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Title : How To Guide for Building Container Houses Will Inspire & Instruct, Says Guelph author
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How To Guide for Building Container Houses Will Inspire & Instruct, Says Guelph author

GUELPH— If you've ever thought about transforming a steel shipping container into a cozy, off-the-grid home, Christoph Kesting has published a book that could help you through the process.

And quite the process it is.

The 34-year-old former Guelph native, now living in Vancouver, has published a 112-page guide based on his experiences over the last three years converting a steel box into a home. He did so in the back lot of a business near downtown Guelph.

In an interview this week, Kesting said the book, "How to Build a Container House," is so much more than a how-to guide to turning a metal box into a livable space – it's a story about transformation, he said.

It delivers the "hard how-to," providing a step-by-step process of how to cut through metal or how to set up a composting toilet.

It also lays out the "soft how-to," taking a much more philosophical approach to the process of building a living space and working with others. One chapter is called How to Build Light and outlines three principles of Zen architecture. Another chapter is called How to Break the Box and encourages the builder to push through the difficulty of designing the structure and to rely on the team of friends they've assembled to help.

"You're building nothing if you aren't building good relationships," the chapter reads.

Both the soft and the hard how-to guides are necessary to build a true container home, he said.

The book is a culmination of two and a half years of Kesting's personal experience – some positive and some negative – slightly softened for print and served up with a side of playful enthusiasm. The quote on the second page accurately describes Kesting's message as "poetically delivered with new generation, hippy business savvy exuberance."

The story behind the book began in 2012 when Kesting sold his Guelph home and used the money to embark on a project that he was unsure he could complete. His goal was to transform a shipping container – normally used to haul cargo from one end of the world to the other – into a comfortable abode, allowing him to live sustainably and off the grid, without going into debt in the process.

Why build with shipping container? Kesting said turning them into a home is a good way to repurpose the material. They are relatively inexpensive and they are available throughout the world.

The 20-foot-long, eight-foot-wide, 8.5-feet-tall steel container was dropped off in the parking lot behind Diyode, the Guelph do-it-yourself business, and lovingly named the Foxden. Throughout the winter and spring that followed, Kesting held what he called "boxshops" every month, recruiting volunteers from the community to help him create a home from used and scrap material.

He also received help from Toronto-based home repair worker, Paul Horrigan. By the end of 2013, the City of Guelph was forcing Kesting to move the project off the property because the dwelling required a building permit to stay. Foxden was nearly complete and Kesting was hoping to sell it to someone locally and have it installed in a south-facing hill somewhere in Guelph. After running into difficulty selling it, Horrigan offered to buy it and move it to his property in Peterborough.

The container house was brought to the property last year and Horrigan and his wife were able to put the finishing touches on it. Reached by phone, he said the couple spent around $20,000 putting everything they wanted into it.

"Really, it's quite beautiful, and easy to heat," he said. The dwelling is equipped with a rocket mass heater, a space-heating system that uses an efficient wood-burning stove to heat a bench made of a mixture of clay and sand. He said one fire could heat the dwelling for 24-hours or longer, even in cold weather.

It also has a solar panel used to charge a battery that could power the lights or other small electronics.

On Saturday, Kesting and some of the volunteers from Guelph will be in Peterborough to celebrate the launch of the new book and to hangout in container house.

The total expense of the Foxden project is listed in the book as costing $73,575. Using the money he received from the sale of his house, he sought out used materials for the project. He said it was important for him to make the build economically and environmentally friendly.

A lot of money and time invested into the project was spent on research and development. If he were to take on the project again knowing what he knows now, he said he could put it together for less than half the cost.

Kesting said if he had to choose two words to describe the book, they would be "Imagination and aggression."

In terms of imagination, he said he wants people to read this book and see the possibility of transforming a piece of garbage into something beautiful.

"The book is to help people imagine what it could be like to build something that inspires them. It could be a container house, it could be something else."

Aggression can be transformed into fuel and used to fuel a creative project. Kesting said some people carry frustration and aggression due to the current options available in their lives. That passion can be funneled towards something creative and inspired.

Kesting is now living in Vancouver and visiting family near Guelph on occasion. Besides promoting his book and occasionally attending trade shows to discuss container homes, Kesting is working as a consultant and helping others design and construct their own Foxden projects. In the book, he writes he's currently speaking online with a family in Turkey and helping them build their own container house.

The book is available at The Bookshelf in Guelph for $40 or online as an e-book for the current price of $10.

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