Texas Rated Number One State to Build a Shipping Container Home

October 3, 2019 3:08 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

If you’re interested in the idea of creating a shipping container home or office, you’re in luck, because Texas is generally considered to be the best state in the country to do so, for a variety of reasons!

These types of structures are perhaps most commonly found in Texas, thanks to a generally relaxed regulatory environment for building homes. Of course, you’ll find the strictest regulations in any more urban area, which is going to be the case anywhere you go in the country, but you should have no problem building up shipping container homes in Houston, TX in suburban or rural areas. Plus, with the climate in Texas, shipping container homes can be more than feasible as year-round dwellings.

The other top states for shipping container homes include California, Tennessee, Louisiana and Missouri.

Regulatory issues

Now, just because Texas’s regulatory system is a bit more lenient doesn’t mean there are going to be no regulations at all for a shipping container home. Here are just a few examples of some of the rules you’ll need to follow when creating a shipping container home in Houston, TX:

  • Appearance: Depending on where you create the home, you may need to follow certain rules for the exterior appearance of the home, including the color and style of walls and roof and any other externally visible parts of the home.
  • Accessibility: Shipping container homes are still subject to all of the rules outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as the accessibility portions of the building codes in your area.
  • Foundation: You will need to create some sort of foundation for your home. Regulations cover the types of foundations you can use, the depth at which they should be installed, the height above ground level at which you should install flooring and other such issues.
  • Size: There are regulations in Texas with regard to the square footage of homes, the number of bedrooms and the maximum allowable height that you’ll need to abide by when creating a shipping container home.
  • Site offsets: You’ll need to abide by any existing rules for site offsets, examples of which include the distance from the property line to the edge of your home and the distance from any neighboring structures.
  • Utilities: Electrical, mechanical and plumbing issues are all subject to regulation in the state of Texas.
  • Structural integrity: You’ll need to make sure your home meets regulations for compliance with snow and window loads. This means having the proper structural reinforcements on your shipping container home to keep it sturdy in all types of conditions.

Keep in mind that despite the flexible and versatile nature of shipping container structures, you must also still follow the rules for zoning in your area. A shipping container structure can’t just be plopped down anywhere you want it to go.

For more information about building shipping container homes in Houston, TX, we encourage you to contact the team at A Mobile Box today. We’d be happy to answer any questions you have about our products and services.

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