What is a shipping container home?

A shipping container home is a living unit made from steel shipping containers, which are available in two sizes: 20 feet by 8 feet or 40 feet x 8 feet: The 20-foot containers are 160 square feet, while the 40-foot shipping containers offer 320 square feet of living space. You can use these containers as a standalone home or personal office, or you can combine multiple containers to create a multilevel residence.

Shipping container homes are getting popular as potential homeowners seek out alternative building solutions to the traditional multi-bedroom house, moreover refurbishing an old shipping container helps reduce the amount of used containers to go into landfill, which directly reducing the carbon emission in the market. Usually are common for people who have a big piece of land and they would like to build something on top of it, either as a holiday home, or a space for their family and relatives.

Pros of Shipping Container Home in Malaysia

Cost effective to build

You can purchase a container home for as low as RM50,000. Typically, a landed house or even a condo you will need to pay estimation of RM100,000 to RM250,000 for the raw material like bricks, cement, and manpower, but in shipping container case, the structure itself is ready for you. You can lower the cost of customizing your container housing by renovating using your DIY skills.

Quick to build

You can build a home mix with 20’ and 40’ shipping containers in within a months’ time. Even if you are not into DIY, you can also purchase a prefabricated container home from suppliers like Rumah Comel and so on for a pre-build one.

Durable build quality

Shipping containers is made from steel and it is meant to transport cargo across bodies of water and tides, which means the material is strong, and can hold the structure easily across a span of 25 years, you don’t need to worry about the structure collapse or foundation issue, as it is very rigid.

Mobile unit

If you ever sell off the land, you can easily transport the container home and relocate to another location easily, basically move the house with you.

Cons of Shipping Container Home in Malaysia

Obtaining license and permit

It can be difficult to obtain the necessary permits to build and install such structure through city hall authority. Do check with your local council or Majlis Bandaraya to ensure you get the necessary permits before installing one.

Hot weather

As Malaysia is always hot the entire year, your shipping container under hot sun will become a toaster easily within minutes of exposure. So proper heat insulation planning is required, and preferred to have professionals to do heat treatment to your unit before living within it.

Dent look

Shipping containers often are reused, which means all containers must have been through transportation for cargo in the past, and will often come with dent and scratches on the surface. It definitely does not add to the appeal of the look. Should you prefer to go for a brand-new shipping container, then it will defeat the eco-friendly aspect of living in a shipping container home.

Rigid size

As shipping container comes in 20’ and 40’, your living space is being limited to only these 2 sizes. Any other preferred sizes will require expert to cut the shipping container to your desire shape, and that might upset interior designers or home owners who have a specific design space in mind.

So, if you want to build or procure your very own shipping containers home in Malaysia, be sure to have a heads up of all the criteria above. It is a new concept in Malaysia, but given the time and technology, it will soon become an alternate option to inflation of property prices not so long in the future.