Design Considerations

At its most basic the requirements of any habitable structure is that it's got to be warm, safe and dry. If your going to build with multiple cargo containers there are several factors that you have to take into consideration to fulfill these requirements.

Cargo containers are made to stack, we all know that, but they have to stack on the corners. Any design that stacks containers any other way was probably done by someone that has never built with containers. The whole point of using containers is that they are an inexpensive way of providing structure. If you have to buy a lot of very expensive steel to support a design that does not stack on corners than what is the point of using containers in the first place. I know that this places limits on the designs that you can create but stacking on corners is the basis of safe design.

Cargo containers are made to shed water while they are in motion. When they are standing static on foundations they will not drain. The roof of a container is typically a flat piece of sheet metal with corrugation stamped into it to make it rigid. The weight of the material it is constructed out of will cause it to dip down toward the center in places. Water will pool there and rise until it reaches the seam where two containers come together. Even if this seam is welded it will never be waterproof and that will cause you trouble. So if your design features more than one container you have to consider a roof system of some sort.

Condensation on the inside surface of a container must be dealt with. Water vapor condenses on any surface that has a temperature differential between the exterior and interior of more than a few degrees. You can deal with this by applying different types of insulation systems to accommodate the climate your building in. Get good advise here. After you've sheeted and found that water is running down the interior wall and puddling on the floor its too late. The good news here is that insulation as a percentage of building cost is cheap. And because of the low air infiltration that building with steel boxes gives you the cost of heating the structure will be cheap. How cheap? I used one electric cadet wall heater to keep a 640 square foot home toasty all winter here in Portland, and its quiet too.

Remember; warm, safe and dry.