Shipping Containers as homes

Are you badgering me with your new mad badger profile pic?

+1 for a shed...you have to build a roof over the containers because they get fkn hot, so you may as well just build a shed.

although adolf's capsule idea for festivals/ mine sites could work.

Has anyone seen those earth ships in the desert in the US? They look kickass. Often built collectively by like minded enviromentalists I thought I might like to get a whole heap of hippies to help me make one and then tell them to fck off when they're done

ok, theres a whole can of worms about constucting any cheap living arrangement.

firstly sewage. if you are building rurally (which i assume they are, on a cheap block of land?) theres a big chance you wont have mains sewage connectivity.

which is great for the water bills as they will be $200 a quarter cheaper, but you will have to install a septic tank which is very costly and the council WILL INSPECT it to see if its been laid correctly.

Heating (cheapest wood fired heater/ stove) you can buy the triple insulated flu kit, flu cap, silicon flu gaitor and the stove/ heater, cheap from a local factory outlet, but there are some rules that stipulate it must be fitted by a plumber because of the fire risk. Plumber will charge $1k approx

Council approval of shed construction, inspections of finished dimensions and septic tanks are another cost which will add up.

basically the way round all this is to buy rurally and do it without any planning permission, which of course is risky.
folks have done it successfully where i live, but they all live on acreages (so you cant see the sheds from the road).

there is a maximum shed size allowed without having to apply for planning permission from the council, for my area its something like 10mx5mx2.5m but i live in the sticks. probably would be smaller if your near a town.

Correct - our local shire's website has an aerial mapping tool, including satellite imagery (much clearer than google earth for this area)...including outlines of all 'legal' buildings, if there's no outline - you will get a visit or nasty letter.

http://www.glenelg.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=1577

...not sure if there are too many shires using this technology yet, but a great tool for those of us who prepare planning/property docs (research zones/overlays, current & past building/planning permits, topography, distances, adjoining properties etc.)

A few councils around Perth are using "Nearmap" as it is updated at least monthly and is supposed to be better than google earth for overhead detail.

The country shire I used to live in (Chittering Shire) got pretty upset with people living in dodgy sheds with even dodgier sewerage, or open cesspits- so brought in the rule that you could only live in the shed if you had a house under construction, septics tank system had to be hooked up and approved before moving into your shed, 12 months to get walls up, another 12 to lockup.

stephen

yeah true!!

but bear in mind..

the shed size allowed without having to apply for planning permission from the council for my area its something like 10mx5mx2.5m

now that is, a frucking BIG shed !!!

probably wouldnt need anything bigger..