How to Use Four Styles of Shipping Container for Your Home
Posted on: 9 February 2022
A shipping container home is a unique, cost-effective, and ecologically conscious way to build your dream home. But you can make things even easier and more cost-effective by choosing the right containers to start with. Here's a guide to deploying the four most common containers used in home construction.
1. Standard
The most popular shipping container to start with is the standard, or general dry, shipping container. This is the ubiquitous style you see on cargo ships everywhere. It has all four sides and so can be used as the basis for a great home. Its primary selling point is its sturdiness. Because general dry containers are designed to be stacked on top of each other, this is the strongest base for your home.
2. Open Top
Not all cargo fits into an eight or nine-foot-tall container, of course. For unusually tall loads, open top shipping containers allow overflow overhead. Now, while you probably do want a roof over your head when designing a home, an open top container is perfect for anyone who wants to add a second story to their home. As long as the container is sturdy enough, starting with an open top means you don't have to cut off the roof.
3. Tunnel
A tunnel container, as its name suggests, is one with open ends on both sides instead of a door and a rear wall. Tunnel containers work as part of a multi-container home design by linking two other containers to increase your single-level square footage. And by cutting additional holes in the sides, you can link even more containers for expansion or add a courtyard within a square or U shape.
4. Open Side
Finally, the open-sided container has one thing that most shipping containers don't: plenty of natural sunlight. You can open up one entire side, which has already been made easy due to the bi-fold design that allows cargo to be loaded and unloaded from the side. Replace this folding door with a window wall or add a wall around large windows and doors for a stunning view and a fresh, airy feeling.
Where to Learn More
The more you learn about the best styles of container for each home or part of a home, the more you can customize your new house. Start by learning more about all these containers and more esoteric options that might help you create the home of your dreams. Stop by or call a shipping container home construction company like Smart Barndominiums in your area today.
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