Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Shipping container cabin floor tile

I am building a 40 foot container cabin as a ground floor two bedroom cabin.
Bedroom end has a full bathroom that I am working on roughing out.
My wife would like tile in shower.

Bathroom will not be heated when we are not there.
I am concerned with freezing if water gets under the tile.

Any tile guys here?
Should that be a concern?

Roger in TX will be a good source. But I can’t imagine water getting under tile if installed right and the container isn’t in a low spot.

Just throw a fiberglass shower in there and be done with it.

Tell the wife all the tile will shatter every winter otherwise..

I like the way you think

A guys gotta ask himself why they put that rubber liner 'under' the tile?

I believe membranes have replaced lead liners . You may be onto something

Moisture isn't the real problem. Tiles will expand and shrink with the temperature. The changing sizes will pull the glue loose and cause buckling when it warms up. If you read the fine print on most synthetic floor coverings, it'll say to not use it when it can get below freezing. I made that mistake with some glue jointed laminate in a camp trailer that sat unheated all winter. The planks contracted and pulled the glue loose, then they buckled and split when it warmed up.

I’ve heard that the floors in shipping containers are treated with pesticides to prevent rodent and insect damage. I wonder if it should be removed before making it habitable.

Ditra membrane will provide waterproofing as well as the waffled surface will accommodate expansion / contraction movement
Epoxy thinSet adhesive and epoxy grout will be impervious to any moisture, or chemicals
(but it is a pain in the you know what to work with)

I’d love to see pics when you get it done. Best of luck on the project.

Shipping container housing is interesting. A local owner put a half dozen or so together. I haven’t seen it up close but it’s interesting anyway.

I built a shipping container job site office trailer that is unconditioned for periods of time. LVT flooring, plywood wall sheathing. Open the window and door in the summer. Little propane heater in the winter. Serves its purpose. I’m intrigued by the cabins/housing built out of them.

Yep. And agree with a previous poster—-just do a fiberglass shower insert, and call it a day. If wife INSISTS on tile, then “compromise” by using the solid synthetic panels that “look” like tiles. Kohler and others make them.

https://www.kohlershowers.com/

^^^This^^^

To the OP, if going tile, consider epoxy grout. We just went through this route with a tile shower and it takes the headache out of losing grout over time. I told my wife, my next shower will be low maintenance. As I get older, I want less headaches and less frills.

One goal I have is to build it here and transport it mostly completed 4 hours to where it will live.
Lots of miles of gravel.

I am not sure the tile would stay?
Any one have any wisdom on whether the tiles would stay attached? Floor, I am not planning to do walls in tile.

I would contact Maloy Mobile storage in Albuquerque.

He has million dollar contracts with cities in the US to build homes for the homeless out of shipping containers.

He can answer your questions

https://www.maloystorage.com/

Containers are pretty sturdy, but some flex is going to occur with transport, and certainly when you drop it. Might be fine with a small 3x3ish shower, but who knows?? I’m sure there are plenty of “high end” RV’s that have “high end” showers. A fiberglass pan is so easy, that I just can’t imagine wasting time/energy/money on something else for an occasional use cabin...

I see rv shower tile surrounds but haven’t found an rv tiled shower pan.
My wife is looking at a copper shower surround so has now picked out slate tile with hints of blue.

I tasked my wife with the design so I am looking for ways to make it happen.

And there was your first mistake!