Building a Big Barn from Containers

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Building a Big Barn from Containers - Feasibility in NZ?

MikeAqua

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#324070 24-Feb-2026 16:45

I love this barn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnzLVyFb4Ws It's a good compromise between ease of build and economy. I can build it myself, with a tractor (except for positioning the containers).

I plan to build more of a steeple roofed profile like this

40' containers well-anchored on concrete piles with an air-gap underneath, steels across the container rooves and framing up from there. Concrete pad in the middle

My concern is .... how much inflexibility/pedantry am I going to run into with the council, wanting to build something that doesn't fit the mould.

I mean it's an outbuilding .... no living spaces, no plumbing. It will have solar panels, batteries and associated control kit, space lighting, ventilation and an overhead winch. I'm kind of hoping that means as long as I have adequate provision for stormwater and the engineering is there on the foundations and framing ... I should be OK.

Am I dreaming? I mean people build houses from containers ...

Mike

gzt

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#3464090 24-Feb-2026 16:49

I've seen similar with containers and a bolt on roof arc several times. Maybe that counts as outdoor vehicle storage which it generally is. Dunno.

mattwnz

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#3464096 24-Feb-2026 17:22

There was a NZ grand design barn type house built from a lot of them about 5 years ago. I would watch that video. Personally I would never build from them unless I had ask the skills and tools needed to do it myself

k1w1k1d

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#3464100 24-Feb-2026 17:33

These guys make sheds from containers Container Shelters

tweake

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#3464155 24-Feb-2026 18:45

MikeAqua:

I love this barn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnzLVyFb4Ws It's a good compromise between ease of build and economy. I can build it myself, with a tractor (except for positioning the containers).

I plan to build more of a steeple roofed profile like this

40' containers well-anchored on concrete piles with an air-gap underneath, steels across the container rooves and framing up from there. Concrete pad in the middle

My concern is .... how much inflexibility/pedantry am I going to run into with the council, wanting to build something that doesn't fit the mould.

I mean it's an outbuilding .... no living spaces, no plumbing. It will have solar panels, batteries and associated control kit, space lighting, ventilation and an overhead winch. I'm kind of hoping that means as long as I have adequate provision for stormwater and the engineering is there on the foundations and framing ... I should be OK.

Am I dreaming? I mean people build houses from containers ...

that sort of set up is fine. just make sure you get good containers, most have leaks.

container houses are crap. but your not doing that, so thats good. containers to tend to sweat but the roof helps and it gives you space to put ventilation in.

council i have no idea. try not to have neighbours that can see it.

wellygary

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#3464196 24-Feb-2026 20:26

Looks like commercial operators certainly have offers with a hard peaked roof, ... so I'm guessing its not impossible,

https://www.containershelters.co.nz/products/hardlidshelters

Its still a building under the building act, so ou'll still have Council pen pushers making your life difficult,

"building— (a)means a temporary or permanent movable or immovable structure (including a structure intended for occupation by people, animals, machinery, or chattels); and"

MikeAqua

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#3464443 25-Feb-2026 08:36

tweake:

that sort of set up is fine. just make sure you get good containers, most have leaks.

container houses are crap. but your not doing that, so thats good. containers to tend to sweat but the roof helps and it gives you space to put ventilation in.

council i have no idea. try not to have neighbours that can see it.

I have the containers already, and they don't leak. They're currently filled with stuff that will go in to the new house. Yeah, condensation can be problem. I'll actively ventilate for that. Also, adding some side doors will help. They'll be facing the space between the containers so under the roof.

Building this sort of building where we our property is doesn't require a resource consent or neighbour approval, just a building permit. The neighbours won't mind I suspect, they all have tractor sheds etc. That said, by the time it's finished it won't obviously be a container building, the colour will blend into the backdrop to an extent, and we'll be screening it with plantings.

Mike

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MikeAqua

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#3464444 25-Feb-2026 08:43

mattwnz:

There was a NZ grand design barn type house built from a lot of them about 5 years ago. I would watch that video. Personally I would never build from them unless I had ask the skills and tools needed to do it myself

Thanks, I'll look that episode up. Apart from lifting the containers into place, and anything that has to be done by a qualified person, we can do it all ourselves. We'll have a medium size tractor to lift beams, rafters etc into place.

Mike

tweake

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#3464832 25-Feb-2026 18:51

MikeAqua:

Also, adding some side doors will help. They'll be facing the space between the containers so under the roof.

if adding doors make sure you put some uprights in. the walls on containers are structural and the roof adds load.

Goosey

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#3465021 26-Feb-2026 06:53

How are you preparing the ground?

consideration for rainwater run off…where’s that going to go…. Is that going to end up pooling and become somewhat of a moat around the proposed “shed”?

MikeAqua

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#3465073 26-Feb-2026 09:20

tweake:

if adding doors make sure you put some uprights in. the walls on containers are structural and the roof adds load.

Yep, I'll weld some box-section around the openings.

Mike

MikeAqua

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#3465143 26-Feb-2026 12:11

Goosey:

How are you preparing the ground?

consideration for rainwater run off…where’s that going to go…. Is that going to end up pooling and become somewhat of a moat around the proposed “shed”?

The containers won't touch the ground. They'll be on concrete piles and sit 50 - 100mm off the ground. I'll blade the area flat before the piles are drilled. Number, depth and diameter of piles is one of the areas I'll take professional advice on. I would think six or eight per-container (you can lift a fully loaded container with 4 points a bajillion times without issue). We've done some test drilling on the site and installed a bore. So, we have some good info on strata.

Under the containers around/between the piles .... dampproof membrane (secured to piles), 50mm of gravel and a 50mm treated timber perimeter. I may add a flush mow strip down the track.

In the breezeway between the containers ... whatever my builder mate did for his shed floor. He's had my tractor (~3000kg) in there for couple of years and it's yet to damage the floor - despite him using it regularly.

Stormwater .... the solar panel side of the roof will go into a 10k tank (washdown, troughs & irrigation of non-edible plants etc), that will hold about 200mm of rain from half the roof. Overflow down to a pond on the property (2m fall from ground level). The other side will go into 25k tanks for drinking water, and be pumped to the house tanks for settlement filtration, and UV. Any water from the concrete pad between the containers will go to a settlement sump with a storm sentinel or similar and then down to the pond, via a bed of oyster shells.

Mike

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Goosey

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#3465180 26-Feb-2026 14:13

MikeAqua:

Goosey:

How are you preparing the ground?

consideration for rainwater run off…where’s that going to go…. Is that going to end up pooling and become somewhat of a moat around the proposed “shed”?

The containers won't touch the ground. They'll be on concrete piles and sit 50 - 100mm off the ground. I'll blade the area flat before the piles are drilled. Number, depth and diameter of piles is one of the areas I'll take professional advice on. I would think six or eight per-container (you can lift a fully loaded container with 4 points a bajillion times without issue). We've done some test drilling on the site and installed a bore. So, we have some good info on strata.

Under the containers around/between the piles .... dampproof membrane (secured to piles), 50mm of gravel and a 50mm treated timber perimeter. I may add a flush mow strip down the track.

In the breezeway between the containers ... whatever my builder mate did for his shed floor. He's had my tractor (~3000kg) in there for couple of years and it's yet to damage the floor - despite him using it regularly.

Stormwater .... the solar panel side of the roof will go into a 10k tank (washdown, troughs & irrigation of non-edible plants etc), that will hold about 200mm of rain from half the roof. Overflow down to a pond on the property (2m fall from ground level). The other side will go into 25k tanks for drinking water, and be pumped to the house tanks for settlement filtration, and UV. Any water from the concrete pad between the containers will go to a settlement sump with a storm sentinel or similar and then down to the pond, via a bed of oyster shells.

nice, the only thing you are forgetting is the internet… I guess your next thread will be “help, how to get wifi signal in my “man barn””.

mattwnz

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#3465191 26-Feb-2026 14:47

The NZ grand designs shipping container house was 10 years ago and is this one. https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/home-property/86113672/grand-designs-nz-shipping-container-house-proves-ambitious

MikeAqua

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#3465231 26-Feb-2026 16:00

Goosey:

nice, the only thing you are forgetting is the internet… I guess your next thread will be “help, how to get wifi signal in my “man barn””.

It's been a few years in the planning/research phase but, I'm sure there is still lots of stuff I'm forgetting, lol. I do know how I'm getting network to the shed though - fibre. The run is too long for Cat-6 cable and there will be trees blocking WiFi.

I did see a guy on YouTube using Gamechanger CAT-6 cabler over a 1,000 ft run for POE. But it's about $1,000 for a roll so fibre will probably be cheaper, and I won't have to worry about electrical interference issues, as I'm running electrical in the same trench.

Mike