Almost made a guest house with one of these. 8 feet (wide) by 20 feet (long) by 8 feet (high). The problem with the 20 foot containers (as opposed to the 40 foot) is they’re not as often 9 feet tall. You really need a 9 foot tall container as after you give up floor and roof space to finish out the project, a 9 foot container will get you about 8 feet of interior height.
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There are some good floorplans that allow for an apt to fit in a 160 SF (or 320 SF) container. If the city made it easier to deploy these, we’d put ’em all over the place. However, the paperwork makes it not worth it (for us at least)
Houstonian
Cody, can you elaborate on the issues you face getting shipping container living quarters onto a property?
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Since these are not permanent, they can’t be used to increase your property tax, right? A 200k home with a guest house added might suddenly get taxed at 250k. But a shipping container is not a permanent addition so it can’t be counted on property tax and that fictional house would remain taxed at the lower rate if the guest home was a container.
awp
Cody,
If height is the problem, they are stackable. Or did the extra purchase, stripping of a panel, and welding make it cost prohibitive?
How much research did you put in?
Do they actually end up being cost effective once you figure you still have to do framing and insulation?
Dan Denson
Nice home, and beautiful street. No wonder that area is hot. I’m actually surprised the asking price is that low.
Neil
I agree that this house is on a nice street with great trees, but $265 a square foot still seems a bit high, especially considering the surrounding wasteland separating this area from downtown.
LWD
I’m actually surprised the price is that high! I have been looking pretty aggressively for a home in Eastwood and this one is out of bounds for what has recently sold, even for this beautiful street. I was irritated enough by the $254/sqft price for characterless upgrades that I haven’t even bothered to go look at it. The shipping container looks creepy (as does the half bath hanging off the mysterious garage) and it’s probably a real pain to get rid of.
East Ender
Price per foot does seem high. I saw a nice duplex come up about a block from there for more like $110 a foot.
Superdave
@East Ender – You would be amazed how easy it is to “get rid” of anything in Houston, especially a functioning shipping container with the door and window already cut out and installed. I know of at least 10 deer hunters that would show up tomorrow with a trailer to haul it off to their deer camp if you offered it for free.
When I have junk, I usually lay it on the grass in my front yard, between the sidewalk and the street. It usually disappears within 3 hours, especially if it has metal in it. When that doesn’t work, I call any contractor (literally any of them – plumber, carpenter, law mower, etc.) and one of them will come pick it up within a day. For nasty stuff that is truly worthless (no metal, no resale opportunity, no use for fill material), I will pay them to haul it to the city dump for me.
Almost made a guest house with one of these. 8 feet (wide) by 20 feet (long) by 8 feet (high). The problem with the 20 foot containers (as opposed to the 40 foot) is they’re not as often 9 feet tall. You really need a 9 foot tall container as after you give up floor and roof space to finish out the project, a 9 foot container will get you about 8 feet of interior height.
.
There are some good floorplans that allow for an apt to fit in a 160 SF (or 320 SF) container. If the city made it easier to deploy these, we’d put ’em all over the place. However, the paperwork makes it not worth it (for us at least)
Cody, can you elaborate on the issues you face getting shipping container living quarters onto a property?
–
Since these are not permanent, they can’t be used to increase your property tax, right? A 200k home with a guest house added might suddenly get taxed at 250k. But a shipping container is not a permanent addition so it can’t be counted on property tax and that fictional house would remain taxed at the lower rate if the guest home was a container.
Cody,
If height is the problem, they are stackable. Or did the extra purchase, stripping of a panel, and welding make it cost prohibitive?
How much research did you put in?
Do they actually end up being cost effective once you figure you still have to do framing and insulation?
Nice home, and beautiful street. No wonder that area is hot. I’m actually surprised the asking price is that low.
I agree that this house is on a nice street with great trees, but $265 a square foot still seems a bit high, especially considering the surrounding wasteland separating this area from downtown.
I’m actually surprised the price is that high! I have been looking pretty aggressively for a home in Eastwood and this one is out of bounds for what has recently sold, even for this beautiful street. I was irritated enough by the $254/sqft price for characterless upgrades that I haven’t even bothered to go look at it. The shipping container looks creepy (as does the half bath hanging off the mysterious garage) and it’s probably a real pain to get rid of.
Price per foot does seem high. I saw a nice duplex come up about a block from there for more like $110 a foot.
@East Ender – You would be amazed how easy it is to “get rid” of anything in Houston, especially a functioning shipping container with the door and window already cut out and installed. I know of at least 10 deer hunters that would show up tomorrow with a trailer to haul it off to their deer camp if you offered it for free.
When I have junk, I usually lay it on the grass in my front yard, between the sidewalk and the street. It usually disappears within 3 hours, especially if it has metal in it. When that doesn’t work, I call any contractor (literally any of them – plumber, carpenter, law mower, etc.) and one of them will come pick it up within a day. For nasty stuff that is truly worthless (no metal, no resale opportunity, no use for fill material), I will pay them to haul it to the city dump for me.
Love the container!!