5 Top Tips for Building a Container Home on a Sloping Block
Finding the right view for your home is a must to ensure long-term satisfaction and happiness.. Unfortunately, many times the perfect view includes a sloping lot that can make for a more challenging build than a traditional flat lot. However, with the right planning, building a container home on a sloping block is completely possible and can provide you with stunning results.
Maximise Your Views
Making sure you determine the placement of your containerised home to maximise your view before you start building is a must. Think about the position your home will be in and determine which rooms you’ll want to use to capture the views available to you. Most container homes will have windows in the most frequently used rooms, such as the bedrooms and living room. You’ll want to determine the desired size of your windows now so that they can be factored into the overall construction process.
Consider Container Height
Whether you’re building a container home on a steep block or a flat one, you’ll want to consider the height of each container. This holds especially true if you’re going to be stacking containers on top of one another. A standard container will have a height of 8-foot, 6-inches (about 2.6 metres). High cube containers, which come at about one and half times the cost of a standard container, will have a height of 9-foot, 6-inches (about 2.9 metres). This added foot can provide the necessary headspace to make specific rooms in your home feel much bigger, especially with added windows for increasing natural light.
Be Very Mindful of Container Condition
While purchasing used containers to build your home promotes sustainability, you still need to be mindful of each containers’ condition. Your new container home will only be as strong and long-lasting as the condition of the containers that are utilised to construct it. One-trip containers offer a good balance of decent condition and value. Containers that are “as-is” may have faulty door seals, rusted holes, or even been used to transport dangerous chemicals. If you’re considering an “as-is” container, you should always examine it before purchasing. Additionally, containers that are certified for overseas shipping will be of a higher quality with air and water-tight seals.
Plan a Wind Strategy
One slight drawback of using a shipping container as a home is that it can create a lot of interior noise when it’s very windy outside. Being placed on a sloped lot can actually increase the amount of wind pushing against the container. To help offset the interior noise, you should have a wind strategy in place. This could be something as simple as putting in vegetation around your home to break up the majority of wind gusts. It’s best to talk with one of our builders about the various options that are available regarding wind protection for your shipping container home.
Talk With Us First
One great advantage of building on a sloped lot is that you can typically pick up the property for much cheaper. When building stick-homes, it can be very costly to construct a foundation on a hill. However, when it comes to container homes, the process can be much simpler. You should consult us prior to purchasing a plot of land to learn about the costs associated with building a container home on a specific lot, as well as understanding the local ordinances and regulations in that area for container-style homes.
Building a home out of shipping containers is a great way to promote sustainability and accomplish your build on a smaller budget than a traditional stick-built home. While you may question it at first, it’s completely possible to build shipping container houses on sloping blocks. By taking the above five tips into consideration, you can ensure that your build goes smoothly and you’re happy with the results. For more information around building your container home, drop us a line at info@containered.com.au.
