Shipping container makes ‘all-season suite’

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This article was published 06/04/2010 (5732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CONSIDER the shipping container for a second.

Those large, steel-reinforced storage units, common passengers on cargo ships and on the backs of flatbed railcars, are not just for transporting large quantities of tube socks from China.

Apparently, you can live in them.

"There is some interest out there," said Vern Hiebert, a Winkler area man who is selling a refurbished, made-to-live-in container on the Kijiji website. "We have had interest from people wanting to build homes out of the containers with multiple units."

Hiebert is selling one cube, 14.6 by 2.6 metres which provides about 37 square metres of living space. Split into three rooms — bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/den — the recycled container has all the modern necessities of a typical dwelling.

The plumbing system is located underneath the unit and any electrical needs require only a service call to Manitoba Hydro for hook up. Hiebert says the "house" meets all provincial building codes.

"You’re not going to put this thing on Wellington Crescent, but there’s no reason you can’t live in it year-round," he said. "If you have to move, well… it’s a shipping container, it was designed for that."

A spokeswoman for the city said that if the container follows zoning bylaws and has the necessary permits, it would be permissible inside the perimeter, pending an assessment.

As for comfort, one might think steel walls would transform the unit into a convection oven during summer months. To beat the heat, Hiebert coated the exterior with a ceramic paint to help reflect the warmth and installed a tiny window air conditioner.

Hiebert calls the residence is an "all-season suite," with space-saving insulation inside the walls, ceiling, and under the laminate flooring.

Shipping container homes have popped all over the world, some as single-user units and others stacked on top of one another to create a two-storey palace.

Hiebert’s container comes from an idea shared with friends Brad and Helen Adrian. They saw a possible marketplace in Manitoba, but when they tried to explain the design to prospective clients, the message was lost in translation.

So they built one with a crate purchased from a Morden supplier. The group spent the summer of 2008 putting the luxury suite together. Health concerns slowed the project which is why the container is only now up for sale.

"These things are practically bulletproof; you’re not going to damage them. They’re made out of steel."

Hiebert listed the container at $32,500, priced to move, he said.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca