Heck, it's been awhile since last posting...busy with life and of course more planning for the container: measure twice, cut once.
We scored on some oak cabinets that were demo-ed out of a house. Clean condition, match our plan dimensions and best of all, FREE.
We built the first frame for the patio slider that will go on the side of the cabin. It is made from .120 wall, 2x2 steel tube, miter cut at the corners and TIG welded. The frame will be used as a template for saw cutting the opening in the side which will be done with a reciprocating saw. One of the containers' internal tie down spots will be ground off in the process. To prevent binding of the balde while cutting we have fabricated a trapezoidal support that is held in place by increasing the tension on the base with a heavy duty ratchet strap. I prefer this method of bracing over nailing blocks to the floor and hammering in posts because it is adjustable while work is being performed and will not mar the floor.

Placement of this slider is critical as it defines the efficiency of floor space and the level of complexity of the interior stud walls to come.

The idea

We own a beautiful piece of rural land that we eventually plan to build our final home on. Since we will not be there full time for a couple of years, we wanted to have a structure that would provide some of the comforts to get through a nasty spell of weather when we are visiting but would not have to worry about fire or vandalism when we are gone. Our ideal cabin would be extremely durable and somewhat portable should we decide to redeploy it to another location should we choose. It must also serve as the cornerstone building block to our eventual home should we be happy with the location. A tall order for sure. A 20' ISBU container fits the bill as our starting point. We decided on a relatively new container that is in immaculate condition. While this may cost more as a starting point, it saves a lot of restoration effort. The conversion will use the highest quality components, be fully insulated and have an interior finished in light maple panels. The sofa seen in the diagram is a built in with a Murphy bed opening out from the wall behind it. There is a table that folds out from the wall when the bed is put away and allows for two people to sit on each end of the sofa and dine. Underneath the built in sofa will be some storage and our 3 x Group 31 AGM battery bank that will be fed by 320 watts of solar panels on the roof. Most of the electrical systems will be 12 vdc based and a 2000 watt inverter from Carmanah Technologies will be used for the intermittent 120 vac requirements. The "F" in the box next to the sofa is a Dickinson Marine propane fireplace that will provide heat. 3 small skylights will supplement daytime lighting. Night time lighting will be provided by dimmable LEDs with an RGB controller. Cooking will be taken care of with a 2 burner propane stove and 800 watt microwave. Refrigeration will be an Engel 45 liter Fridge/Freezer. A Sunmar Excel NE composting toilet will take care of sanitation duties. Water will be stored in a 50+ gallon tank mounted on the roof. Hot water will be provided by a propane fired on demand Omega heater. Gray water will be collected in a portable tank for use in irrigation on different parts of the property. The exterior will be finished with an olive gray color ceramic low emissivity paint. The container will be on I-beams welded to a pier foundation using Bigfoot Systems footings. The I-beams will be extended to the north of the drawing and another pair added to the west to provide the structure for a suspended deck. An A&E 20' x 8' retractable RV awning will be used to shade the deck in the summer.

Getting Started

Day1: We used a 2 1/2 ton floor jack to put the 20' container corners on 4x4s to get it off the ground and level in its temporary spot where we will be doing the conversion. We marked out the floor plan in blue tape; showing wall thickness, door cutout and the utilities infrastructure. The tape helps us get a better feel for the space and access. The next step will be to purchase the 2 sliding patio doors, build the steel tube frames that they will fit into and cut the first opening on the side.