Building a Shipping Container Home | EP01Permits and Foundation Design

In Episode 1 we will go over the basic considerations for buying shipping containers, explain how we got building permits for a shipping container house and show how we constructed the concrete foundations. This is the first episode in our series on shipping container houses. #shippingcontainer #shippingcontainerhome #shippingcontainerhouse

The PDF plans are on the website for this Container House Project:

Buying the Shipping Containers:
We purchased one trip condition hi-cube containers. California requires that shipping containers used for homes have documentation showing that have not had toxic or radioactive materials in them. This normally means that you need one trip condition containers with appropriate certificates. I bought my containers from
and paid $4800 each for the 40-foot hi-cube containers and $3250 for the 20-foot hi-cube container. Hi-cube containers are a foot taller than typical shipping containers.

Permits:
I recommend going in person to the local building department showing them the survey and asking them for a checklist of everything that needs to be completed to get building permits. The survey is important because it shows the building dept both the physical nature of the property and documents its legal boundaries and history. I explained that I wanted to build a shipping container house and asked for a complete checklist of everything I would need to get done and submit in order to get building permits.

Architectural Design
I used the architecture firm I co-founded, ZeroEnergy Design, to produce the architectural drawings. Even though I am a co-owner I made sure to pay the firm for the hours of preparation that this task would take. It would be unfair to my partners if I used firm resources for my own personal project. I paid $5000 for the creation of the architectural drawings.

Structural Engineering
I sent the architectural drawings over to the structural engineering firm I hired, and they created the structural details and created a package of calculations showing that these details would meet all code requirements and result in a safe and strong building. This package of drawings and calculations was required by the building dept. My architecture firm primarily practices on the east coast and does not have a stamp in California so I had the structural engineering firm stamp the drawings. The building dept gave me the option of having either the architecture firm or the engineering firm stamp the documents.

Foundation design:
We ended up building a monolithic on slab on grade concrete foundation. We worked on designs for some piers that would have saved in material costs but then the space underneath the container would have been classified as a crawl space and the bottom of the container would have to be 18” off the ground at a minimum. This would mean I would have to build stairs and railing for all the decks.

Grading the site and excavating for the foundation
I rented a bulldozer and hired an operator to level a portion of the site where I wanted to place the house. I then rented a back hoe to dig out the footings for the foundation.

Building the forms
The forms were built out of 2x8s screwed to steel stakes that we hammered into the ground.

Reinforcement
We used #4 rebar to reinforce the concrete. This was wired together to match the structural drawings.

Concrete Day
Concrete day was pretty exciting. We had to pump the concrete to one of the foundation slabs because the truck couldn’t get close enough without driving over the other forms.

[zacharybeus]

Great video! For all those complaining about permit costs.... I opened a bar in downtown Los Angeles and it cost nearly $75000 in permits alone (to include the price of a "glorified" permit expediter - $25K). Look, California is not cheap, but videos like this are invaluable because it demonstrates the importance of being financially prepared to start any new construction and/or buildout in California. Be prepared for hidden costs by at least 25%. Once again, great video Ben.

[joshuadodge]

This is the great thing about West Virginia:
"I want to build a house on my land."
"Okay."
End of process.

[MicahJohns]

First minute and I've heard the word "permit" like 85 times. California sounds aweeeesssommmmeeee.

[richardking]

Wow... You really explained everything in detail... especially the part about not building anything in California. Lol

[CrafterMaker]

This is some next level YouTube. I feel like you could make the episodes a little longer. This way better than anything on TV. There is so much good stuff here.
Great job Ben 😁

[bigdogpete]

Heavens. All for sitting a steel box on the ground.

[williamhogan]

Licensed California architect here - Slab on grade was the way to go. Just bolt the container to a raised perimeter curb, and use the bolts to level it. You have to anchor it anyway. My concern is with having mild still / galvanized steel in direct contact with concrete. You should be fine up in the high desert, but this would pose corrosion issues in a damp environment.

...and I'm gonna go ahead and guess this ended up costing significantly more than traditional type 5 construction on a per-square foot basis. That's fine, but people should know what to expect from a cost standpoint.

[daemonsilver]

I pour and finish concrete. Have worked with concrete for over two decades, growing up around the trade.
You did a VERY neat and accurate description of all the processes involved. I hate the heat and the filth, and the dry skin. But I love seeing a finished slab I installed, perfectly measured and neatly troweled.
I look forward to seeing the following episodes!

[gotmozart]

Those workers wondering why this guy wants to live in boxes in the middle of the desert

[StacheCam]

Holy cow. 25, 000 just in permits ! Starting to crush my hopes

[johncoleman]

I have a container shop here in Alaska. It's a 20 and a 40 jointed together side by side. I just have it sitting on rail road ties and it lived through a 6.0 earth quake last November. Only a few things fell over

[thatgirlSarahi]

I’ve been looking for an EXACT step by step process with pricing and I am so glad I found you!!! THANK YOU!

[diggiediggz]

only thing I didn't like about the video was there wasn't another to watch right after!!!! ahhhh!!! now I'm waiting anxiously. keep up the great work. love your vids

[FullSendPrecision]

25, 000 dollars for permits in the desert. Awesome.

[spoogle]

how is land so cheap? 10 acres for $20, 000, that's crazy ~40, 000m2

edit: holy fck the permits cost more than the land it's on? WTF

[stellarsidewalks]

Ben, fantastic video! I do shipping container projects myself and I still learned a lot from your video - extreme helpful and informative. For of the people focused on how expensive and what a pain in the ass California is to when building:
You are 100% correct with respect to both. That said though, do the quick numbers. Assuming you’re $100k all in on this house:

-You can easily AirBNB it for $275 in Joshua Tree
-It’s booked less than 1/3 of the time (120 days a year), again, no problem in Joshua Tree
-You pay it off in 3 years
-Starting year 4, you’re bringing in $30k+ per year with that property minimum; you can realistically book more nights and/or increase the rate and get closer to $50k+

Food for thought.

[darktigre]

Man you're so close to Nevada. You were *this* close to greatness

[bstuckhere]

This is great. I’ve been listening to you talk about this for months and I’m so stoked to finally see it in detail. Bravo! I can’t wait for the next video.

[victorunbea]

CA: Do you have a permit to get a permit?

[Slctve]

For a shipping containers we usually go with pillar foundation design, depending on the environment and frost line depth we drill about 1, 5m in depth and ~10-20cm in diameter, put in concrete and metal bases just like in your initial drawings. There is also full metal screw in type of pillars, some people use them because they are cheaper alternative, but I am not sure if they are better, those are basically big and long metal screws, they just go in the ground and thats all. These foundations are usually used for smaller constructions.
The foundation you used here would be considered as too much in most of the countries, we usually use these foundations for a traditional houses, although we make them deeper, that probably depending on a frost line, usually we dig in ~1, 5m depth here in Lithuania.