Are you planning to move to Colorado and buy a house? Are you looking for a unique way to build your house? Or are you trying to shift into an eco-friendly or sustainable lifestyle? A shipping container home in Colorado might be the one for you.
Tiny homes are becoming popular over the years and recently, people have been using shipping containers to build their houses. Shipping container houses are cheaper, faster to build, and customizable which helped them gain popularity. On top of that, it is eco-friendly as it uses recycled shipping containers. It is expected that its market size will reach $73,070 million by 2025.
Want to know more? Then keep on reading as I will be telling you all you need to know in building your first shipping container home in Colorado.
Cost of Building your Container Home in Colorado
Shipping container homes, as the name suggests, are built from old shipping containers. Shipping containers usually come in two sizes: 20-foot and 40-foot. But, 20-foot containers are commonly used in building tiny homes. Container homes are similar to traditional houses. You can still design the interior and the exterior depending on your style much like traditional houses.
There are two ways to build your shipping container house: DIY or pre-built. DIY container home averages between $130- $175 per square foot.
Fortunately, pre-built container homes are also available. Builders are starting to see the trend in shipping home containers, and more and more of them are offering pre-built containers. Pre-fabricated container homes usually cost between $250-$300 per square foot.
Building shipping container homes are significantly cheaper compared to traditional houses. As of November 2022, traditional single-family homes for sale in Colorado cost around $717,642 and it is expected to remain the same in the coming years.
Meanwhile, if you want to build a container home in CO, you can find a pre-built, pre-designed container house for less than $100,000 as you’ll see below. Of course, if luxury container homes is what you’re after, we highlight some of the top builders as well.
For more ideas about building your shipping container house, check the following sites:
Best Shipping Container Homes for Sale in Colorado
There are a lot of prefabricated container homes that can be delivered to your doorstep, all available in a variety of sizes, material, customization options, and more.
From southern Colorado to Denver and Colorado Springs, building a shipping container house in CO has never been easier. Here are a few popular options you can choose from:
Luxe Container – Alternative Living Spaces
- Price: starts at $71,000
- # of containers used: 1
- Container Size: 30 ft
- Area: 264-sqft
- # of bedrooms: 1
- # of bathrooms: 1
- Standout Feature: Its size is unique since it is the only 30-ft container home available. It has a full bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom.
- Manufacturer: Alternative Living Spaces
First up is the Luxe Container by Alternative Living Spaces. The Luxe Container has its own bathroom, kitchen, living room space, and bedroom. Its open floor plan and large windows make the house look bigger.
An interesting fact about this tiny home is that a 40-ft shipping container was used and then cut up to make a 30-ft container home.
Pivot Flex Homes – Pivot Structures
- Price: starts at $92,500
- # of containers used: 1
- Container Size: 40-ft
- Area: 320 sqft
- # of bedrooms: 1
- # of bathrooms: 1
- Standout Feature: Spacious house with a small deck in front of your home. The storage container house is insulated with spray foam and a infrared wall heater is installed.
- Manufacturer: Pivot Structures
This tiny home is perfect for residential use, vacation home, or rental purposes. With its spacious kitchen and living room, you won’t even notice that you are living inside a tiny house. This house is also equipped with one bedroom and one bathroom. The bedroom is spacious enough to fit in a king-size bed, and it has its own walk-in cabinet.
You can never go wrong with this house as it is highly customizable depending on the design you want. The windows and doors can be configurated, and they have different exterior and interior finishes that you can choose from. Pivot Structures can finish your tiny house and have it delivered between 2-3 months.
The Luxbox – ROXBOX Containers
- Price: starts at $147,000
- # of containers used: 1
- Container Size: 40-ft
- Area: 320 sqft
- # of bedrooms: 1
- # of bathrooms: 1
- Standout Feature: Container home with ample space and a wonderful kitchen. The house can include a rooftop, exterior deck and exterior cladding.
- Manufacturer: ROXBOX Containers
This house contains a bathroom, bedroom, living space, and kitchen. It includes a bathroom with a roomy shower and a bedroom that can fit a queen-size bed ideal for couples. The house also comes with a kitchen with high-end appliances and cabinets.
The exterior can be upgraded to include a rooftop, stairs, and exterior deck at an additional cost of $45,000. They also have an option to include exterior cladding around the whole unit or a part of it.
Source: ROXBOX Containers
Best Shipping Container Home Builders in Colorado
It is important to find a reputable container home builder that you can trust. We have consolidated a list of Colorado container home builders that specialize in container construction. You can visit their website to check out their impressive portfolio.
Pivot Structures, LLC
Pivot Structures is one of the best builders located in Severance, Colorado. Their mission is to design and build innovative structures that inspire abundant living. Their work started after the Colorado wildfire in 2020, and they’ve been developing prefabricated container homes ever since.
Their shipping container homes can be used for various purposes such as a fishing cabin, additional living space, office, or your own residential home. You can work with their engineers and builders to build your dream shipping container house.
For those interested, you can mail them at sales@pivotstructures.com or call (970)235-4006.
Container Home Network
The Container Home Network located in Denver, Colorado is one of the innovative shipping container home builders. With their network of builders and engineers, building your container home will be simple. They will guide you with everything that you need and connect you with their builders. Their process is semi-customized depending on your needs.
You can call them at (303)991-3555.
Colorado Container Homes
The Colorado Container Homes can help complete your project depending on your needs. They can convert shipping containers into cabins, custom homes, playhouses, horse stalls, garages, and many more. Located in Kiowa, Colorado, they offer prefabricated designs or you can opt to DIY with them.
The shipping containers used to build your home are in “new” condition as they are only used one time. They also have “never used” containers to choose from.
You may email them at Sales@Cochomes.com or call them at (720) 381-1714.
Tomecek Studio Architecture
This architecture firm based in Denver, Colorado, Tomecek Studio Architecture offers custom prefabricated steel shipping container homes. Their projects are made to order, but with their state-of-the-art design, the wait will be worth it. They have previously designed multiple container houses that are top of the line such as Sugarloaf Container Cabin and Bird Blinds.
To know more about them, you may contact them by sending an email at mail@tomecekstudio.com or call them at (303)955-0562.
ROXBOX Containers
ROXBOX Containers transforms shipping containers into residential or commercial spaces depending on your needs. They have designed multiple containers that can be used as an office, cafes, kitchens, and residential houses.
Their designs are functional, eye-catching, and sustainable. With their modern designs, they have multiple models that you can choose from and they usually finish the construction between 6-8 months.
They are currently not accepting custom residential projects for individual home buyers, but they have a model house that you can order. They will be introducing more luxury modular container houses in the future so stay tuned!
For more information, email them at info@roxboxcontainers.com or call them at (303)997-8875 or (720)605-4556.
Are Shipping Container Homes Legal in Colorado?
A lot of people are asking if container homes are legal in Colorado. The short answer is yes. There is no statewide law against container homers in Colorado, but, there are certain permits and codes to be followed.
Source: Clarin
Similar to any other state, anything constructed must follow the building codes even if it is a shipping container house. These permits are usually modeled with the IBC (International Building Codes).
Zoning is a common practice followed by different local governments in Colorado. These allow the people to build their businesses or residential houses in specified areas and it varies for each city. To know more about the zoning in Colorado, you can check out their website. Ensure that you are building your container home in the right area.
Conclusion
Overall, building your shipping container home in Colorado gives a unique experience with its fresh and innovative idea.
With more builders becoming available, building your own container house has become easier and this provides you with a lot of options. If you will proceed with building your container house, work with reputable companies that can help you build your dream house.
