Frequently Asked Questions

We sell our products to all markets and industries, including residential, commercial, industrial and governmental. We have the experience and capacity to partner with businesses on any type of container related project, large and small.

Yes, we offer financing through our partnership with Wisetack.

Custom Builds
We will craft a custom container home specific to your unique needs and location. Using a combination of stacked or adjoined 20ft and 40ft containers, we will create your dream home. We design our container homes to maximize the views and features of your property. We can incorporate just about anything into our container homes. We’ve built workshops, done a putting green, made a large rooftop garden, built custom furniture, and more.

Standard Model
Our Standard container models are inspired by our most popular custom builds. Purchasing a standard container option from our website is the quickest and most affordable way to get your Backcountry Container, as it reduces a lot of the lead times and indirect costs that go into building a fully custom container home structure. Same quality, better price, delivered to you.

We provide you with your plug-and-play container home within 10 - 16 weeks of placing your order. For planning purposes, it typically makes sense to secure your general contractor either before you meet with us or during the design phase (led by our team) of your container home. That way you will fully understand the total budget of your project:

1. Site development: Your property may need some of the following infrastructure developments- well, septic, roads, foundation. Your general contractor can provide you with a quote for this scope of work.
2. Install of your container home: This is primarily utility connections once your container home is delivered such as electrical, water, and plumbing. Your general contractor can provide you with a quote for this scope of work as well.
3. Your container home: Our team works closely with you to design your container home. Once the design process is complete, we provide you with a detailed proposal that includes interior/exterior renderings, specs, and a quote for your home plus delivery.
4. Shipping and sales tax: Shipping fees for all builds depend on the distance from our build site (either in the Texas or Wisconsin area). Shipping typically costs around $3 per mile. Delivery for all builds will be quoted at time of purchase. For delivery, we must be able to drive our flatbed, tiltbed or chassis to the site to be unloaded. Sales tax will be applied to the contract amount upon purchase. The sales tax rate applied will depend on which state your container is shipped to.

One of the main advantages of buying a container home from us is that the site development portion of your property can be completed concurrently while we are building your container home. Throughout the build process, we coordinate & consult with your general contractor to make sure site development runs smoothly and our completion timeframes line up, minimizing the time it takes to get you in your new home.

Technically, yes. If you have appropriate transport (flatbed, chassis, etc.), and you ensure all utilities are disconnected, the container can be moved at your discretion.

The short answer is Yes. Corten steel will rust much slower than mild steel, and will remain water proof through its lifetime. Corten containers are corrosion resistant. Added layers of rust resistant paint and primer provides extra support.

Our containers are either brand new or 'one trip', meaning they shipped cargo one time before they were sold to us. 'One trip' containers are considered like new and rarely have any blemishes on them. We build all of our container homes to the IBC/ IRC code standard and adjust for local regulations, as needed. Our third party inspector partner inspects our homes at rough-in and at final, if required for the project. Our inspectors are highly reputable and respected in the construction space. All of our container homes are subject to our quality control program as well. Our highly-skilled craftman only use high-quality materials and finishings when building our homes. However, if a more affordable solution is required we are more than happy to discuss alternatives that fit your budget needs without compromising our quality standards.

Yes, we are proud to be a 100% family owned business with all of our operations and facilities located in the USA with production facilities in Texas and Wisconsin.

The most important element of a container home foundation is that it is level. If the foundation is level, a container home can be set there. With that said, there are quite a few options for foundations available. Choosing the right one for your container will depend heavily on the following considerations:

• Your preferred price point
• How permanent you would like your structure to be
• The ground conditions for your geographic area
• Depending on site location, there could be engineered foundation requirements required by your county

Based on your answers to the above considerations, we provide you with a recommended foundation plan that we think most closely fits your needs.  Some common foundations for container homes (listed in order of price point) are:

1. The ground: As long as the ground is flat, you can place a container on it
2. Railroad ties: Easily installed, cost-effective, and non-permanent so your container can be easily picked up and moved if the need arises. Can cost-effectively be coupled with a gravel pad base for aesthetics and leveling.
3. Helical piers/screws: We love to recommend this style of foundation to our customers for a number of reasons. This option is more cost-effective & easier to install than a traditional concrete slab. They are reliable, long-lasting, and suitable for all soil conditions. They can be installed at varying depths to make your foundation level regardless of how uneven your property (or mountainside for that matter) might be. This option is considered by us to be 'semi-permanent' in that your container home will be permanently affixed to the ground just like any other permanent foundation but if you wanted to, you could remove the helical piers and transport your container home to a new location and reuse the same helical piers as the foundation, mitigating the cost of having to purchase a foundation twice.
4. A concrete slab or concrete piers: This option, coupled with metal plates embedded within the concrete allows the container to be permanently welded to the foundation. This is typically a more expensive option than others but is widely considered the most permanent option.
5. Crawl space: If you are in a colder climate, we recommend you have the container slightly raised above a small crawl space to allow access to the plumbing and add additional insulation to the flooring. However, if a crawl space is not the style you are looking for, we can always spray foam under the container for you to winterize your container home.

In short, the right foundation depends on your situation and preferences - but we will be here along the way to help you pick the one most suitable for your needs.

Since container builds are a nontraditional form of housing, we highly recommend talking with the city/county/HOA where your property is and asking if they allow modular container home builds. We have found mixed responses that some builds are approved, some are denied, and others have some restrictions to work around. We are happy to provide any blueprints or build plans that you may need in order to ultimately greenlight the project.

Depending on the configuration chosen, your container will be delivered on the appropriate transport, whether it be a flatbed, tiltbed or chassis. If a crane is required, we arrange for that as well.

Yes. We accept all major credit cards, however transaction fees may apply depending on the card used.

Yes. By appointment only. Send a message to sales@backcountrycontainers.com to make a request. 

We like to say our containers are built to withstand Texas summers and Wisconsin winters. Our standard insulation package is more than sufficient to cover most geographic areas in the lower 48. We use 2LB closed-cell spray foam to insulate the walls (2" - r14 value) and ceilings (3" - r21 value) and utilize a subfloor system (r7 value) that we install under your luxury vinyl flooring. We also offer a 'winterization' upgrade package that, at a minimum, includes applying 2LB closed-cell spray foam underneath the container (2" - r14 value) and sealing it from the elements. Some counties may require more spray foam insulation in the ceiling or walls than our standard - no problem at all, we are a fully custom shop so we can add as much, or as little spray foam insulation as needed.

Yes, we offer custom armored steel security window shutters that are lockable from the inside. For budgetary purposes, we recommend using a steel door instead of adding steel shutters to a glass door.

Another option would be to design your container to have the door located behind the shipping container doors, so you can seal it up that way. However, we are a fully custom shop - so we can accommodate pretty much anything you are looking to accomplish.

This answer varies by state & type of container home purchased from us (standard vs. custom). Given the straightforward nature of installing our plug-and-play container homes, it is much more cost-effective to have your local general contractor do it on-site. A local GC will have more relationships with reputable subcontractors (ie. electricians, plumbers) in your area as well. Also, we do not currently hold a general contractor's license in all 50 states - adding another barrier to us performing the installs. So, while we do not typically install the container homes ourselves, we make it a priority to work closely with your general contractor so they are comfortable with the process and the installation is performed smoothly. With that said, we are happy to send a project manager to the site when the container is delivered and installed to add an extra layer of assurance if the customer requests it. Our list of preferred GC's gets longer every day, so just ask us if we have one near your area that we can recommend to you. We will sometimes install the container homes ourselves for large custom projects.