CONTAINERS FOR SALE
Shipping Container House
We are committed to driving positive change by manufacturing residential and commercial containers that encourage sustainable living, reduce environmental impact, and make quality housing and investment opportunities more accessible.
Nationwide Container Home Provider
We are a family owned and operated container home company. Using a combination of 20- and 40-foot containers, we create unique, functional, and modern dwelling structures. Founded by an aeronautical engineer, our container builds will stand the test of time.
We offer both standard and custom container structures. Our Standard container models are inspired by our most popular custom builds that have been featured on shows such as HGTV’s ‘Tiny House Big Living’ and our own DIY Network TV show ‘Containables’.
Whether going in your backyard or on the side of a mountain, all Backcountry Container designs are built to maximize their small footprint and help connect you to the outdoors.
With large workshops in both Texas and Wisconsin, we can deliver our container creations anywhere in the country
Backcountry Containers now offers container pools and saunas!
Our 20ft and 40ft container pools and 20ft SaunaPlunge perfectly blend functionality, style, and efficiency. Container pools/ saunas from Backcountry Containers go beyond their sleek design and represent a cost-effective alternative to traditional pool and sauna construction. Engineered with durability in mind, our container builds are reinforced with steel substructures and feature quality materials, ensuring long-lasting performance with minimal maintenance.
Gallery Build
WHY SHIPPING CONTAINERS?
Shipping containers are nothing new. Since commerce has made its way across our oceans, shipping containers have become a solid source of security for transporting goods. These containers are built to withstand many days on the high seas so you know they will withstand the weather thrown toward your property.
With many goods being transported via shipping containers every day, they need to have somewhere to go once they have served their purpose. Many end up sitting in large container yards at various ports for years. Turning these unused containers into homes and other spaces helps the environment and is a unique way to combat the rising costs of homes across the world.
Hunting Cabin
Kennedy in Texas
Modern Farmhouse
The Original
Modern Side Stack
Living In Container Houses
The use of wood, bricks, and cement as house construction materials is quite expensive these days. Adding to the costs of constructing a home are labor, architectural design, land and building permits. Delays in construction caused by unanticipated factors can add more to the problems of building a home. The application of shipping containers as container houses was discovered as an alternative to the traditional way of building a house. Shipping containers (also called intermodal containers) are strong, 20 to 40 feet long steel boxes used for transporting large cargoes across lands and seas. Size, strength, and durability in withstanding the toughest of transport and weather conditions made housing experts and environmentalists notice the containers’ potential as a substitute to established methods of building homes. Thousands have been left on empty lots as soon as their 10 to 15-year limit of use is up, offering the promise of cheaper homes to a lot of people. Interest is rising on shipping containers’ use as a shelter alternative and several of the reasons why it is given a much more serious attention lately include:
From brand new or single use to abandoned, shipping containers are conveniently available as they are the default containers when it comes to the transport of large-scale materials via ship, truck or train. Each year thousands are abandoned, and all are potential container homes. A brand new or a one-time use container can be ordered if a customer wishes it. The containers are for the picking and it would be a waste if they are not used for shelter construction.
One 40-foot container is made up of 3,500 kilograms of steel, making the container resistant to different conditions of the land and weather. It can withstand floods, fires, and hurricanes if the container home is properly built. Observers believe that the shipping containers are above specifications. Meaning that the steel used is more than enough than what is required for a form of shelter.
Companies that modify shipping containers into container houses perform the modifications at their factories right away. Any design the customer wishes can be applied. Building inspection is done on the factory site, making applications for construction permits easier and more convenient. The house is practically finished when it is delivered and installed on its permanent site. This feature is particularly important for people living in remote areas where accessibility to materials and labor is scarce and costly. The container can be modified in urban or industrial areas and delivered to the outskirts of the city and installed with less money, workers, and materials involved.
The containers’ standard size and weight provide convenience in designing and building a home. The containers are built to interlock into place and can be conveniently stacked on top of each other like toy blocks. Time of construction is shorter than the conventional way of building a traditional house due to fewer workers and the number of construction materials used.
Shipping containers as a means of delivery were designed to make its transport on trucks, ships or trains fast and convenient. The size and shape of the containers were meant to fit exactly at the back of trucks, on train cars, and at cargo spaces of ships. Its design to make delivery fast and efficient is built-in. Standard, pre-fabricated or modified, the container homes can be delivered anywhere and within a short time.
Despite its standard features, the containers’ appearance can be altered by the addition of windows, sliding doors and other attachments. Often, container homes are pre-fabricated with its designs already installed prior to its delivery to its permanent site. Steel bars are used for additional support in case large sized windows or doors are added.
The installation of a container home requires special tools in welding, boring, and cutting of steel making it appear that the job is labor intensive and expensive. Modern equipment, less foundation and carpentry work make working on container houses faster and cheaper than traditional construction.
The stacking and connecting ability when being used as cargo transport are the same features that offer the potential to expand a container house. From a one floor to a three-floor dwelling or opting to increase floor area, the options are unlimited as long as vertical or horizontal space is available. Multiple stacks of containers can be converted into apartments or townhouses by using special bolts to safely anchor the structure.
People are being conscious about taking care of the environment and are now finding ways on how to reduce the use and release of carbon to the atmosphere. One way is to find the possibility of building homes with recycled materials and one of the options is building container homes. For every single 40-foot container that is converted into a house, 3,500 kilograms of steel is saved. A lot of energy is conserved in avoiding the dismantling, melting, and recycling of steel. Pollution from recycling is prevented, making the environment safer to live in. The more containers used for houses, apartments or townhomes, the better the environment is preserved.
Affordability is the reason why the interest in using shipping containers as permanent homes is increasing. Second-hand containers converted into container houses are a lot cheaper than buying a house in a city or in the suburbs. Lesser labor and a minimal installation of foundations (if any) is a factor that containers have that conventional wood-brick-cement houses don’t. Being versatile, affordable, and environment-friendly makes the use of shipping containers as container houses a definite alternative to the much more costly building of wood-brick-cement houses
SELECTING THE RIGHT CONTAINER & BUYING CONTAINERS ONLINE
Browse the website for new and used containers that meet your requirements. If you are unsure please contact our container sales team for advice and information. If you wish to pay by credit card you can buy your container online. Select your container and accessories and follow the simple checkout process. Please note that transport costs on the website are calculated from our HQ in Suffolk. For nationwide shipping container sales please complete an online enquiry form or contact us to ensure that we offer the most competitive delivery rates as we may have availability at a depot closer to you.
PREMIER WARRANTY COVERAGE
- Structural Coverage:
- For a period of 5 years from the date of purchase, we guarantee that the structural components of your container home will be free from defects in materials and workmanship.
- This coverage includes the main structural elements, such as the walls, roof, foundation, and support beams.
- Systems Coverage:
- For a period of 1 year from the date of purchase, we provide coverage for the major systems in your container home, including electrical, plumbing, and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning).
- This coverage ensures that these systems will function properly and will be repaired or replaced if they fail due to defects or workmanship issues.
- Additional Coverage:
- For a period of 1 year from the date of purchase, we extend coverage for select components and elements of your container home, such as windows, doors, flooring, and exterior finishes.
- This coverage offers protection against defects, deterioration, and failures that may occur under normal use and maintenance.
As a general rule we will send a lorry capable of offloading whatever we are delivering to the side and at 90 degrees to the lorry (just clear of the stabiliser leg) as depicted in the drawings below. If your delivery location requires anything significantly different please let us know, we have larger cranes for specialist purposes and can accommodate a lot of challenging deliveries with the right vehicle including offloading in front of the cab.
- Our lorries are capable of delivering your cabin or container to the side and at 90 degrees to the lorry, just clear of the stabiliser leg
- Our fleet includes larger cranes for challenging situations, including offloading in front of the cab (please request a quote if this service is required)
- Consider the size of the lorry in terms of the delivery location including height restrictions, overhead obstructions, space for turning corners and entering gates
- Portable Space is not responsible for any damage to manhole or drain covers or surfaces (such as pavements, fields or grass) during delivery
- In the event of our vehicle getting stuck, you will be liable for the cost of recovery and any damage that results, as well as any parking or permit costs incurred.
Working closely with the Hire and Sales divisions, the Portable Space Transport team specialises in UK-wide delivery and installation of our comprehensive range of cabins and containers on site, for business and private individuals.
The fleet comprises fourteen vehicles, eleven of which are six or eight wheel self-loading lorries, well-equipped to deliver cabins and containers in most locations.
Five of the lorries are fitted with special state-of-the-art cranes which have extended reach, the ability to operate 360 degrees and larger lift. These are specifically designed for delivering to restricted access sites which saves a great deal of time when setting up large site compounds and modular buildings.
The crane vehicle fleet is supported by three lorries without cranes to move containers from the ports to our headquarters for inspection and grading before storage, a quality control step not many companies offer.
DELIVERY AND COLLECTION QUESTIONNAIRE
We will work with your people to deliver accommodation or storage in a safe manner, placing it where you want it and working around inevitable site restrictions and parameters. If you have any concerns about delivery, please discuss these with us at an early stage to avoid incurring costs for abortive delivery attempts and wasted time for all those involved.
Fully-trained Portable Space drivers are equipped with PDAs linked to our office systems which contain all pre-delivery information as advised by you, record all signatures and take photographs of the unit once delivered.
Our containers are either brand new or ‘one trip’, meaning they shipped cargo one time before they were sold to us. ‘One trip’ containers are considered like new and rarely have any blemishes on them. We build all of our container homes to the IBC/ IRC code standard and adjust for local regulations, as needed. Our third party inspector partner inspects our homes at rough-in and at final, if required for the project. Our inspectors are highly reputable and respected in the construction space. All of our container homes are subject to our quality control program as well. Our highly-skilled craftman only use high-quality materials and finishings when building our homes. However, if a more affordable solution is required we are more than happy to discuss alternatives that fit your budget needs without compromising our quality standards.
Yes. We accept all major credit cards, however transaction fees may apply depending on the card used.
On arrival our drivers will report to your Site Manager to agree a lifting plan before starting work and will level the container as required. Please note that if any corner needs levelling more than 200mm you will need to let us know in advance. The drivers will ensure that all doors and apertures open correctly before leaving site.
Our delivery team is trained to to carry out all necessary assessments for safe installation, using standard generic risk assessment for unloading and loading of cabins and containers by lorry mounted crane. Please refer to Health and Safety for more information about our commitment to safety or discuss with your contact in Hire or Sales who will refer to the Transport team as required.
This answer varies by state & type of container home purchased from us (standard vs. custom). Given the straightforward nature of installing our plug-and-play container homes, it is much more cost-effective to have your local general contractor do it on-site. A local GC will have more relationships with reputable subcontractors (ie. electricians, plumbers) in your area as well. Also, we do not currently hold a general contractor’s license in all 50 states – adding another barrier to us performing the installs. So, while we do not typically install the container homes ourselves, we make it a priority to work closely with your general contractor so they are comfortable with the process and the installation is performed smoothly. With that said, we are happy to send a project manager to the site when the container is delivered and installed to add an extra layer of assurance if the customer requests it. Our list of preferred GC’s gets longer every day, so just ask us if we have one near your area that we can recommend to you. We will sometimes install the container homes ourselves for large custom projects.
For deliveries in South East England (east of a line from Bournemouth, through Oxford up to Lincoln) typical lead-times, assuming the products are in stock, are five to ten working days. If an exact delivery date is crucial, please give as much notice as possible as the longer the lead-time, the more likely we can help meet your target day. Please note that many sites ask for deliveries at the beginning of the week so if you need a Monday or Tuesday, you will probably need to give more notice.
The compact and stackable nature of flat pack cabins, small single and double toilets means that we normally make up combined loads and deliver these extremely cost-effectively all over mainland UK. We have two very regular ‘Milk round’ routes: one through North Wales, North and West England and Scotland and another one taking in South Wales and the South West through to Cornwall.
In addition we can deliver to the Scottish and other islands, but these need to be separately quoted prices. We also have some regular deliveries to Northern Ireland so please do get in touch especially if you need a large number of flat pack or toilet units.
With container deliveries, we are ideally placed to install in a range of unusual locations, using our larger cranes operated by our skilled and trained team.
If access is severely restricted, we can assist with mobile cranes and towable or flat pack accommodation to ensure you can provide suitable welfare accommodation wherever you need it.
As a company we are able to maintain high standards for prompt and reliable delivery by operating our own managed vehicles which makes the process much simpler. From time to time, we do work with other small sub-contractors which share our values and commitment to providing a first class service.
We do offer a limited external hire service, with lorries occasionally available to hire by the hour or by the day. If this is of interest, please send any enquires to transport@portablespace.co.uk together with collection and delivery address postcodes for a quotation and availability.
If a stock item has been designated for Click & Collect you will be given an option to collect rather than pay for delivery. Only items that are fully paid for can be collected and there is usually a small collection fee. We will contact you to agree a collection date and time and you will be given safety information and details so you or your drivers can safely collect your items.
For custom builds, we’ll provide plans specific for your custom container home. We’ll also provide guidance for what we need to build on site.
These can be delivered on a gooseneck or tilt trailer. If using a gooseneck, a crane or heavy-duty rough terrain forklift will be required on-site. A tilt trailer should be able to place the pool right in its prepared location if the space allows. The pools can be installed anywhere, as long as there is reasonable access for lifting equipment and trucks.
A flat and level compacted gravel pad is the minimum prep recommended. Ideally, concrete piers or a concrete slab would be used to support the full weight of a filled container pool. Options for site prep will vary based on the location/terrain. Our team will help provide guidance for appropriate site prep. Site prep is not included in the price.