How Much Does a Container Home Cost? (2024 Guide)
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A container home is a unique and affordable alternative to a traditionally built home. Customers will typically pay between $25,000 and $250,000 on container home costs, depending on size, style, and building materials.
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With soaring real estate prices, it’s no surprise that many people are branching out into new territory when it comes to home construction. Tiny homes enjoyed significant popularity for a period of time, but container homes may become a new trend in residential and business real estate. These homes use new or used shipping containers as the structural basis for the new house.
According to HomeGuide, the cost to build a container home ranges from $25,000 to $250,000. The wide range is due to the variety of factors involved with planning, building, and finishing a container home, including the size of the home, the number of containers, foundation installation, labor costs, utility installation, flooring, roofing, building materials, permits, and more. Customers can use this guide to find out more about shipping container home cost factors to come up with an accurate budget for the container home construction project.
Key Cost Factors
Building a new home, even if the shell was originally one or more shipping containers, is a complex project that can quickly become costly and overwhelming. Before getting swept away, it’s recommended for homeowners to familiarize themselves with the various factors that can affect the cost of the project, including the size of the home, building materials, and local labor rates.
Home Size and Number of Containers
Shipping containers come in three standard lengths, including 10-foot, 20-foot, and 40-foot. They are typically 8 feet wide and 8.5 feet high, though there are also high-cube containers, which, at a foot taller than standard shipping containers, will offer the homeowner a little extra headroom inside the shipping container home. By cutting and welding the shipping containers, builders can use multiple containers to make larger homes.
However, the larger the home and the more shipping containers required for the construction, the higher the cost of the project. On average, single container models cost about $25,000 to $80,000, while a multi-container home generally costs $80,000 to $250,000. Container home prices can be lower or higher than these averages.
| Size (Square Feet) | Number of Containers | Home Purpose | Average Cost (Labor and Materials) |
| 80 to 100 | 1 | Office | $10,000 to $20,000 |
| 160 | 1 | Studio apartment | $15,000 to $25,000 |
| 320 | 1 or 2 | 1 bed, 1 bath home | $25,000 to $82,000 |
| 640 | 2 or 3 | 2 bed, 1 bath home | $80,000 to $130,000 |
| 960 | 3 or 4 | 2 bed, 2 bath home | $100,000 to $180,000 |
| 1,280 | 4 | 3 bed, 2 bath home | $150,000 to $220,000 |
| 1,600 | 5 | 3 bed, 2 ½ bath home | $180,000 to $250,000 |
| 1,920 | 6 | 4 bed, 2 ½ bath home | $190,000 to $300,000 |
| 2,560 | 8 | 5 bed, 3 bath home | $200,000 to $400,000 |
Labor and Permits
When installing a new building, adding on to an existing building, or setting up an additional building on the property, the homeowner will need to get a building permit, which can range from $500 to $2,000. Additionally, it’s important for a homeowner to verify that a shipping container house is acceptable for the location according to the local zoning regulations.
While most container home builders will take charge of acquiring the building permits, it’s still important to verify this responsibility before the project starts. Homeowners will also need to budget for the cost of labor, including the best interior designer services, general contractors, architects, draftspersons, plumbers, and electricians. Labor rates vary depending on the local economy and the supply and demand in the area.
| Type of Professional | Average Labor Cost |
| Architect | $2 to $15 per square foot |
| Draftsperson | $0.35 to $5 per square foot |
| Electrician | $40 to $100 per hour |
| General contractor | $50 to $150 per hour |
| Interior designer | $50 to $200 per hour |
| Painter | $20 to $50 per hour |
| Plumber | $45 to $150 per hour |
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Foundation Installation
In order to prevent the new shipping container home from shifting or being blown over by powerful storm winds, it’s necessary to have a foundation installed to support the container home. Typically, a shipping container home foundation costs between $3,000 to $19,350 on average, though this depends on the size and material used to make the foundation.
The most commonly used material and the most affordable is a concrete slab foundation, which generally costs between $5.75 and $13.50 per square foot. However, homeowners can also opt for pier footings or full crawl space foundations if they are willing to pay a higher price for this part of the project. Pier footing foundations are ideal for homes built on uneven terrain where a basic slab foundation wouldn’t work; the home is built upon a series of vertical piers, which transfers the building load to the soil. A crawl space foundation can be built on sloped terrain and leaves space for storage, wires, or plumbing beneath the home.
Doors, Windows, and Roofing
The various building materials required to construct a container home can be divided into separate groups for easier selection and budgeting. Doors and windows for container homes are essentially holes cut in the steel exterior, which are then reinforced with additional framing to avoid weakening the walls of the container. Customers can expect to pay about $230 to $820 for each interior door and about $500 to $1,900 for each exterior door. Windows cost a bit less than exterior doors at an average price of $400 to $650 per window.
Homeowners can opt for sloped or flat roofs, depending on personal preference and construction design. The roof of a shipping container is the weakest point of the structure, so it will usually require additional roof structure above the top of the container. Container home roofing typically costs about $3 to $6 per square foot.
Electrical, Plumbing, and HVAC
A container home without electrical, plumbing, and HVAC is little more than a nicely furnished shipping container. A lot of the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC infrastructure will be installed prior to the delivery of a prefabricated container home, but that won’t be the case for a custom home. Homeowners will want to keep in mind that the installation cost can increase or decrease depending on the electrical, plumbing, and heating and cooling demands of the home.
- Wiring a container home will generally cost about $1.56 to $3.75 per square foot or an average of $1,600 to $7,800.
- Water lines and drain lines installation costs $4 to $6 per square foot or about $450 to $1,800 per fixture. Additionally, a traditional water heater costs between $300 and $1,800 installed, while a tankless water heater will cost between $800 and $3,500.
- HVAC for container houses can range from about $2,000 to $10,000 for the installation of a ductless mini-split system, which is ideal for the limited space inside container homes.
Utilities
As mentioned, most of the interior infrastructure will be installed prior to the arrival of a prefabricated container home at the installation site. However, this is not the case for the utilities, which may still need to be extended from the local municipal systems before they can be connected to the new container home. Connecting a container house to local utilities typically involves several additional costs, such as the following.
| Utility Connection | Average Cost (Labor and Materials) |
| Electrical grid connection | $250 to $1,500 |
| Running new power lines to a rural property | $2,000 to $5,000 |
| Septic system | $3,300 to $5,000 |
| Sewer line | $50 to $200 per linear foot |
| Solar panel installation | $10,600 to $26,500 (after subtracting the 30 percent federal tax credit) |
| Water line | $32 to $53 per linear foot |
| Water meter | $2,000 to $3,000 |
Framing and Insulation
Given that a shipping container already has a basic structure, the majority of the framing is limited to interior walls, though the doorways, windows, and any other weak points in the structure will require additional reinforcement. Framing the walls of a container home will generally cost about $18 to $24 per linear foot, depending on the height of the ceiling.
Adding insulation to the container home will allow the homeowner and the occupants to enjoy the interior of the home during the freezing cold and the scorching hot months of the year. However, adding many layers of insulation can reduce the size of the living space, so it’s recommended for homeowners to use a spray foam insulation with a high R-value (the measure of how well a building prevents the flow of heat in and out of the home), such as polyurethane spray foam insulation. Homeowners can expect to pay about $0.80 to $4.50 per square foot for container home insulation installation.
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Drywall and Painting
After the framework and insulation are in place, the next step is to put in the drywall. Drywall installation for a container home will generally cost about $1.50 to $3.50 per square foot of wall or ceiling. Taping, mudding, and painting the drywall will cost about $1 to $4 per square foot, or about $20 to $50 per hour.
Due to the construction of a prefab container home taking place at a closed facility, the homeowner may not get the chance to work on the drywall or paint the interior of the home. However, if the container home builders allow the homeowner to DIY these finishing touches, it can help to reduce the overall cost of the project.
Flooring
It isn’t recommended for DIYers to handle the flooring in a container home without prior experience. Homeowners will want to speak to the container home builder to determine if this part of the project will be completed at the factory or on-site after the utilities are connected. Homeowners will need to pay about $6 to $10 per square foot for the material and installation of the container home floor.
The cost of the flooring installation varies depending on the type of material, the size of the floor, the configuration of the home, the number of containers, and the number of stories. Homeowners can check with the container home builder to find out the best type of flooring for container homes and to select a look or design that suits the homeowner’s aesthetic tastes.
Fixtures and Appliances
The last parts of the home to be installed are usually the lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, electrical fixtures, and any appliances that the homeowner has picked out for the house. This is where any slips in the budget can be recovered by selecting inexpensive and affordable fixtures, and appliances to complete the home.
Alternatively, if there is extra room in the budget, homeowners may want to splurge on high-end faucets, lighting fixtures, appliances, and multipurpose furniture that can double as storage space. Adding fold-down tables or a convertible couch that doubles as a bed is a great way to maximize the living space in the container home.
Additional Costs and Considerations
After the plans for the container house and the budget for the construction have been decided upon, there are some additional costs for customers to consider, including the price to purchase land parcels, land clearing costs, grading costs, landscaping services, home insurance fees, and local property taxes.
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Land Purchase
When a shipping container is reused and converted into a functional living space, it’s necessary to have a place for it to sit. Usually, this means purchasing a parcel of land (at a cost of about $5,000 to $18,000 per acre) where a permanent foundation can be installed. Homeowners may need to have a land survey completed, which costs about $380 to $540 on average. The survey helps to verify that the location is safe for a residential home and identify any site preparations that are required.
Land Clearing and Grading
After conducting a land survey and purchasing the parcel of land for the container home, the homeowner will need to work with the container home builders to clear, excavate, and level the land. Land clearing costs can range from $1,500 to $6,700 per acre. This service includes removing trees, pulling up stumps, cutting away brush, moving rocks, and hauling the debris to a suitable disposal site.
Before the foundation can be installed, the container home builders will also need to excavate the area to dig a suitable foundation, which costs about $1,000 to $2,500 on average. During excavation, the workers will also grade the land or contour the slope around the proposed site to allow f