Looking for advice on portakabins for self-build welfare + office use

[buildmoredog]

To meet the required welfare needs for my self-build, I’ve been looking at low-cost cabin options. I’ll also be using one as my office for my day job.

 

I’ve been offered two portakabins:

• One is 32ft (like the picture attached).

• The other is about 20ft (roughly just over the width of the jack legs).

Both are in decent shape but haven’t had any improvements in years. Transport to site will cost around £1,000 inc. VAT.

My plan:

• Use the 32ft one as my office and for locked storage.

• Use the 20ft one as a welfare unit (adding a sink, counter, and table).

Alternative option:
Rent a refurbished 32ft cabin with two rooms separated by a hallway, at £55 + VAT/week for 52 weeks minimum, plus £400 transport = £4,232 total cost. Same cost from all the leading places. 

Costing it out:

• With some DIY work, I can bring the gifted cabins up to spec (inc. double glazing) for around £2k.

• I hope spruced up i might be able to sell them for roughly £3k covering my costs and the transport costs. (the pictured one incidently is on eBay now for a staggering £8.5k!)

• That would leave my total cost free, plus I’d get more storage and less disruption with the two cabins giving separate welfare and office spaces.

My questions:

1. Are these older portakabins generally solid? I see many Britcabs etc. failing after 15 years, but Portakabins seem to last longer with their steel construction and bracing. My concern is the hidden roof/floor sections since they haven’t been moved in 20 years—what if the HIAB driver turns up and refuses to lift them?

2. How easy are they to move once onsite?

   • The 20ft one seems easy enough—farmers/builders/groundworkers can shift them.

   • The 32ft one might need a proper HIAB every time since it’s at the weight limit for most telehandlers. I have room on site so i can just put it out of teh way, but this size might not be attractive to most other builders. 

I really don’t want to end up stuck with cabins I can’t move or have to give away for free, turning a £1k project into a £3k headache.

 

Has anyone here been through the same decision process?

 

What should I expect?

 

 

 

 

[ProDave]

If you have been offered them free, then I would go for it for just the transport costs.

 

Most take the simpler route of a static caravan or large touring caravan, easier to transport and easier to sell at the end.

 

But think ahead.  Would one or both be useful to keep after the build, spruce them up a bit and you have a large shed / workshop.  If that is likely and you have the room then build into your plans the option to keep one or both of them on site permanently.

[saveasteading]

They do fall apart if abandoned, due to damp mostly. So you must see the cabin or get some comfort on the condition  so yours is not beyond  that stage.

Probably being given away because it is approaching that stage when hirers would complain.

 

The construction is usuallh of ply floor and ply / thin hardboard walls.

 

I've not known any have their primitive windows replaced... there isn't much wall structure to fix to.

 

That said, hiring is very expensive. 

Buy or take a free one and put it up on blocks with lots of air under. 

Expect to spend a lot on heating and putting up with summer heat. 

Keep it in good order and worry about it next life in a year or so.

 

 

 

[Alan Ambrose]

The alternative most big building firms use are converted containers. We picked up an ex-Bellway one for, I think £1,800, including delivery. It’s pretty nice to shelter in out of the weather. Came fully kitted out - almost like the guys just walked off site one day and left everything where it was. Plumbing, power & CU, pinboards, desks, microwave, you name it.

[Post and beam]

On 27/08/2025 at 20:08, buildmoredog said:

Has anyone here been through the same decision process?

 

Yes

I bought a 12 x 8 wooden shed and assembled it myself. It will be the wifes potting shed when we are done.

 

At the start of our build i was chatting with the frame erector guys and said that if it survived it would be the wifes shed. Their reply ' of course it will survive, nobody will use it' They just sit in their vans'.  And guess what, that is exactly what has happened. Never seen a single contractor in there,

I put in a cheap B&Q Cupboard, worktop and sink, a jackson boiler a large table with 4 garden chairs. Even got them a 2kw oil/ electric radiator.

 

 

 

[JohnMo]

On 27/08/2025 at 20:08, buildmoredog said:

locked storage

Wouldn't have any locked storage on site, just an open invitation for a toe rag, to look at nicking whatever is in there. Tell trades to take tools and equipment away at end of the day. If it nicked from your site you have to replace it.

 

Think site offices are fine on a major build site, but a self build, why? If the contractor needs one let them supply, otherwise don't. Welfare cabins end up filthy, that's why the trades sit in the vans.

 

I didn't bother with any of it. I got a portaloo and it was serviced by the hire company.

[saveasteading]

Agreed. A secure store with a padlock on it will be broken into at the levers, causing expensive repair.

They are worth buying (used once from china) for any use over 6 months and will be used for material and sundries and for small tools that aren't quite ready to throw away....and that will be left for you.

 

[Kelvin]

I just had a portaloo that was serviced weekly and I hosed it out in between if it had been particularly wet and therefore muddy. The trades all sit in their vans. Even when the garage was up right at the beginning and I said they could use it they never bothered. It was warm, had a table and chairs, power,  running water, a kettle, coffee machine, fridge, microwave and a decent internet connection. It was just me and my dog that used it.