Cost of Shipping Containers in Haiti

I am pretty sure that Stinky Pete lives in one of those containers when he vacations in Port-au-Prince. Maybe he could help you out.

Stinky Pete, you out there?

Boy, if there is a group that has discussed the Shipping Container Housing thing more that we have I would like to know who.

At this writing, there are 1,998 comments on the first such discussion here. Within that thread are a number of comments that give sites that detail how and where to purchase them.

There are still plenty of used shipping containers here in the USA. Why transport some back here again?

I am making a number of assumptions here. If you really want to purchase one from "the port in Port-au-Prince", I have offered incorrect information. Please disregard my advice, and clarify your request a little bit. Clarity, as in where are you at?

My husband and I are going to move to PAP this summer and build a home from two shipping containers on the land of the orphanage where we will live. That is why I was wondering if anyone has info on costs in Haiti. I will check the thread you have referenced.

Thanks a bunch

Good luck. Let us know how you get on. If you're inclined, you could get in touch with Admin (cr4admin@globalspec.com) & start a blog here.

The problem isn't locating a container. The problem is insulation. Steel has a way of transferring heat very rapidly. Unless you go to some pretty significant lengths all you'll end up with is a solar oven. You can get old "refer" containers that are fully insulated already but they cost around 3-4 times that of a basic shipping container.

Consider purchasing your containers say at the Port of Houston or New Orleans or wherever, pack all your possessions you are taking with you in them along with any food or medicine or whatever you are taking with you and ship the whole kit and caboodle to PAP. kills two birds with one stone. The way to avoid turning them into solar ovens is to build a tent using a reflective tarp/foil over them and with an air-gap between the tarp and the roof of the container to reflect the solar energy away from the container. you also might consider putting solar panel arrays on the roof and/or walls instead to shade the container AND turn the sun into electricity for lighting etc. they need to be set to as near perpendicular to the sun at the azimuth of the sun at noon on the equinox to maximize the power generated. The Port of Houston has containers running out their ears and can be had fairly cheaply. it isn't worth deadheading them back to China. I suspect NOLA does as well.

Live in a containter! In Haiti? Not even on a bet!

Get your advise from somebody...anybody....who has actually LIVED or WORKED in a container in the tropics. Ignore all other advise.

It may be possible. But it won't be cheap. It won't even be as cheap as building new.

I have researched it in great detail and it is both a viable and economical way to live in the tropics. It takes planning to ensure that you do not bake yourself, however it is not difficult to plan for this. It is a very safe home as well... earthquake, mudslide, and hurricane proof. I have researched as well the cost of building new in Haiti... the cost of building supplies is outrageous, so this is a very economical answer.

I know...I am the voice crying in the wilderness here....

So you GOT advise from somebody who has actually LIVED in such a container? In the tropics? Hmmm. That lets out the vast majority of people here on CR4! And for that matter, the people who created this site! I admit to not "living" in one...but I DID make one into a black smith shop out back of my place.

More people than me have described the problems (and lets be charitable, the benefits) that come with building with containers....so I'll just mention a couple of problems you probably never thought of...

Container floors are often soaked with pesticide. When I made my blacksmith shop out of a container, my dog got very sick from just walking on it, and then licking his paws. I see EVERY Haitian child is running around barefoot. Just make sure they don't lick their feet...grin!

After you cut windows into the walls, you will never move the container again...it will just buckle under its own weight. A container is a "shell" structure. You might still be able to stack them though. But it is ruined for re-use or resale the instant you put torch to metal. If the project goes pear shaped....you will not be able to recover anything from the structures.

Containers are not engineered to handle things like "earth covering them", "earth sheltering them" or "pools of water on top"....all things suggested by well meaning but deluded individuals who have suggested that would help to make them habitable. (the military heaps dirt on them all the time, once in a while there is a cave in.) There is an excellent Youtube video of the mythbusters caving in a container by accident. And they are not idiots by any stretch of the imagination!

They are still not cheap to retrofit. According to this report, custom home construction in Southern California will easily cost 250 dollars a square foot, and a container home would cost half that. But that is STILL $125.00 per square foot! Oh my! Not so cheap after all is it?

I always figured multiple containers would make an awesome set of walls. And gee, you can store stuff in them with a fair degree of security. But trying to imagine living in my container, even in pleasant temperate Canada let alone the tropics....like I said....not even on a bet! Stucco would make them look a little better. The fellow in that link uses papercrete. A wonderful product!

I know...a voice in the wilderness...well, so be it.

A very useful thing to do would be to actually GET a couple of containers, and put them in behind your church/house or whatever, and see if you can get it to work as an orphanage/day care. A summer doing that will give you more experience than anything else I can think of! And hey, if it works, your church/school/daycare or whatever will have a great facility, and you will have load of great experimental results. Write a book on the experience to raise money! I am not a nay sayer...far from it....I often felt that containers would be useful as walls. Shelter in the storms. Secure storage for resources which would walk otherwise. They have their place.

Keep us informed of what you come up with! There are a gazzillion ideas on the interwebs! Some might even work!

Eh, you could reinforce the structure and frame the window in structural tubing to compensate for the loss of stiffness, but it would require some engineering to accomplish. As to the flooring issue, you could cover it with a new plywood/chipboard subfloor, but the vapors may well be toxic for long term exposure. Most insecticides are essentially nerve gas agents that didn't quite make the cut militarily. Short term exposure to the vapors is one thing, but breathing it for 10-14 hours a day could lead to seizures or worse.you'd be better off replacing the wood with wood that has not been soaked in pesticides, but in the tropics that is an invitation to termites and fungus too.

Bottom line there are ways to solve the problems, but the question is, how much time and energy are you willing to spend to do so?

oilfield converts shipping containers into a multitude of shacks on a daily basis..

they put them on skids. they use steel framed windows, etc...

I think most of your concerns are valid.. but certainly can be reengineered for living.

my brother has a converted 40' that is pretty comfortable, sleeps 4, kitchen, etc.

and was moved after the windows were put in. to a different province..

so it can be done.

Does working in a container that had been converted in to an office in 100° + heat count?

The floor had been covered with MDF & vinyl tile, the walls Styrofoam insulation & paneling

every container I ever saw has a 4" x 4 tubular steel frame

I'm sure after cutting in some doors & windows, it will no longer carry 60000 pounds

the economics depend on what you pay for the container, the rest of the materials & who does the work

lots to think about... ga.

I've certainly been in containers that weren't very pleasant,

I can see how you could easily get on the wrong side of the inspection process on a self conversion

the container I was referring to was professionally converted to a warehouse/security office. The dispatcher & a guard worked out of it. there was a PTAC for climate control. I doubt there was a permit pulled...

Actually the OP Shannon was planning to live in a pair of containers herself

A container dwelling is going to fare better than a stick built in a hurricane or earthquake

Garth is right, you can do a crappy job or a good job and the difference will be striking. I too have been in a NUMBER of converted seagoing containers (and there are several companies here in Houston that specialize in converting them while maintaining structural integrity specifically for temporary oilfield housing on offshore platforms and drillships for welders or divers etc. They also convert them for control cabins for things like ROV's and Geotech rigs. I've been in quite a few and I tell you, they are the equal to any travel trailer you'll find.

FYI I was speaking with a retired local newscaster here in town by the name of Bob Boudreaux right after the earthquake and he was in talks with some money people he knew about importing surplus seagoing containers from the Port of Houston to do this very thing.

some places to contact:

http://www.tsicontainers.com/

http://www.houstoncontainer.com/

Yusef, I think part of your objection is an emotional response to the "low income housing" issue. I think you are feeling that it is an insult to people to live in a converted container, but compared to the cardboard and corrugated tin and scrap wood shanties many are living in now with no running water or electricity, it would seem to be a palace. everything is relative my friend. It might seem to be an insult to you or I, but not to many people in many parts of the world. Think you need to stop and try to separate your emotional response from the logical one.

I feel your pain CC&R's suck when you're on the wrong side of them

Given the choice I would use something like SIP panels for construction

haiti doesn't have much in the way of rule of law as yet, most of the concrete is badly mixed & formulated

too much water, limestone sand, not enough portland cement, mixed on the ground with shovels

any method of construction that will achieve a decent level of safety & quality by default is going to be preferable

any method that will actually get things built, instead of letting USAID [& others] suck up the donations in administrative largess is preferable

exactly the problem! concrete/mortar is a real problem in haiti, if you can get it at all, it is more likely to be no stronger than dry clay if even that strong because it is RARELY mixed correctly and rebar is unknown there. That was why so many buildings fell down in what should not have been a major earthquake otherwise.

"I like the idea that small arms fire is soaked up pretty thoroughly by the 16 gauge steel."

The 8 gauge (3.2 mm) Core-ten used in a typical shipping container, would probably stop a .22 LR HP subsonic and/or some low power hand gun rounds.

For anything common in "some places in the world!" you may as well hold up your hankie.

And, as any metalworker will tell you - 16g is half as thick as 8g

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We ship many containers to Haiti every year and have contacts that would be able to help you.