We were going to build our current home from them but found that it would cost a fair amount to insulate and drywall anyhow. Also the floors in them have treatments to repel rodents and moisture from what I understand, so the floors would have to come out or something laid over them. Then there is the windows for it and if you want to knock out a length of wall it has to have supports welded to the top. A lot of hassle unless you have 8' rooms with a small opening going from one to the other. We even thought about using them 5 wide as a basement. Its good in concept but then the costs add up just to make it livable. Although if you want one only it would be affordable. Don't expect open spaces with them unless your willing to spend a lot on reinforcement.

I've though about all of that and you have some good points I can do most if not all the work on the containers myself been doing construction for a long time now plus I have a good friend who been a welder for 15 year now my biggest worry is building code . Thanks I do have a lot more to look into as of yet ! But am hoping with me being able to do most of the work it will cut the cost down a lot !

saw a you tube video of a couple in edmonton that are making their retirement home that way

I think if your able to do some of the work yourself the cost wouldnt be so bad and depending on where your building your home/cabin it shouldn't be so bad!!

I was able to do all the work myself. The container is nothing more than walls. The strength is on the outside posts. I wish you luck since I like different and unique homes. There are a lot of costs to consider. I figured I would have to frame anyhow for things like lights so anything more is just sheathing. That also lowers the sq'.

Taking a break from construction on the house, so I'm in the mindset for this one. First of all, in order to insulate, you would have to frame in interior walls. Also, you would need to lay in floor joists and subfloor. Then of course, you would need to frame in a ceiling in order to insulate the roof. All in all, the materials to do this would be the same as starting from scratch, minus the exterior sheathing, although in order to prevent it from eventually rusting out, you may need to do something on the outside too! Even doing the work yourself, I just don't see it as being cost effective. It would be quite strong and easilly made EMP proof though...

I've looked into the cost of buying containers used one are around 1200.00 and brand new containers are 6000.00 taking that plus the cost of having someone do the work it is much more then having a normal home built I've also looked at the cost of building a normal home a about 80% of the cost is the labour and trades just to do the work.
Once I get more information I think I will be able to work the cost out. I also may only be building a container home for my cabin/ Bol location.

You could always use the spray foam insulation. It is very effective.

That has been my though right from the start you could also save money by using basement 2/3 and also not having to place them so close together, I've also found a normal 2/4 built 4 bedroom home cost 400,000 a container built home with four bedrooms home cost about 175,000 and that's a home built in quebec that a big diffrents I'll have to keep looking but it starting to look much cheeper

I also found you can get a high cube container and they are almost ten foot high and have found out people insulated the outside of containers

Come to think of it, insulating the exterior could also help with the rusting out issue. Depending on material costs, and your level of interior finishing, it could be an inexpensive alternative if you got a container for the right price. Weather or not I initially thought it possible, it warrants looking into. Of course, you would have to have the site prepared and ready for the container to be dropped into place, but that's just time and sweat equity for someone who is willing to do the work. I agree that doing the work yourself saves a bucket load of cash...that's why I do all my construction myself. With the right tools and a wooded lot, you could save the lumber expenses also. You don't need to buy plywood if you can rough cut your own boards and 2by's!

Another way of helping with rust could be zinc primer and paint they use it for under grown gas lines as well as the great lake ships .

One thing to keep in mind about expanding foam insulation is that some types will absorb moisture. Some are open cell and some create a waterproof surface membrane but once degraded in any way it too will hold water.

The new type of foam insulation that is used for basements creates a great waterproof barrier. However I is probably not intended to be exposed directly to the sun. There are a number of buildings in our area that have been sprayed on the outside including some steel buildings. They have all been painted on top of the foam. So there is a possible solution. However you would still need to strap and cover the interior walls if it was to be used for living space.