BUILDING PERMISSION AND BASIC DESIGN FOR A SHIPPING CONTAINER HOME

we will go over the simple concerns for shopping for shipping containers home, give an explanation for how we acquired constructing lets in for a shipping container house, and exhibit how we developed the concrete foundations.

Buying the land:

Buying uncooked empty land except for structures on it is exclusive than shopping for a house.  It’s extra challenging to impervious financing for land.  I paid money for this 10-acre lot.  It was once listed for around $24,000 and I supplied $20,000.   I checked to make certain it was once shut to the water and electrical utilities earlier than finishing the deal.  I requested the vendor if they had commissioned a survey of the property in the closing 10 years and when they stated no I defined that I would be presenting much less than the asking price.

Survey:

The first aspect I did use to be to fee a surveying firm.  I emailed various nearby companies and requested a quote for a full topographical survey and plot sketch with all constructing setbacks shown.  The constructing setbacks are key due to the fact they inform me of the place I can location the house.  I desire the residence to be rather shut to the boundaries of the property to decrease the want for constructing a lengthy force and to minimize the price of connecting utilities.  The survey fee me $4000

Buying Shipping Containers:

We bought one day out situation hi-cube containers.  California requires that shipping containers used for residences have documentation displaying that have no longer had poisonous or radioactive substances in them. This common capability that you want a one-time situation container with excellent certificates.  I sold my containers from Container Discounts and Pays 4,800 per 40-foot high-cube container and $ 3,250 per 20-foot high-cube container. Hi-cube containers are a foot taller than regular delivery containers.  If you are involved in studying how to buy a delivery container I strongly advise calling Container Discounts.  They are very educated and have precise prices.

Permits:

I advocate going in individual to the neighborhood constructing branch displaying them the survey and asking them for guidelines of the entirety that wants to be achieved to get constructing permits.  The survey is vital due to the fact it suggests the constructing dept. each the physical nature of the property and files its criminal boundaries and history.  I defined that I desired to construct a shipping container home and requested for whole guidelines of the whole lot I would want to get performed and publish to get constructing permits.  Getting construction approves is a little bit extraordinary in every county.  My property used to be underneath San Bernadino County’s jurisdiction.

Architectural Design

I used the structure company I co-founded, ZeroEnergy Design, to produce the architectural drawings.  Even although I am a co-owner I made positive to pay the association for the hours of training that this venture would take.  It would be unfair to my companions if I used association sources for my personal private project. I paid $5000 for the advent of the architectural drawings.  I didn’t want a lot of elements in the drawing set considering that I was once planning on constructing a lot of it myself.  I  simply wished for a building drawing set that would get me thru permitting.

Structural Engineering

I despatched the architectural drawings over to the structural engineering company I hired, and they created the structural small print and created a package deal of calculations displaying that these small print would meet all code necessities and result in a secure and sturdy building.  This bundle of drawings and calculations as required with the aid of the constructing dept.  My structure company especially practices on the east coast and does no longer have a stamp in California so I had the structural engineering company stamp the drawings.  The constructing dept. gave me the choice of having both the structure company or the engineering association stamp the documents.

Hiring a widespread contractor

I am new to the Joshua tree area, so I employed a typical contractor to assist me with the venture and propose nearby forte tradespeople like plumbers and electricians.  We agreed on a time and substances contract the place I would pay advances each and every week based totally on what we anticipated to do.  He would then supply receipts displaying how the development was once used.  This is a pay as you go gadget that is proper for unconventional initiatives in the place the proprietor is involved.  For simple everyday construction, I decide upon a constant rate contract.  With an undertaking like this builders would tend to overbid on constant charge because there are so many unconventional parts.

Foundation design:

We ended up constructing a monolithic slab on a grade concrete foundation.  We labored on designs for some piers that would have saved in cloth charges however then the house beneath the container would have been categorized as crawl house and the backside of the container would have to be 18” off the floor at a minimum.  This would suggest I would have to construct stairs and railing for all the decks.

Grading the web page and excavating for the foundation

I rented a bulldozer and employed an operator to stage an element of the website online the place I desired to the area the house.  I then rented a backhoe to dig out the footings for the foundation.

Building the forms

The types have been constructed out of 2x8s screwed to metal stakes that we hammered into the ground.

Reinforcement

We used the #4 rebar to toughen the concrete.  This used to be wired collectively to healthy structural drawings.

Concrete Day

The concrete day was once enormously exciting.  We had to pump the concrete to one of the basis slabs due to the fact the truck couldn’t get shut ample except riding over the different forms.

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