Small Container House Construction Methods
The construction of small container houses involves steps such as selection, ground preparation, lifting and positioning, and modular renovation, involving technical aspects such as structural mechanics and waterproofing. Details are as follows:
Selection Phase: Attention should be paid to the structural type of the container house, with common options being welded integral containers and bolt-connected modular containers. Welded containers are formed by integral welding in the factory, with a direct load path and strong resistance to deformation, suitable for frequent lifting and relocation. Modular containers use standard panels connected by bolts, with multiple connection nodes in the load path. When selecting, the steel wall thickness of the columns and bottom beams should be checked, with common specifications ranging from 1.5mm to 3mm. Thicker walls provide greater load-bearing redundancy but also increase the self-weight. Additionally, the coating process on the container surface is crucial. Hot-dip galvanizing offers a longer corrosion-resistant lifespan than cold-dip galvanizing, especially in areas with significant temperature variations between day and night and humidity changes, where the coating quality directly determines the rusting speed of the container.
Ground Preparation: A uniform load-bearing foundation should be provided for the container house. This involves removing loose soil and debris from the ground and compacting the original soil layer. For long-term fixed use, a concrete strip foundation should be poured, with a recommended width of 30cm to 50cm and a depth determined by the local frost depth. The top surface of the foundation should be kept level, with a height difference not exceeding 5mm. For short-term use scenarios, prefabricated concrete pads or steel plates can be used, with a pad spacing not exceeding 2m and a crushed stone leveling layer laid beneath each pad.
Lifting and Positioning: The contact state between the container and the foundation should be precisely controlled. Container houses typically have four or six lifting points at the bottom. During lifting, steel wires with sufficient load-bearing capacity should be used, and all lifting points should be synchronized in force application. After the container is positioned, the fit between the bottom beam and the foundation pad should be immediately checked. If there is local suspension, thin steel sheets should be used to pad it solid, and a level should be used to detect along the longitudinal and transverse directions of the bottom beam, with the levelness error controlled within 2mm per meter.
Modular Renovation: Functional areas can be expanded through methods such as splicing and combination and staggered stacking. For example, connecting two containers can create a flat layout with an integrated living and dining area, two bedrooms, and a bathroom with a bathtub. Additionally, large floor-to-ceiling windows and roof skylights can be installed to improve lighting, and internal insulation layers and triple-glazed windows can be used to enhance thermal insulation performance.
