If you are looking to recycle some shipping containers and build a home from them, then a quick search of the internet for container hire in Adelaide will result in a lot of companies that you can purchase your shipping containers from.

 

Shipping container homes can be pre-fabricated, which means they are easy to assemble. But just like any other structure, they need good foundation to support the weight of the structure. When choosing the type of foundation for your home, you have three alternatives to choose from.

 

• Concrete Slab Foundation
• Concrete Footings
• Wooden Beam Footings

 

The best type of foundation for your building is going to be dictated by the style, size, and also the location of your home. The time that you have available and your budget plays an important role when choosing between the different types of foundations.

 

Concrete Slab Foundations

 

Concrete slab foundations are the most labour intensive of the three types of building foundations. This is because of the amount of concrete required. The concrete needs to be poured at the same time.

 

If you are looking to build multiple storey buildings from shipping containers, then this style of foundation will be able to support the most amount of weight. Shipping containers are considerably light, when compared to how much they weigh; but when you have finished both the interior and exterior walls, a significant amount of weight will be added to your building.

 

If you have the time, space and budget, then building your shipping container home on a concrete slab foundation will make sure that you have suitable footings to support your building.

 

Concrete Footings

 

If you are looking to save some money on the building costs, or if you are looking for a less permanent solution, you can choose to use concrete footings to support your building made from shipping containers.

 

• Depth of the footings?
• How big are the footings?
• What is the quality of the ground?
• How much space is required?
• What is your time frame?

 

The size and depth of your footings are going to be determined by how much weight they are going to have to support. You will need to make sure that your foundations are deep enough and are able to support the weight of the finished building without slipping.

 

By making your footings slightly larger, and also deeper, you will spend a little more money on concrete, but you will also give yourself a bit of peace of mind, knowing your shipping container home is properly supported.

 

You will also need to consider the quality of the ground, which can affect the size and depth of your footings. In soft, sandy soil, you may need to dig deeper in order to get proper support; whilst in rocky or hard clay, you may not need to dig so deep.

 

The great thing about this style of footing is that you can quickly pick up the shipping containers and move them to a different location by disconnecting the containers from the foundations.

 

Wooden Beam Foundations

 

The most cost-effective and the least labour intensive of these three options is using wooden beams to support the shipping containers. If possible, you will need to dig just a little bit and get yourself some gravel and sand. This will allow water to drain away, meaning the wooden beam is not going to get waterlogged and rot away. You can get away with just supporting the four corners of the shipping container, but for extra stability it is advised to support the middle of the shipping container also.

 

There is much less preparation involved with this kind of support, and you can also move the shipping containers easily enough if you decide to move them elsewhere. Just make sure that you get everything level or else you could end up living in a sloping shipping container!