A house with a pool means tons of fun, but it can also be very frustrating when kids and guests walk in and out of the house all wet!
How can you avoid this nightmare? That’s right — a pool house. Even better, install a shipping container pool house to save unnecessary costs.
Today, I’ll be sharing my top recommendations for the best shipping container pool houses you can buy right now. You’ll also find a simple guide on how to use steel shipping containers as a pool house.
5 Shipping Container Pool House Recommendations
If you’re in the market for a shipping container pool house, the following units are my top recommendations across various area options:
1. Kara 320 Pool House
- Price: $200 to $300 per square foot
- Number of containers used: 1
- Container size: 40 feet long, 8 feet wide, 8 feet 6 inches high
- Size: 320 square feet
- Standout feature: kitchen and living room come with beautiful bamboo flooring (using horizontal wide plank carbonized)
- Manufacturer: https://logicalhomes.com/model-homes/kara/kara-320
Logical Homes is headquartered in Austin, Texas, but it also serves other states including New York and California. The company offers many pre-designed homes, including the Yucatan 320.
I believe this model makes for an excellent shipping container pool house. Its 320 square feet of interior space accommodates a living area, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a laundry area, and a kitchen/dining room.
Once you contact Logical Homes and get your project started, it takes around 3 months to finish building off site.
The final pricing of your guest house depends on numerous factors including the nature of your building site and personalization extras.
2. Backyard Bedroom Guest House
- Price: $39,950 (core package)
- Number of containers used: 1
- Container size: 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, 8 feet 6 inches high
- Size: 160 square feet
- Standout feature: equipped with a Mini Split heating and cooling system
- Manufacturer: https://www.customcontainerliving.com/backyard-bedroom.html
The Backyard Bedroom model by Custom Container Living offers a fantastic layout for a shipping container pool house.
It’s a studio design that stretches over a 160-square-foot area to contain a bedroom, storage closet, and desk. It also features a bathroom with a toilet, sink, and a walk-in shower.
The Backyard Bedroom doesn’t have a bedroom, but this reduction in space allows it to fit in small backyards.
While it’s based in Missouri, Custom Container Living delivers all over the United States with extra shipping fees. They can even ship outside of the country, but the buyer is responsible for the entire shipping process once the unit reaches a US port.
3. ELBAR Garden Hangout
- Price: $69,000
- Number of containers used: 1
- Container size: 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, 8 feet 6 inches high
- Size: 160 square feet
- Standout feature: comes with a kitchen despite being limited in space
- Manufacturer: https://elbartinyliving.com/
ELBAR Tiny Living is based in Connecticut and delivers all over the world. The company gives you 4 pre-designed options; I went for the Garden Hangout as my recommendation for a shipping container pool house.
This unit has one of the best layouts I’ve come across during my research for today’s list. Although its area is 160 square feet, it features a kitchen with a 2-burner stove, sink, fridge, and storage cabinet.
You can utilize the living space as a lounging room by adding a couch, as a bedroom by setting up a bed, or as both via a couch that turns into a bed. There’s also a bathroom consisting of a sink, toilet, shower, and bench/cabinet.
4. ALT Eco Container Home
- Price: $35,900
- Number of containers used: 1
- Container size: 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, 8 feet 6 inches high
- Size: 160 square feet
- Standout feature: interior walls are covered with a ceramic-insulated paint to provide reliable insulation at an affordable cost
- Manufacturer: https://alternativelivingspaces.com/container-homes/eco-tiny-homes/
Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Alternative Living Spaces offers practical designs for shipping container homes. The company’s Eco series makes for excellent pool houses; especially the 20-foot version.
This layout accommodates a bedroom of dimensions 14 feet × 7 feet 8.5 inches that you can also use as a lounge. This space is separated from the bathroom with a sliding door that opens to reveal a toilet and a shower (no sink but can be an add-on).
The standard wait time at Alternative Living Spaces is between 8 and 10 weeks. However, if the unit already exists in the inventory, you’re eligible to receive it within 1 to 2 weeks.
5. The K240
- Price: $110,000
- Number of containers used: 1
- Container size: 24 feet long, 10 feet wide, 9 feet 6 inches high
- Size: 240 square feet
- Standout feature: the container features extra 2 feet of width and “high cube” height
- Manufacturer: https://www.kubedliving.com/predesigned-structures
Kubed Living was founded in Los Angeles, California by Katalina Klein. However, the company has manufacturing facilities all around the country and can service any state in the United States as well as Canada.
It offers pre-designed and custom shipping container homes; I picked the K240 from the former category. This layout accommodates a living/bed area, a kitchen/dining area, a storage room, and a bathroom with a toilet, vanity, and shower.
Keep in mind that the listed prices are for the house only. Costs for permits, engineering, foundation, site work, delivery, and installation aren’t included.
How to Use a Shipping Container as a Pool House
If you’re planning to transform your steel box into a pool house, you can either do it on your own or hire a professional to do it for you as follows:
Prefabricated Construction via Builder
Here are a few container modification companies that can get the job done:
- Giant Containers: with some impressive projects under their belt, Giant Containers has the experience and know-how to build you the pool house you’ve been dreaming about. While they’re a little on the pricey side, if you want it done right, you can’t go wrong with Giant Containers.
- Logical Homes: this well-known container home builder is based in Texas but also has a head office in California and New York. No matter what your budget is, you’ll find something that suits your wallet and taste within the company’s massive selection.
- Kubed Living: based in Los Angeles, California, this container home builder ships everywhere and offers multiple pre-designed models and endless custom layouts.
- Custom Container Living: this company is committed to giving its customers the home of their dreams with a huge collection of container house plans featuring everything from studios to 3-bedroom family configurations to commercial units. It’s headquartered in Missouri but services all states.
- Elbar Tiny Living: this Connecticut-based company services all mainland states. It offers 4 pre-designed configurations that are highly space-efficient and durable.
DIY
For DIY pool house gurus, here’s a rough outline of the necessary steps you should take:
- Calculate the available space you can build on. Standard shipping containers are around 8 feet wide but can vary in length between 10, 20, or 40 feet.
- Check the legal aspects of the project with your local authorities. You need to obtain the necessary permits before you can bring the container to your home.
- Draft a floor plan for your pool house. Determine where the different rooms are going to be located so you can start shopping for the right size and number of shipping containers.
- Go for Grade A or Grade B shipping containers. Both types are weatherproof, but the former is in generally excellent condition and costs more whereas the latter will have some dents and scratches for a reduced price.
- Before building, lay out your plumbing network and test it several times to ensure it’s running smoothly. After that, install your wiring and check that you have enough outlets and that they’re all working.
- When building, fiberglass is a great option for sturdy windows while vinyl is a fine choice for counters and cabinets. The flooring can be concrete slab, stone, carpet tile, or bamboo depending on the area’s use and your taste.
- Make sure you allow for adequate ventilation and install a reliable air conditioning and heating system. If you’re adding a kitchen, be sure it supports adequate filtration to get rid of cooking vapors and so on.
