-loving inner child meets the creative adult you are now. You can picture it in your head. You have checked out all the awesome pictures online. Now it is time to get started on your new home. We can help. We can provide you with the containers for your home and the first few steps in getting those containers to go from empty boxes to ready-to-use pieces of home.

If you are making a single-container home or cabin, we can get you pretty far along. If you are making a multi-container home, we can get you to a great spot for you or your general contractor to take over and make it your own.

We can cut and frame openings for doors, windows, openings to make larger rooms, openings for stairs, add in additional support where needed and generally have all the time-consuming cutting and welding done for you. You provide us with drawings of what you need, and we price it out based on the time and materials needed. We can even stud it out for you.

If you are making a multi-container home, we generally leave it at that point. You will want to run all the electric into the home once the containers are set in place and then plumb and insulate from there.

If you are doing a single-container home, we can add in the electric for you and then insulate and cover the insulation for you, so you just need to bring in your plumber and finish it from there.

With container homes, we do as much or as little as you want.

Design and Engineering

We are not a design firm, so we do need you to provide us with your designs for what you want. We very strongly recommend using a structural engineer. You wouldn't think of building a traditional home or building without having someone review your plans to make sure the house won't collapse. The same is true with a container home, if not more so. Containers make a great building material, but as you take away parts of the container, you reduce the structural integrity of the container. That structural integrity can be rebuilt with supports, but you want to make sure that is done correctly so your new house is safe.

If you don't have a full-blown design, in the beginning that is OK. We can provide basic pricing based on ideas. However, as we get into the actual work of a container home, we will require detailed drawings from you or your structural engineer spelling out the detailed specifics of what you need done.

Questions to Consider When Planning a Container Home

Why do you want to use containers for building your home?

Knowing this will help you figure out many of the questions that will come up as you plan out your home. Are you looking to use containers because you want a green, recycled material? Then you'll probably want to use used containers to build them. Are you looking for that crisp, industrial look of containers? Then you probably want to use one-trip/'new' containers to have that look. Are you using them because containers are an easy way to build a home in a remote area? You probably want to go with fewer containers or stick to minimal modifications.

All in all, being clear on why you like containers will help you narrow down your choices. You may find that you don’t want to be confined to the 8’ width of containers, so going with a hybrid of container and traditional-build methods come together to create the gorgeous design you have in your head. Or your off-the-grid tiny home fits inside a 20’ container with very few, but very precise modifications to make it work perfectly for you.

Do you want your container home to be 100% made from containers or do you want a mix of containers and traditional built?

There is no wrong answer, but there are endless possibilities.

Will you be working on your container home yourself or using a contractor?

Just the same a traditional home, you can do as much or as little of the work yourself. Super Cubes does basic modifications to containers. Our capabilities vary depending on where in the country you are modifying your container. But if it is a multi-container project, chances are you will need to have a contractor to assemble the containers onsite and finish them off.

Is a container home or building allowed where you want to build it?

Different cities and counties have different rules on this. It is important to find if your project will pass local codes before getting too far into your project.

Getting Started on a Container Home Quote

If you would like us to quote a container home for you, please make sure you have the following:

A design showing what modifications you will need done.
A list of those modifications clarifying what they are (sizes, descriptions, preferred materials, etc.)
The location where the home will be. As we mentioned above, we have different capabilities in different parts of the country. Please include where the home will be so we can price out appropriately.
If you are looking for things like insulation, flooring, etc., please be very specific in what you are looking for—roll insulation vs foam, types of walls, types of flooring. Our basic modifications are very industrial, so if you want anything pretty, please include what that is. Links to stores showing the products you want are great as that lets us know what you want. Otherwise our pricing will have the look of a construction job site trailer because that is the look most of our industrial customers are looking for.

There are some things we do NOT do. Please keep them in mind:

Design work of any sort. We are not designers.
Floor-plans. We do not create them. We are not engineers and it would be irresponsible for us to design a home for you.
Plumbing.
Installing containers. Depending on where you are located, we may be able to set the container on the ground for you. In some locations, you will need to offload the container from our trucks. If you need containers set on footings, you will need to have an equipment handling company put them in place for you.
Onsite electric work. You will need an electrician set up your container home for you.