Shipping containers evolve into eco home

1872

Becky Gillette – April and Dustin Griffith have a love of design, recycling antique materials, and protecting the environment. They have indulged all three interests by building a unique home in rural Carroll County from three metal shipping containers, pre-owned windows and doors, and antiques such as the 1922 bathtub they restored.

April, a librarian, and Dustin, a mechanic, both have college degrees in industrial design. That gave them the confidence and skills to use a CAD software program to design the light and airy structure that avoids the problem of some container houses of feeling too closed in.

“It could be like a cave,” Dustin said. “But we designed it to have plenty of light.”

Having metal bones means no worries about termites, rot or mildew. There is one small shipping container on the lower level that serves as a shop and supports the back porch deck. Two 40-ft. long shipping containers flank each side of the house, with one side serving as the kitchen and baby October’s room, and the other side a bathroom, bedroom and storage room. Between containers housing the living room and dining room is an elevated ceiling with eight clerestory windows on the east side that add plenty of light and ventilation. There are glass sliding doors at the front entrance and a large window at the back door.

The eight large double-pane windows were bought off craigslist for $200. They came from a house where there had been a fire, and although the windows were still good, the insurance settlement required them to be replaced.

Used doors to the rooms are rustic and colorful. There is a glass window in the bathroom made from recycled wine bottles and a refinished antique bathtub. Metal trusses in the living room were bought used, and someone gave them steel beams to support the home. Even the living room floor coverings are made from recycled materials, in this case paper grocery bags laid over an OSB subfloor and finished with a walnut stain.

April and Dustin had been thinking about building a container home for five years before launching into the project that took a year and a half to complete. While they did save money by purchasing used materials, April said the shipping containers weren’t any cheaper than if they had constructed a stick-built house. The primary motivation to use the shipping containers was to recycle materials that otherwise might have just sat stacked up at a port somewhere for decades.

“We didn’t save that much, but we wanted to do the environmentally conscious thing,” April said. “We also wanted something that would last with little maintenance. Shipping containers are very durable. In addition to metal walls, one of the containers had teak floors for pest resistance. We just left the teak floors.”

They could have painted the exterior to make it look more conventional, but they like the funky way it looks with the original paint, a durable, marine-grade paint that will never need repainting.

Dustin said a lot of shipping containers are never used again after importing goods because the U.S. imports a lot more products that it exports, and it isn’t cost efficient to ship them back to China empty.

There was a learning curve with cutting holes into the sides of containers for windows, doors and room openings. “The hardest part was installing the windows because it is difficult to cut straight into a corrugated metal surface without it buckling,” he said.

They credit the help of Dustin’s father, Pat, with getting the 1,200-sq.-ft. built so quickly. They also had help from others.

“It is inspiring to live in a community where a lot of people have built their own houses, and were nice enough to come and give us advice,” April said.

The house they moved into in October 2015 is comfortable and has low energy bills with a wood stove to supplement a mini-split heating and air conditioning system. They estimate their energy bills will average $100 a month or less.

Building an alternative home can have its challenges beyond the skills needed. They initially ran into difficulty getting a mortgage because the bank they were using couldn’t find a suitable home to compare it to in order to estimate its value. But First National Bank of Berryville helped out by deciding to just compare it to a house in the area of a similar size.

“You could think of it as just having unique siding,” Dustin said.

While right now it is hard to find a “comp” sale for a container home, April said one banker told them they are getting increased requests for loans on container homes and that “it is something we will have to figure out.”