Went to an open house today

"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish)
08/26/2017 at 20:03 • Filed to: Weekend

It was in Squamish, about an hour from where I live. It was a laneway house, made of shipping containers, one of the smaller options from a company out of Alberta called Honomobo. Kinja won’t let me hyperlink their site, so here it is.

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Here’s the view from those gorgeous front windows

They’ve been on my radar for a little while, the idea of a ready to go house being plopped down on a foundation you build on an empty piece of property is pretty cool. This one, called the HO3, is $139,000 CAD. Property, foundation/garage, stairs, and shipping the home are extra. It’s a good size for a laneway house, but I’d want one of the bigger ones for a primary residence. The biggest one, the HO8, is two storeys, made of 8 containers. It’s the most appealing to me, but also $335,000 CAD. Nothing I can afford yet, but it’s an interesting idea. The fit and finish is good in person, I only had a couple gripes that could be solved with baseboards. A big part of the appeal is that they come ready to be hooked up to solar panels, and use a heat pump instead of a furnace. So in theory, you could have no gas bill, and no hydro bill.

Anyways, here’s a landmark of Britannia Beach

More of the mountains, and a proper G-Class

DISCUSSION (23)

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 20:08

Looks good, decent for proximity to Vancouver

gmctavish needs more space > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
08/26/2017 at 20:12

It’s a longer commute than I’d want to make every day, but I’d rather be coming from Brackendale/Squamish than Mission or Abby.

Actually I wouldn’t hate coming from Mission, at least until you start hitting all the traffic lights.

fintail > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 20:19

What would the land cost? Would that be the real pain?

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 20:24

Mission is far, depends where you are commuting to. I go from Fort Langley to Vancouver every day it’s not horrible

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 20:31

Netflix has a small selection of episodes of Grand Designs, one of which features a stunningly gorgeous home built from shipping containers. Like I almost wet myself it was that wonderful once completed.

The insipid HGTV Tiny House show makes me irate for not using shipping containers. One is far larger than most of the homes they feature, much cheaper to buy, easily turned into a livable structure and with an easily attained CDL, just as mobile.

gmctavish needs more space > fintail
08/26/2017 at 20:35

Depends where. I’m not even sure what Squamish land prices are. High for the size of town, because of Vancouver and especially Whistler proximity. This one already has an owner, Honomobo just got his permission to show it before he moves in

gmctavish needs more space > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
08/26/2017 at 20:38

A bit farther than Squamish, yeah. I’d be going to burnaby, the industrial area along Winston. I’m spoiled by having a 15 minute commute from north Burnaby, so basically anything else would be far

vicali > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 20:46

I hear property is cheap in Tumbler Ridge...

OPPOsaurus WRX > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 20:59

I’m very intrigued by the concept of shipping container housing but I’m on the fence if there is really any benefit over conventional construction, especially in climates requiring heavy insulation. Still pretty cool tho. My buddy wants to do a camp ground based on containers right down to the snack bar and swimming pool

gmctavish needs more space > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/26/2017 at 21:09

According to the reps from the company, even with the big windows, this one’s heat pump should be able to keep up until about -20 celsius, and should even be able to do that with solar panels, but any colder and you might be pulling from the grid. They use quite thin insulation panels, but they’re apparently very good. On the other end of things, it was almost 30 celsius outside, and with about 10 people inside it was nice and cool, and you could barely hear the AC.

I’m still on the fence about the benefit over conventional though. I’d have to look at the cost of building a similar structure without shipping containers. One of the benefits they tout is the strength of it, since containers are rather strong. I think the real benefit would be making some sort of apartment building out of it, or having self-contained units ready to go in case of natural disasters. Or housing homeless people relatively cheaply.

gmctavish needs more space > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
08/26/2017 at 21:12

I saw a youtube video about a guy who built his own home inside a single shipping container, very small, but impressively done. the cool part was that it was still a functioning shipping container, so he could have it shipped wherever he wanted to live.

gmctavish needs more space > vicali
08/26/2017 at 21:17

That’s somewhere I’ve yet to visit. It’s where my parents first met actually

BaconSandwich is tasty. > vicali
08/26/2017 at 21:27

An old roommate of mine has a place for rent/sale up that way...

Bowtie_Guy > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 21:39

I was just talking to our fab guy at work about building a shop/garage out of shipping containers. 2 of them together gives you a cheap 16x40ft shop and you really don’t need a foundation under them if you keep it single story... only downside is you can’t have a hoist

vicali > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 22:01

I made the comment as a joke because when I worked up there full houses were selling for $25k- of course 5 years later when the coal mine was bought and started production again they shot up to $250k again.. I think they’ve bounced again in the last few years..

It’s a nice town if you like taking your quad/sled to the grocery store.. gets a little shining in the middle of winter though..

fintail > gmctavish needs more space
08/26/2017 at 22:36

If it’s the least bit trendy, probably “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”.

CaptDale - is secretly British > gmctavish needs more space
08/28/2017 at 16:44

I really like the H05, but damn those are expensive. Cool houses.

How was the Fish n Chips?

gmctavish needs more space > CaptDale - is secretly British
08/28/2017 at 18:13

Yeah, I definitely need to find out how much having something comparable would be to build conventionally.

Fish was decent, chips were not great. It’s more of a novelty place I’m thinking, and also the only place for food in Britannia Beach other than the General Store

CaptDale - is secretly British > gmctavish needs more space
08/28/2017 at 18:21

Really? That is kind of a real shame to find out. I need to go to BC again soon and I thought it would be a fun place to stop by, but I guess not. I mean they could use ok fish with the right seasoning, but the chips have to be on point to other wise its a let down.

gmctavish needs more space > CaptDale - is secretly British
08/28/2017 at 18:25

It is a bit disappointing, but I may still be ruined by the phenomal fish and chips I had in Sidney, on Vancouver Island. The best place I know around here is probably The Crab Shop in Deep Cove. There’s like 10 other places that get called the “best in metro Vancouver”, but that’s my take.

gmctavish needs more space > CaptDale - is secretly British
08/28/2017 at 18:30

It also may have just been an off day, I’ve known other people to say really good things about it

CaptDale - is secretly British > gmctavish needs more space
08/28/2017 at 18:33

Vancouver Island is definatley on my hit list. I’ve been up there twice and never have been able to go.

gmctavish needs more space > CaptDale - is secretly British
08/28/2017 at 23:43

It’s really lovely. It’s also massive, I’ve been going there my whole life and still have so much of it I’ve yet to see. Victoria is beautiful, lots of Victorian buildings, and Tofino is pretty much my favourite place in the world. (I haven’t been to much of the world)