Container Renovated House as a Self-Built House

It is feasible to use container-renovated houses as self-built houses, and there are already various practical cases.

Diverse Practical Cases

• Unique Rural House: A couple sold their house in the city and used two scrapped containers to build a unique house in the countryside. They separated the containers, built a wooden structure in the gap, assembled wooden frames and fixed them on both sides, laid wooden floors, installed door frames, etc., all strictly following the blueprint. The roof was sealed with OSB (Oriented Strand Board), covered with waterproof tarpaulin, fixed with wooden strip frames, and installed with aluminum corrugated tiles. They also carefully installed doors and windows, leaving enough windows to ensure ventilation.
• "Floating House": This container residence was built as an elevated house using recycled shipping containers, with the entire building floating among the native forests. The building is lifted above the natural ground level, surrounded by native trees, and the site retains its original landscape. Only a minimal amount of concrete is used in the foundation, with 80% of the materials being recycled. The interior walls and ceilings mainly use recycled wood from demolition. It features roof greening, rainwater harvesting and utilization, and excellent thermal and sound insulation performance. Supported by metal columns, the V-shaped support system reduces concrete usage and foundation area, and 70% of the waste generated during construction is reused.
• "Internet-Famous Cottage": Someone spent 13,000 yuan to renovate a second-hand container and built an "internet-famous cottage" for their parents in the village. The interior of the container features a rustic style with green plants, a projection screen, an open-plan small kitchen, and a fully functional bathroom. The renovator first convinced their parents with a low budget, spent 4,000 yuan to buy a standard second-hand container measuring "3 meters × 6 meters", and designed and decorated it themselves.

Characteristics and Advantages of Container Houses

A container house is a building form that uses containers as the basic structural modules and is renovated for habitation or office use. It is commonly seen on construction sites as workers' dormitories and is also used as rental housing. It has characteristics such as being environmentally friendly, flexible, and low-cost. It is widely used in fields such as temporary housing, creative spaces, and post-disaster emergency buildings. Moreover, there are continuous technological optimizations and research in terms of thermal insulation performance, energy supply systems, and intelligent management. These characteristics make container-renovated houses a viable option for self-built houses.