Burying A Shipping Container | Construction and DIY projects | Forums

If you have ever thought of burying a shipping container there are certain precautions you must take. If done improperly the results can be less than desireable including catastrophical failure.

In the video above faircompanies.com takes a tour of a home built out of two shippig containers that were fully buried. The Rees family incorporated proper drainage and a concrete slab to help disperse the soil weight to the correct load points of the containers.

After a few years of camping on their 10 acre plot in Northern California, they bought two shipping containers, hired an excavator and got to work. Doing most of the work themselves, their finished home cost them $30,000 (solar included). Their 640-square-foot space cost them less than $50 per square foot.

Rees explains that while this is less than conventional construction costs, the savings only begin with construction. With a solar-powered well, a bit of propane and solar tubes for most of their light, they haven’t had any city water or electric bills since 2002. Winter temperatures in their home (even during 20 degrees outside) never fall below 62 degrees (an RV catalytic heater is sufficient for heating). Even when the temperature rises to 110 outside in the summer, their home has never risen above 82 degrees.

It is a cool project but personally I would stick to a surface bonded cement wall for the DIY'er.