The overwhelming response to this video deserved a follow-up th-cam.com/video/kjbgduaH_7U/w-d-xo.html I address some comments that I received on this video.
Yeah, I'd like a cool sci-fi/dystopian house myself. Yet I'd rather hire an architect to be creative then build something out of toxic of trash though. Great video!
Good insight. I found that in Malaysia using a shipping container is more expensive because of the reasons you mention above... plus in Malaysia almost everything is expensive unless you're a tourist... nice video..
The problem with the whole "sustainablility" movement is when marketers realized that people are willing to spend more if they think they are saving the planet. Tons of counterintuitive products have been far more costly to the environment than what they were marketed to solve.
@@mikesouthey1657 I think that makes sense, even the electricity was produced by the same fossil fuel, the power plant is way more efficient than internal combustion engine. Concentrated pollution source is way more easier to manage than thousands of sparse pollution source.
Someone in my town bought some property beside a church. It’s probably 1-2 acres. At first he had just one double wide trailer. With in a few months he had it looking like a house. Full garage, front porch, and now he has a little horse pasture
Before people started using shipping containers for homes they cost anywhere from $250 to $850 dollars each. Now they cost upwards of $5,000 each. The manufacturers will just continue to raise the cost of them as demand grows. When they were inexpensive it made sense to use them as housing alternatives because the cost to fortify them was offset by the cheap initial investment. Now, the cost per square foot of living space is prohibitive.
@@capsfederation3154 you’re right, they’re nothing like $250 😂 and never have been! Maybe you could have found a really badly beaten up one for $1500-2000 but they’re hard to come by because you don’t really scrap old shipping containers, you repair them and keep them in service.
@@capsfederation3154 this is an outright lie. You really think all the shipping companies buying up shipping containers for product shipment was a smaller demand than a niche portion of the homeowner population? Lol. Shipping containers were NEVER $250, that's absolute nonsense. Well, maybe in the 1960s? They've ALWAYS been expensive. And right now, where I live, there sre companies that resell them in 10'x10'x40 for $2k apiece. Yes, it's getting pricier, but houses are FAR more expensive. Videos like these are just propaganda to try and discourage property ownership so governments can push the populations of their country towards getting comfortable with permanent rentals. Someday, EVERYTHING is going to be subscription based. And society will be divided by what 'tier' of subscription costs they pay for food, cars, housing, healthcare, etc, you watch. These rich bastards will bleed us dry every step of the way in every aspect of our lives. We're just cash cows to them
@@mgmg116 The video was not propaganda. She made valid points that make sense to me, someone who works in construction. For instance, a big point she was talking about was modification to make the containers livable. Every hole cut for a window or door must be reinforced. Generally speaking, going back to modify will be more expensive than having a plan before work to build from the ground up, especially due to labour costs.
It's correct, it's a priorities problem. Imagine "LOSING" OVER 1 TRILLION in a foreign country......yet claiming that your country cannot afford to make affordable housing.....wow....what a joke...
@@gomahklawm4446 Exactly, and in many countries that have "housing shortages" or a homelessness issue, there are millions of empty uninhabited homes. In cases there are more empty homes than there are homeless people. The problem there being investment banks and landlords buying up property as investments. Not to sell or rent it out. Just to have, keep empty, and sell when prices have gone up in future. This even further shows how it's not a technology problem, because if you build MORE houses, they're just gonna be instantly bought up by those same investment types. Since with their wealth they can outbid any 'normal' person that was looking to actually live in those homes.
@@Geeler Indeed, but China does NOT allow greedy USELESS rent collecting capitalist pigs to dine in perpetuity. Thankfully they are cracking down like a freight train on these useless rent collecting/nation destroying trash. They are ordered to sell the properties at cost if the delay is too long. I love the "ghost cities" thing.....as if MOST of them aren't busy as f*ck now....AND...on the main transit lines like anyone in govt WITH A BRAIN.....would/where put them. It's almost like....planning works. The only reason to be against central planning is the inability to RIP OFF/STEAL from the govt/ THE PEOPLE.
@@TheMrVengeance Imagine possessing nuclear weapons and the BILLIONS.......yes, BILLIONS it takes to develop them.....and having the audacity to plea for aid for your citizens. So disgusting. Any nuclear power should be excluded from any and ALL foreign aid, including you know who....
This video probably paid by realestates lol because a shipping container house can last long forever and it's cheaper. Why pay for a house that will cost you 10-20 minimum years of work and I'm young and seen workers who are 40-70 working all their life for a land and a house and still broke
@@tremainebligh8984 rust is a thing, like any home maintenance is required and with one made of metal u CANNOT afford any part of it to be exposed or any part to begin eroding.
My father is an engineer and I asked him for his take on using shipping containers as a building materials for home and office space, he told me that his engineering firm actually studied this and concluded that it's a niche solution because the added costs needed to make them viable would make them actually cost more than structures built with traditional materials
@@prioris55555, They aren't built to sustain forces from the sides. And there is also Galvanic Corrosion to be worried about. Good for an underground junker emergency type thing.... But not as a home. Imo
I know. This is my imitation of some "rich" ppl. Random person: yeah, so i can only do w/ what i have. I mean, if you really had to hear that. Anywho, I was wondering if i could get __ Rich person: yeah so anyways, about me. & What do you mean you dont have more crack? 😤 How dare you.
I feel like people who call shipping container homes a scam are real estate agents/agencies who just want people to continue buy or rent houses from them to support their own cash flow.
So, paying for someone's services, labor and materials is a scam? With that logic, buying groceries, a car or getting a haircut is a scam also. You don't have to engage in the free market. Live under a bridge or on the streets. Or, buy all of the materials and build it yourself.
I lived in an unislated shipping container home for over 14 years. I was in a coastal city though. With the exception of some minor rust from salt air and periodic molding from humidity due to the tropical humidity, I thought it was a comfortable and manageble spot to live. I would totally recommend their use to help combat homelessness in big cities.
Yeah, because everyone is ok with periodic mold. You are in the extreme minority if you're ok with mold in your home. That stuff can kill you, ya know.
@@WattersWaveYo I don't about the @#$%! It's up to the person building it and from my viewpoint, The maker of this video has her OWN Agenda and I saw nothing mentioned about that!!!!!!!!
Rob's family informed me he just passed from tetanus aids. the medical examiner said it was cause he lived in that gross house. homeless people deserve BETTER than these crust factories.
It seems like a shipping container would make a terrible home. They would be ideal for use as storage on one's property, but at the price they sell for you'd be better off just buying a shed.
We live inland and a used shipping container delivered for us was $3,000 for a small one. Now, lord knows. I looked into them and the ones that were available were so rusted out and full of holes, that they weren't even useful for storage. Heck, the mice would have a field day if I even stored grain in one. Forget furniture or anything else. For one that wasn't swiss cheese, I had to immediately tack on another $2,000. At that point, a shed was the better option. So that's what we built.
A container can be a great home - the point is to not just work off flashy renderings on design blogs and think about what it really takes, and what living in it will be like, and the kinds of problems you might face.
it's demise isn't because of designers, its because anyone call themselves a designer. The people who purported it was a good idea, very early on knew they were lying. Hunt them down now and see what they can say. But I remind you there is one singular way to wuse each one to produce 1 home. So don't write of ship-cons yet for something is coming you've never seen.
@Ken Williams Carbon that is being produced in the smelters can always be contained with technology, trees that are saved from not digging for iron ore can also play its part as lungs for the earth. So it is far more eco-friendly to recycle containers than to use it for making homes.
I'm a carpenter . I have 39 years in my trade, 24 of those years I spent framing homes. Now I just repair them. Recently my wife and I purchased rural land with the intent of building a house. The option of a container home has come to the table. There's a lot to think about when designing one. Your video has a lot of valid points and I'm going to watch it over again and share it with my wife. My skills unfortunately do not include welding which seems to be a requirement in the construction of a container home which means that I would need to hire a welder. Cost as always is a prime factor and I feel that your video along with some others has shed enough light on the subject for me to make an educated decision. Thank you
I will bet that a great part of the reason you are repairing wood frame homes is because framers get paid by piecework and take every shortcut possible while building. When you go to build your own home you hopefully will not take the same shortcut. Unless you don't actually know anymore what the correct way to build is.
The only wise use of shipping containers as places to live that made sense to me was some specially made ones purpose built as easy transportable temporary buildings for short term use.
@@jameslockyer9796 Huh, I guess you're right. So then the only other advantage they "might" have over caravan, are that they're stackable Stackable caravans
@@daemonace5910 no No stackable but once you have stacked it the bottom one is still the only use able one unless you billd stars or put scaffolding up wich would contribute to the industry look but does also look weird
Except that essentially the whole point is to avoid FINISHING the walls, i.e. buying and installing the siding. Belinda failed to mention you can widen your living space by coupling 2 containers and opening up opposing portions of each container. Installing a weight-bearing frame between the 2 openings is not very complicated, and the weight the frame must bear is not very substantial.
@@r33k24 Hello! Fellow realist here, theres some good things... just a lot more bad ones unfortunately :( dont lose hope tho, if not for yourself then for those out there who care about you and you may or may not have met. Have a good one chief!
There are several inaccuracies in this video, let's go over some of them. 1) Shipping containers do require some reinforcement, but recycling even a one time use shipping container into a permanent structure is environmentally sound, and even if you do use steel reinforcement the steel used for that reinforcement is relatively inexpensive. The reason why it's environmentally sound is because one time use shipping containers are actually very common. This video doesn't touch on shipping practices and there are many good containers that end up being stacked in some warehouse field that are destined to rot because they'll never be shipped out again. 2) You can use 1x1 framing on the interior and exterior with environmentally friendly spray foam insulations (which have been available for nearly a decade now) thus preventing sweating, reducing interior space loss, while reducing overall frame out costs and cladding costs. 3) Under US law, the contents of a shipping container and its full history must be disclosed. So not just where it's been, but what it contained. Shipping containers that are damaged or have been exposed to chemicals that may or are known to cause health issues aren't allowed to be sold to the general public. This is regulated under the EPA. 4) Interior shipping costs for a shipping container are actually far lower than you might think. In almost every state in the US you can buy a shipping container for under $2000 and if you're within 100 miles of the seller's location, they'll ship it to you for free. 5) The exterior paint may contain some carcinogenic or hazardous chemicals (anti-corrosives), however, new sealant layers can prevent leeching, and is generally recommended anyways to prevent rusting. Overall container homes are actually a valid and inexpensive way to construct a shell for a home or building. They repurpose an otherwise wasteful and carbon intensive material (steel boxes) into something with longevity after their useful life as a shipping container is complete.
Scam could be the case in some occasions, but looks more like an attempt to get publicity. "Things to consider" on the other hand is just too weak for how bad Containers really are as the basis for a house of any kind - except emergency shelters. Containers rust, they don't breathe, they collect condensation like crazy, the metal walls radiate heat to a distance to 1.2 meters. Depending on your climate, you'll live alternately in an oven or a freezer, unless you spend more on mitigation than a structure with appropriate materials would have cost you. Building with earth bags is nearly free and as interior comfort goes, far superior.
Yeah, we worked out of these pretty often when I was in the military, and they're hot as hell in the summer. Everything she said rang true. I think all the downvotes on the video are from people who wanted to believe containers are a good option, or have some vested financial interest in the industry.
Lol you think they’re not going to insulate them? Cmon use your head, any traditional house would be the same without the use of some kind of insulation technique
We had one that we used dead airspace and kept dirt and clay from touching the container more or less and it was that dead airspace with the wooden ends where the door opened up the only place that we really didn't have insulated much. It seems to do all right more or less
@@ShadeSlayer1911 It's not an issue if you don't mind a smaller living space. The point she made about that is completely moot seeing as there are people who already willfully live and enjoy spaces that small.
I lived in a shipping container when I was studying. It was part of a structure, stacked three high and twenty wide. 30m2 for myself, with a toilet, sink and shower, cooking on electricity and a heating unit which also worked as a cooler. I had one window and one door. It was a great home and very affordable. The container homes discussed in the video are the ridiculously over-engineered ones, and go so far that they could've used anything instead of a container.
What was the door? Because it can't be the regular double doors on the end, which only work from outside. And fitting that window was probably a big task. The pipes for water and waste water would also have been tricky, though if you were up a floor it isn't so bad.
There are those that will do and others that sit and tell you how it can't be done when there is evidence it has been done many times. Studs frame the window. OR you can cut hole a little large and weld a piece of flat steel around the opening. Then the cased window will fit in. I hauled these things and they are tough as crap. You think hauling freight across oceans on high seas it is going to be flimsy? They are also corrugated and conduit could be ran. OR yes put in studs down the outside wall. Have to put together for 16 ft wide like....OH a single wide mobile home. Those are 16 wide. But go price a new single wide mobile home. They are now 60-80k. So a few k for each container. Some mods for those that have two brain cells to rub together....it can be done and has. Doors and windows can easily be framed. Harbor Freight sells welders cheap enough to make that a cheap investment. Spray foam insulation works well .
@@nathanpeep4019 I appreciate your passion, however you seem to be comparing someone making a home for themselves out of a container (a fine ambition I agree) with a mobile home that's made in a factory then sold for a . It's not a good comparison. Personally I have been intrigued by converted containers because I've seen some really cool looking projects done with them but I would bet the amount of actual work and materials that are needed to build comparably performing homes would be a wash.
I’ve been watching a lot of your videos lately. So basically, what I’m getting at is: don’t buy shipping container homes (including expandable ones), manufactured homes, modular homes, and Boxabls. Don’t even buy land because of all the prepping trouble that it’ll cost you. But sheds that you can buy from Home Depot that you can convert seem to be okay (although you still need to have land to put that on).
If you just like the aesthetics, I guess you *could* bust buy the "raw" corrugated sheets and fasten them to an existing structure - Why limit them to the shed roof?
BOOM! All Problems solved!! You are so right about that! Can make it any size or shape you like as you are no longer constrained by the container's dimensions. Only reason I would consider a container is so I can haul it everywhere with a fold-up deck and awnings and expandable rooms perhaps telescoping roof and other mods but it will cost so much I might as well purchase a luxury mobile home.
I was once in love with the idea of a shipping container home, as shipping containers are very cheap where I live. However, I discovered a few truths myself that she also outlines here and realized that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Cool idea, but usually impractical.
@@dresheraton9276 do you regularly go to the comments of a video first to see what the video is about? That just seems backwards and prone to getting misinformation.. People will straight up lie in comments what a video is about.. Why not just watch it for yourself and form your own opinion?
@@chillax319 yeah I consider trying to build one after seeing the dozens articles and videos about how cheap it is..its definitely not cheaper in the long run. It's definitely just for the looks.
It’s true: if you just buy sheets of corrugated steel, and apply them to the exterior of a wood home, you’ve got the aesthetic without the cost, complications, and size/load bearing limitations… it’s kind of a no brainer, unless you just want to live in one instead of the back of your van, it doesn’t make sense.
Why would I want to have the look of a shipping container when all I care for is the box itself? No, really, I always thought of them as practical. Not for a permanent home, but for a small shed in a garden, where you can sit inside on rainy days, brew some coffee and just have a nap. and by using the "doors", you could create an area, protected from wheather to sit and avoid sun, rain and stuff. effing would 100% still buy one, set it up on some vacation property and just have a place to relax and chill in between gardening, then close it up again at some Sunday evening and go to my ACTUAL home.
@@chaosgoettin for a shed yeah they’re perfect, me and my dad have two in the backyard that we use to store all tools and yard work gear in one, and a mini wood shop in the other and they’re perfect for that! But if you want one as a home, like the video said there will be plenty of complications
I don't see the "aesthetic" in it, maybe it's like denim, was worker person's clothes then turned into an everyone's clothes, fashion is perversion of reality through pretense, virtue signalling and upper class perverse understanding of lower classes and their own relative position.
Great points. I started building a shipping container home and found it was a lot more expensive than building a wood framed house with a lot less room.
@You are correct But we'll of course he was. He was a genius helping save the planet with his cool unique home that everyone would be talking about. And you were the dumb luddite trying to ruin his ability to brag and mount his high horse 🤣
These are all important factors to consider when dealing with shipping container homes, but they hardly make it a "scam." Using that word is total click bait.
Click Bait Yes! But it did get us all here. Not sure I would have watched it otherwise and I am happy I did because I am planning on building out an office and containers were a major part of the plan. Now I’m going to to do some more research and potentially move in another direction🤷🏾♂️
This woman is saying pour crap. Every house need reinforcements. She need to research her facts more. I think they paid her to post this video good job lady you will be pay well. I have seen my shipping container house cost me way less than building a house from wood or concrete. And my house took only 4 months to build beautiful luxury house two storage. You need to come spend at lease two days in it you would know how comfortable these containers house can be.
@@TheBakers5 I completely agree with you 100 percent. All the things she claims are unsubstantiated. Hence these people are actually the scammers and not the other way around. When your application is other than shipping goods, the best advice I got was to buy it new.
I doubt it. Emergency housing often involves quickly repurposing a large public space like a stadium or a hall that is already liveable. Sending out hundreds or thousands of shipping containers to wherever, to act as single family homes, is far slower and inefficient. Imagine how many trucks or train cars that would take.
Shipping containers can still be used for lots of other projects, I've had family that used them as small stables/shelter for their farm animals. This way it didn't need to be insulated and it as pretty cost effective :)
Those poor animals were in a shipping container that wasn't insulated!?!???? Wtf where is P.E.T.A when u need them. Do u know how hot a shipping container gets just sitting without insulation.... I'm guessing u just made this up .... U need more ppl we do NOT believe u
She is dropping a whole ton of knowledge. I thought container homes were good, and now I agree with her. She has convinced me 100% to change my position.
Speak for yourself. This sounds INCREDIBLY biased and plenty of these points are kind of painfully obvious. REALLY doesn't help her case that she's pretty clearly running on the assumption that you're using ONE shipping container to make the home, when most shipping container homes that ARE funtional and livable use multiple to create a single unit. One point she makes should be discarded completely, the point that cutting parts of the metal away means that there needs to be alternate reinforcement and framing. Thats literally the same for ALL contruction types! If it isn't a solid wall, and even if it IS, you need structural supports of some kind. Facts are, she ONLY has a point if you're trying to obviously live in a shipping container. The damn things absolutely can be reused on a large scale with proper decontamination proceedure and established architectural/construction practices. Repurposing shipping containers like this has a great deal of potential to drastically cut down on the need for lumber and other materials. If you abandon the 'trendy' industrial look and use the things more as a skeleton to build off (And do so correctly), shipping container homes are absolutely a good and feasible idea.
She literally talked about how multiple containers being build on the side or on top of eachother is a bad idea and expensive..... I don't understand what you are trying to prove? Did you buy a shipping container house and realize it was a dumb idea?
@@drakoinx Converting maybe a grand? 🤨 Its going to cost alot more to run plumbing, electrical, add a wood frame, insulate it, floor it, and paint it...
Not only that, but you: 1.) You can make the rooms any size and shape that you want (7' ceilings are tight) and 2.) You don't have to accommodate an existing structure not meant for this type of conversion. I think one of the biggest takeaways I got from this is that as soon as you start cutting into and through a shipping container you have to reinforce the integrity of the structure. Essentially you are forcing an already conventional means of building into a limiting space, when instead you could just forgo the container and build the home in any way you see fit.
It's 100% not foolish to buy a shipping container home and it proven to help the environment and save money. The dislikes prove this video is skewed towards trying to convince people that its bad practice to use materials destined for a landfill, instead of addressing that there are positives and negatives of every building application.
I looked at containers as a weekend home on rural property but came to similar conclusions. I did purchase a container but use it for secure storage only. Some of my neighbors like to "borrow" stuff when I'm not around.
And is it conditioned to be lived in???? This includes spray foam insulation, quality materials and craftmenship, proper heating and ac....no building just "rains inside" of it without improper building OR gaping holes in the ceiling 🙄
@@samtheskoolie They said "at work", so it sounds like a shipping container was converted into something like a Portakabin. In which case, there's probably a number of people in there, all exhaling water vapour. I'm converting my van to a camper, but I haven't fitted the main roof vent yet. When there's no wind to power the Flettner vent, my own breath can turn the ceiling wet in a matter of hours.
it seems to me shipping container houses are like stone soup: "I can make a hearty soup merely out of water and a stone, it just needs some carrots, lettuce, meat, and potatoes added to it." "I can make a house merely out of a shipping container, it just needs a new floor, studs added, reinforcement, insulation, etc." seems to me the best way to think of it is as a more permanent tent, otherwise you're just building a small, regular house around an often inconvenient metal shell. What would be interesting is to pit a storage container builder against a more conventional builder to see what each can build with the same budget/labor.
A same sized wooden frame structure is only about $1000 in lumber for the framing. And another $2000 for exterior plywall/interior sheetrock. That's the cost of the used unit just right there. Single story homes are very very inexpensive to make with wood and it's only when you add special features, rooms, or a second floor that it starts to get expensive. But a simple shotgun type house with a flat tar roof? There's a reason so many were built in the first place. Dirt cheap housing.
These containers get melted down as recycled Metal anyways. People who buy these are basically like fake TikTok "I'm a good person" clips. They're just doing to gain praise.
Ooh, faux shipping container homes. That would be interesting. They look like a shipping container but their built like a practical home. It might be cheaper to find a defunct train car and fix it up as a permanent house than buying a shipping container. Especially if it is a caboose or passenger car. Or building a tiny wood house to look like a train car.
I like the point you made regarding the need to frame them out, insulate, and dry line them - if you're doing that, then the container is now just cladding for the building...
You’ll have closer to that $100k in a decent container home by the time you’re finished. You’ll spend 20k just for the containers to begin with. A 40’ one will probably run +/- $7k each. In the end, yeah you’ll save some money but not as much as you think.
A shipping container as a home sounds like a bad idea. As a shed to keep bikes, tools and other storage it sounds pretty good. It can take the weather, you don't need windows, and the door already there can be an advantage due to its size.
We use old transport truck trailers. $1000 for a shed, pretty much. Works great. Where the reefer went you can put a clear plastic, or what ever, it lets the light in.
Steal as been used for a very long time why now are they talking about it calling it a scam says it all really brickers having less homes to build making people out of business maybe is that shy she’s saying it’s a scam wonder honestly iv lived in containers for 10 years now it’s amazing no problems up to now so yeah
The scam is a used shipping container is only really worth it's scrap value, but sell it as a 'modular home' and it's value multiplies by 20. Smart money sucks in dumb people. A fool and their money are easily parted.
you have to put it somewhere and if well done...its very solid on its base and put ciment to make it heavier. anti bullet...allready in a conform size...and by the way, this is not like people havent spends month inside one of those. you have your self the one last home you will ever need since you can move its anywhere. who is dummer now i leave somewhere else now but its still my mamas house...ah ah...dont worry, dumb people doest exit, only uninformed
@@sankako6075 Old shipping containers get sold to recycling plants. The iron is a valuable limited resource and VERY wanted. So, very easy to sell. I ship scrap metal all the time as a cargo barge helmsman. Day price as I type this in Belgium is 245.- EUR per a 1000kg. A container is 22000kg. So your average old container is worth 5400,- Euro.... My brother build tiny houses for a living. He can make you a complete one out of more eco friendly materials for ~2000.- same size... People that went container. Either just liked the look or didn't do the research...
@@xander9460 I'm genuinely interested in purchasing a tiny home. Is there any way I can get in contact with your brother and his construction business? Thank you
@@xander9460 Where did you get 22,000 kg from? assuming the truck and trailer weight you could carry more weight in a station wagon than a legal 40 ton truck? Stop making stuff up. Do the research. An empty 40 foot shipping container weighs 3.8 - 4.2 tonne. 3800kg x 0.24 less transport.
"But if this is the magical solution to our problems, why don't we see shipping container homes everywhere?" -YES, I have been thinking this for a long time! I knew there was a catch. And apparently, there are a lot more than I imagined. Thank you for this very informative video, Ms. Belinda Carr!
Not being popular equating not being good is a bad argument. Electric cars aren't popular right now because of price but the price will drop once big car makers finish their investments. Home containers are still shit though for other reasons.
It's the same issue with the banning of gas engines in California and the UK (and I think Canada). The cost and environmental impact of creating/disposing/charging of batteries for EV's is far worse than what they're leading people to believe. We need top stop thinking about batteries and start thinking of a new power source.
I think the biggest reason is that people don't want to live in a shipping container. It's not all the problems that come with living in a shipping container that scares them off, because they've already lost interest at it being a shipping container. It may seem hip in some circles, but I feel fairly confident that the average mom and dad don't want to live in a container.
@@cujoedaman Ehhh, batteries are still significantly better over their life cycle than gasoline/diesel engines. The problem is that your replacing the least sustainable possible method of transport - gas cars - with ones that are merely mostly unsustainable, rather than going for the real solution which is better public infrastructure.
Thank you for this great and detailed video Belinda. I've recently grown quite fond on the idea of using Shipping containers for certain projects. In my case I'm looking to create some kind of underground bunker with Gym facilities and general storage. This would require multiple containers stacked next to each other. I've taken note of the issues outlined, especially the structural integrity which could easily be overlooked. I am aware there are going to be added costs and that this isn't ideal in every situation. At least this is now food for thought and helps me to plan accordingly and address the points you made.
they have ZERO STRUCTURAL issues and can be stacked as high as 25 high fully loaded so really if you were looking to this Quack for information look else where seriously her LACK of understanding is horrendous to me
I've repurposed more than 100 shipping containers. My experience: 1) Size constraints: of course that size modulation is an issue. As architects, we are trained to solve this issue (and have). 2) Not every cut made compromises the container for it's final use as a home. And those that do are reinforced. Solved. 3) Insulation is used just as in other construction sustems. 4) True. 5) Shipping containers may be more plentiful in coastal areas, but can easily be found inland. 6) Recicling a shipping container DOES HAVE a positive impact on the environment since it prevents processing, manufacturing and using new materials. In other words, it reduces the carbon footprint of the building project. 7) My experience has been that compared to other constrution systems, the 20% savings is true, comparing to the same project being built with traditional systems. 8) If required, the home can be built in such a way that it can be relocated. Try that with other construction methods. 9) Construction time needed to build with shipping containers can be reduced by 50% in comparison to other methods. Not bad. 10) Having 40 years of experience in the industry as both an architect and builder, I can say that ALL construction methods and materials have limitations. For this reason you must have enough knowledge to decide when to use or when not to use a specific construction method. This does not make a SCAM out of any of them. My recommendation is to change the title of the video. 11) If needed, photos of many of my projects can be made available.
Thank you. Having been in construction management for most of my life, I could see potential of container homes from day one. We us them for everything, as I am sure you are aware. They are abused and take anything we throw at them. I have been obsessed with with starting a business like yours as well as living in a home utilizing the medium. The all out assault I have seen recently has been concerning. It sees like a lack of vision, construction technique and a concerted effort to stop the practice. I wonder if the big home builders are trying to sabotage.
You should use old refrigerated containers. They are only destined for the landfill once they’ve been condemned. They only (except in very specific cases) carry food grade materials. They are insulated. They sometimes have what’s called an airflow floor that you can run cable in instead of the walls. There’s usually hundreds of them spare since they usually only have the two walls and set of doors, since they remove the motor for scrap. Very good for a container home.
@@PreservationEnthusiast Judging by her other content, she clearly has a solid understanding of the field. No idea to what scale, but certainly has had an education in the field easily.
It sounds like a front for an evil mega corporation in a cyberpunk story: "We at the Wright-Filstein corporation can't be evil, we made the Shipping Container Skyscraper (that's full of regulatory violations)"
Modular multi-unit buildings have a major strike against them. The most prevalent example is the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Japan. It was specifically designed to be able to have individual units removed and replaced, or even just transplanted for the sake of modularity. No longer would the whole building have to be rebuilt from the ground up if the units were to be updated, and they could instead just rip out the old ones, and install the new ones in their slots. The only problem is that this never happened. The building is about 50 years old, and many of the units currently installed are the original units that were there back in the 1970's when the building was constructed. This is because in order to remove even a single unit from the building, the entire building needs to be cleared out. The units were designed to be replaced every 20 to 25 years, meaning the majority of the units currently there are overdue for being replaced twice over, and said replacements would currently be due for replacement. The process would take over a month, and those people and their things need to be put somewhere else for the time that would take. It only works on the small scale, where you can handle the units with your bare hands. Once you get to life size, and you need cranes and trucks to move anything, modular buildings become too dangerous and impractical.
Seems like a bad design if you cannot replace one apartment without evacuating the whole building. Gimmick designs are just expensive gimmicks :) Might have been cool if it actually worked.
@@DVankeuren It works perfectly with the model that you can play around with, using your hands. Once you get up into the literal tons of steel, wood, electrical wiring, plumbing, and stuff like that, and you risk these multi-ton units swaying in the breeze and slamming into already-installed units, it becomes far too dangerous.
Hey I remember getting taught about this back in college. Im glad I found your comment. Do you remember what it was called again? I believe there was an example of a room in a Tokyo architecture Museum
You are a genius! After I clicked on this I instantly realized. This has to be Belinda Carr! I looked and yes. I really enjoyed your insulation video with mineral wool.
I lived in a shipping container, while deployed overseas, as a member of the armed forces. I loved it!! I would willingly live in one the rest of my life, if my wife was okay with it. Yes, they are small, but how much crap does one really need?
Yes, I would too and was actually planning to do so BUT! the points she makes are so valid! for example, the investment to actually convert the container into a home, I had no idea it would take so much. The point is not only to downsize but, to save. I don't see the savings really.
There are some good designs, all depending on needs. Wifey & I can accept 3 or 4, 40ft x 9.5 high containers, with a 20 ft for garage, side by side or with some stacked designs.
Say a tornado rips through. Shipping container will survive 99/100 wood sheds.... Not so much. Plus security in remote areas. Cant burn a metal structure easily. Wood.... Poof.... Safety from wild animals and say men who mean you harm. Give me the metal container done right over a wooden house or shed. Remember in remote places it's you vs them....
@@mdarks4117 Yeah but why not just make a tiny house with wood? It's more environmentally friendly, a better insulator, greater longevity & it's cheaper in most places when you take into account the cost, delivery & reinforcing a container. The only benefit of a container would be to save several hours work installing the exterior walls & roof but that's insignificant to the entire project that still remains with a shipping container.
@@JoshManMate indeed, people tend to think that these are more economical than a traditional home with the added benefit of being more environmentally friendly. And the narrator is stating valid points why this is not the case. And because this is such a fad, unscrupulous sellers of containers will raise prices to ensure a healthy profit. But like politics, people will only believe what they want to believe and continue to think this type of housing will be the most economical.
its not a problem to build an drone that can lift an container. i think what stopping it is the risk of all that comes with lifting the container in right spot. one wrong move on the controler and you send it all flying the wrong way or crashing instead
@@FatFrog11 And one failed drone means that you have a falling container on top of an already sketchy stacking of containers, not to mention the workers below. It's just not practical or safe.
Why...The problem is people view drones as these toys that kids use to play with. In actuality, the military drones used for airstrikes are the same size as small fighter jets...so drone helicopters used for lifting shipping containers are very likely.
Right! I plan on building a home but I'm doing ALL the research needed to make sure that I ALL my ducks in a row. I don't think that container homes are a scam though. She needs to change the name of this story. Lol nice try lady😂😂😂
Well said JK. "7 reasons why shipping container homes are a SCAM" is just sensationalism to attract viewers. Some topics that Belinda presents have merit, such as shipping containers are not "environmentally friendly" or shipping containers cannot solve to the "world housing shortage" but anyone who would think otherwise would be a twit. Shipping containers do have their place as an alternative building option. This can allow for creative, inspirational and interesting designs. All building methods/materials have their pros and cons. It all comes down to availability, location and doing your homework and planning before commencing construction.
Agreed you can go cheap or you can spend a little bit more and get it the way it should be. I hate her title though it's really so misleading all her video did was annoy me and show me how much more I want to build one of these just to spite her. The reason you don't see them everywhere is because the same reason you don't see electric vehicles everywhere it hasn't gone mainstream yet it's only a new product that takes time to get out there. Her whole logic with being limited to 8 ft wide only is absolutely bonkers because you can stack two containers side by side or even on top of each other cut out the inner wall build a support and boom now you've got a 14 foot wide place or 14ft ceilings let alone anywhere else you want to stack them up like Legos. Next you can cantilever shipping containersa prime example is a new-build that just got built in Toronto. Sure it may add to the cost but who really cares when you're getting what you want and it's safer and your saving more money overall in the long-term.
As a person who designs and build homes and other types of dwellings using shipping containers, in my experience, I have never come across most of what she spoke on. Keep in mind the following: 1. Belinda Carr is an Architect not an engineer, which means she is great at drawing and designing but not building 2. Steel will always be stronger and cheaper than the amount of wood on a tensile strength factor. meaning in order for wood to have the same strength as a steel beam the amount will be almost double what the steel beam would cost. 3. The recycle factor of steel is that it can always be clean and clear of chemicals, you can have yours cleaned at the port before transport or just pay the xtra 500.00 to get one in top condition. Either way its more environmental than cutting half a forest down. 4. It can be added onto or expanded upon with ease due to its shape (Like legos), and yes they can be stack over 20 units high. you can't build any building with wood that is safe to stack half of that. 5. Last point, there is a reason why the places we spend the majority of our lives are not made of wood but of steel. grocery stores, strip malls, schools, offices.
Thank you! I already thought that nobody would speak it out! Building with wood is damn expensive! How ANYONE could say 'Building with wood is the cheapest option' is beyond me!!! I already feel like I'd have to sell a kidney to renovate my bedroom and build a wooden platform for my bed...
i watched a house being built from shipping containers, what a joke, basically paying for expensive cladding, you don't need to cut half a forest down to build a house of shipping container size. part of my house is ferro cement a couple of corner posts half rotten bamboo, end result was extremely strong wall that should last hundreds of years, put colour in cement and will never need painting. most concrete fails due to cheap skates skimping on cement powder and having steel too close to surface.
Yeah, well - I just watched a recent TH-cam video where a whole bunch of stacked containers on a ship came tumbling down in the midst of a storm, and ended up in the ocean.
@John Doe where i live houses are made of brick and stone. I do know in some countries like the USA it's basically just a stick box that's quite flimsy
I often wondered exactly how it might suck ( I Have family obsessed with building one , though they haven’t . ) I always wanted to know the hidden down side .
Yes , but it doesnt have to be , do you think anyone plans to just drop a container on the ground and just swing the doors open and move in ? There are a lot of assumptions made in this video .
Honestly, I clicked on this video because I thought it would going to be a bunch of BS to laugh at. Instead, you opened my eyes and completely changed my mind on these things. Thank you!
All solid points. I think the summary here is that the modifications required to make a shipping container livable aren’t worth the time, effort and money.
I always was surprised how people think the roof of shipping containers is so strong and durable. My middle school had two big shipping containers on the schoolyard that held sports equipment and soccer goals, and we used to climb on top of it. If you jumped up and down the roof would bend and rattle and make all sorts of noise, just from the weight of a 6th grader on it.
Probably because you see them stacked 10 on top of each other in dockyards, with cargo inside. They could be good at load bearing (decent tensile strength), but terrible with shear forces (tearing and high impulse forces). This means if you apply gradual pressure over all of it, it can bear a lot more than a much smaller force jumping on a weaker part in the middle. Edit: I just realized this is because the metal itself is cheap and weak, but the corrugated structure is what makes it strong.
@@xplosionslite6439 When they are stacked the weight is supported at the corners, which are heavier guage steel than the sides and roof which are just a thin sheet.
Coming from someone who has built several commercial facilities inside a shipping container (because I was given no other option by the people I worked for) I can say that she makes a lot of good points. You definitely have to insulate well with close cell spray foam, and install Dehumidification or something like a mini split running on dry mode. If you don’t it will become a box full of mold. The best option is to insulate on both sides of the steel wall if you can. I really find you’re better off in most cases just to get a pre-fabricated concrete building then to go with something like a shipping container. But sometimes you can’t convince people otherwise.
@@tkgus2408 several things… 1: much easier to insulate. Does not sweat like steel. 2: entire structure is structural so you don’t have to worry about doors and windows that you have cast in during construction. Of course your doors or windows will have a normal frame that is part of the door or window, but generally that’s all you will need because when they cast a hole in the concrete it will have plenty of support from above and won’t require a steel lentil. Not unless it’s really thin or you’re putting a lot of weight on top. If you go with a prefab building made out of concrete that is designed for your purpose, you can have all of the penetrations that you need cast into the structure, and all of the electrical, etc. put in at the time of fabrication. It is a heavy structure but almost impervious to fire and wind damage. They typically are just a better building.
@@wb5mgr I'm guessing that I misunderstood you when you said "I really find you’re better off in most cases just to get a pre-fabricated concrete building then to go with something like a shipping container." I thought you meant use pre-fab and then follow with a shipping container. I am thinking that there was a typing error and you meant to say "than" rather than "then". Interesting points about the pre-fab. I'm trying to develop a lot that I own. Perhaps I can email you? I'm trying to find the least expensive way to do it without shorting the buyer of a decent product.
Most people end up framing the inside anyways, like you would a house. Use local suppliers if you want an industrial look. You can frame a house and cover it in tin/steel. So much more practical, economical, and sustainable.
Not if you are living in cold or hot climates... You realize that steel will match the outside temperature right, maybe even be amplified by it... in the heat...
As a builder in Australia, your comments and deductions are sound. It is cheaper to build from scratch, a small home to suit your needs rather than to convert a container and make compromises due to the restraints of the container. Well done ❤
This answered every question that I ever had about the viability of container homes. The point about humidity control is right on the money... if you have metal in your walls, especially on the exterior, it would be impossible to prevent condensation... vapour barrier is not a 100% effective solution - if it were, you'd suffocate in your own home.
Concrete blocks,bricks wood houses also has problem with humidity and moisture...they make this videos to keep you in they're track...so they have no competitors
Well I hope not. She has left many generalizations and neglected actual facts, from a construction point of view It appears she knows little about actual construction and construction methods.. Proper venting and air circulation. Steel is not the issue. These challenges happen throughout the country in every environment. Different solutions for different environments. You are not going to use the same methods in wisconsin as you do in Arizona. Your house needs to breath. You need a continuous exchange of air. Different methods are used in different climates. If you have condensation you don't have or are lacking enough air circulation. I've seen it on wood framed and concrete block construction in Wisconsin and Arizona.
I live in a 26foot wilderness camper. About the size of a shipping container. I paid $ 1,100.00 for it. It was partially gutted. Perfect for customization. I live in North Dakota and it gets cold here. So...I insulated it with 250 pink insulation and painted right over it. Yes I have foam walls but if I didn't tell you, you would never know. Drywall mud hides everything! I went right over the windows and later made my own but far less windows. Two to be exact. I have solar led lights. Total spent: less than $2,500 bucks. This will be my third winter coming up.
Thank you for your comment. A lot of shipping container 'buzz' tout looks and allege convenience. It seems that insulating and weatherizing a container must add heavily to the expense. But right now plywood is $50 a sheet! Still, I can see the advantage of a well clad (and connected) container home in high wind country. Gabions?
@@deathbyvanity1955 I fixed all of the leaks. I had to do quite a bit of caulking. A lot of Caulk has about a 30 to 40 year lifespan. The camper is a 1986 so.... I had to replace all of it. But no leaks now! Should be good for another 30 years or so. Longer than I'll probably be around. Lol
As an Architect who has designed a container home I completely agree with you. I wanted to add a few more drawbacks. 1. The plan reviewers most likely have never reviewed a container home plans. When they review something that is new they pick out things that don’t matter and overlook things that do. 2. The people who are actually going to build them don’t have years of experience building them. Everything new takes time and manny iterations to perfect so you will probably have a lot of unforeseen issues come up.
@@tedros6917 THIS! Literally the only part of the building process that a container replaces is the siding... and it's MUCH more expensive than wood panel or even concrete block. You still have to do LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE that you would need to do to build a traditional house. A container home is MORE EXPENSIVE you mathematically incompetent bafoons. The purpose that you trying to serve has already been addressed by manufactured homes, aka trailers.
@@sweetlohlah A bit, but not really. The housing crisis is less of an issue of actual supply and more of artificially restricted supply, such as landlords who would rather their houses go empty for years than sell or rent for less than what they want.
she is only speaking from her ASS sorry to say as her many ISSUES are non issues period she only brings them up so she can POO POO on container homes so she can MAKE MORE MONEY building Traditional homes
She is not attacking tiny homes. She is just exposing that shipping container homes are not as perfect as the media describes them, and I think her points are very well thought out and accurate. As an advocator for tiny homes, I can tell you there are soooo many types of tiny homes, and shipping containers are just a fad. When building a tiny home, you do not need to worry about where the materials have been, or to essentially make a frame for your house if you ever want to expand it anywhere but upwards. All she is trying to say is that people look at shipping container homes as an eco friendly, cheap, and sustainable solution to the housing crisis, when in reality it’s just little more than a fashion statement.
My friend lives in a semi-tropical zone and he used a shipping container for storing his valuable collection of great items. Many homemade works of art were stored for quite a few years. When he finally got around to unloading the container, everything had gone mouldy. He had a very difficult job to do. It was a dangerous job because of spores and mildew. So, I include this to warn people to take extra precautions if you plan to use containers in this way. Perhaps a container would make a good formwork for a concrete root cellar. This was a very nicely presented video, and I, for one, think you have presented a timely warning to potential home builders. Thank you, and peace and blessings to you.
yep surprised he would do this... basically if you store anything in the tropics you need to ensure there is airflow - regardless of the building material..
@@sweetsweet3753 Yes, I just posted the incident to alert people that it can happen, and probably not just in the tropics. It is due to condensation which can happen most places.
@@andrewemery4272 No, he happens to be an exceptional person. He thought, like many others, that a container, being made to cross stormy seas, would stay dry inside. It is east to forget about condensation, and many have found this out the hard way. Even people who live in temperate areas get condensation in containers. That is why this topic is important.
Thank you for your thorough analysis of the shipping container scam. I live in Hawaii and spoke to a retired structural engineer/contractor/businessman that made that statement. I am an Industrial Designer that worked for Architects and Engineers for 44 years and don't like design trends (I prefer Timeless Designs). I don't care for current buildings that look like shipping containers. Thanks again!
Very informative. I have lived in a used 40ft container in the tropics for 2.5 years. It needed a separate roof over the top to keep it cool, and two port holes one for air flow fan and other for window and a wall mounted air conditioner, which was necessary. It was raised 500mm off the ground with basic steps to also allow under floor air flow, therefore cooler and more bug/rodent resistant. It had a toilet, shower and basin but no kitchen or living area. It smelt a bit due damp floor boards. It was very useful because it was modified only as a temporary home and served that purpose well.
Back in 1983, I lived in a four-unit apartment made out of the pallets that the Alaska pipeline was shipped in on. Unfortunately it wasn't built very well with minimal insulation, single pane glass windows, and an electrical system that kept blowing fuses. After trying to spend a -60 degree winter there, we had to move out.
In all fairness even a properly built house is not designed for -60f (-50c). I built homes in northern Canada, it often got to -50c in February and I would get a constant stream of calls from home owners having frost build up issues in various places where thermal creep couldnt be prevented at those temperatures... most of those systems are designed for -30c max. If you look at doors in Antarctic bases, there is a reason they look more like freezer doors... that is what you need to do for those extreme temps.
@@gabesnooks3549 We moved into an apartment complex that was built a lot better than the one made from pallets. Very well insulated, triple pane glass all around, and no frost problems down to -65F. So I would say this was a properly built house.
So to sum this up, shipping containers are a terrible choice for use in a home. The costs to retrofit and render them structurally sound will exceed the costs of just building new in most cases. Their designed to be crushed, warped and deformed, and aren't the indestructible boxes many think they are. Even ones designed for multiuse are built so that the walls give out before the corner struts do to ensure the boxes can be at least lifted and removed from the ships. Their literally just steel kleenex boxes. For those saying "Using them prevents their being thrown away." Next to car batteries, shipping containers have the highest rate of recycling of any manmade item and the lowest natural impact for an extracted resource next to standard glass. Like car batteries, most shipping containers are made...from old shipping containers.
@@MrUnknownNz exactly what I did. Friend is an engineer so he helped me and didn't charge to go over the designs. I'm a trades person it was pretty cheap for me to make the one I designed.
They're not great for housing, but if you need a secure shed for tools or what have you? Pretty great option if you can find a cheap one that's not too mangled. My family used to have a half-length one we used to store yard equipment in. It was cheaper to get than a shed of the same size; didn't need a foundation and is more than secure enough. Basically all we had to do was pour some gravel to make a ramp level with the floor after setting it down on level ground.
@@telly115ify People trying to sell you a home made out of them would be the scam, since they would be more expensive than a normal home, and worse than living in a trailer.
I am a general contractor living in Michigan. I see many people disagree with the title. Not all container homes are a "SCAM" (misleading information) Please change the title of your video.
I'm all for sustainability but I'm really happy when people show how some of these ideas are nothing more than marketing jargon when you look deeper into them or at least not as environmentally friendly as companies make them out to be.
@@vibewhen While I agree, you need to have the skills required to install the plumbing and the electrical wiring as well as insulation etc etc, AND then some states/Cites/Counties will make it near impossible for you to NOT go through a "Certified Construction Company" due to all the kickbacks our Elected officials get, they will have inspectors fail you left and right. SO you have to have the know-how AND live in an area where there is less corruption in order to be able to build it yourself.
@@tbirum any skills can be learned, with enough effort. So that's not as large a hurdle as it might seem. As for local corruption, well that's up to you and your neighborhood to fight, if that's the case. If they're unwilling and you have the means, move. If you don't have the means, well that sucks. It does happen though.
Sustainable design doesn't really mean eco friendly. Sustainable design actually means a design that will age with time and is versatile. That's what I have learn from my interior design classes.
@@devilselbow The Japanese have mastered the art of the flatpack home. I think it would actually take them longer to convert a shipping container than to just build a home using all their standardized trucked in components(QA is unusually good in Japan, as is speed and the weirdly low noise/disturbance of their construction projects) For prefab however, shipping containers do have the advantage. Shipping being the operative word. Japanese architects often use them for temporary disaster relief housing(assuming you're going to truck in maybe 100 temporary housing units)
The Germans have some terrific flat pack and prefab house designs. Grand Designs (UK) featured one and even went to the factory in Germany. It is computer-controlled and incredible to watch.
Just show an left over shipping container home project near the main street it's too good but the problem is It's a built in oven since my place(In tropical Country) is a blistering 34-36 Celsius. I say just build a home. It's not so Consumer Saving than a cost product even if you have one that has holes for ventilation just doesn't do good than a private owned storage room. It's pretty much like a lengthy room than a house
no, it's lazy architects looking for something that is already built and labeled as trash to cut costs with. the problem is that if the shipping industry is disposing of it, it's because it's been damaged or has reached it's product lifespan and is no longer structurally sound. I never understood this when my architect teacher brought it up. I thought it was a small awkward shape that you needed to do too much work to make feel livable in.
@@evilcanofdrpepper I agree with lazy and cheap, but not entirely with it not being structurally sound. just because it no longer meets shipping requirements does not mean that it is not structurally sound. Shipping containers need to be stacked like 20 tall when filled with cargo and not loss structural integrity. So a past prime or damaged container may still be well rated for a much smaller load. Ie: rated for 10 tons in shipping with safe factor of say 1.2, meaning it is built to hold a 12 ton load before failure. If it is past prime and is now only good for 10 tons before failure, but if you only load it to 8 tons max as a houses then it still would have a safty factor of 1.25 that is fine. (Note these are not real numbers, just hypotheticals, and the safty factor is on the lower end.) Edit: this example also assumes minimum alteration the storage container, alternating it may stranthen or weaken the structure significantly.
There is a guy near me that placed two containers parallel with about a 25’ gap in between. He then built a pole barn roof over in between them and opened an auto repair business. It seems to be a great use for them.
You can get a 20'x 20' two car garage from Home Depot for under $11,000. Hit it with some spray foam insulation and I'm sure you could put a toilet and shower in it and it wouldn't be a bad deal. I'm thinking of something like that for my backyard but without plumbing.
I think those metal sheds you can buy for your back yard to store your garden tools are made out the same materials and you guessed it, they are dirt cheap to buy!
@@nslouka90 Yeah, I live in a port city and after googling it the cheapest used container is 5-10x more expensive then a similarly sized garden shed. However I've seen a lot of them used as structural elements in industrial areas so they're likely more durable in the long term.
Thing is, everything you can do with a shipping container, you can do for cheaper with actual materials intended for it. Using a container for a shed is cheap, but building a wooden shed is cheaper. Best you can do with containers is to just recycle the steel. Steel is easy to melt and reuse.
Never understood this trend, it's almost like these people have never driven past the myriad of flimsy houses built in the 50s and 60 clad in this "wonder material" called metal siding that gives you the exact same look if you flip the sheets 90o. It would be reams cheaper, less toxic, a sight more functional and will look just as tatty in a couple of years. It's like face tattoos, just because it's the hot new thing on social media doesn't mean it is well advised.
@@thomaswhite3059 No one is making steel shipping container homes because they don't have the money. to have one you need to buy land. mobile trailer would be if you had no money and need a home it's a cheap 1 term purchase. Shipping container needs to be ship to your property since you would need to own or lease the land and have to pay to reinforce and insulate it.
Shipping containers are good for one thing: Shipping things. Not for burying, Not for living in, Not for converting, And you can easily build a much nicer looking storage unit. But... taxes and permits are quite a rip off con job, so looking like you're trash as best you can IS a way around it...
anyone pondering a 'tiny home' should try living in a 'travel trailer' for at least a year; the lack of storage, restricted amenities, and overall feeling of claustrophobia will help them decide what to do. (ex truck driver here, 'home' was wherever the Peterbilt Hotel happened to be parked)
agreed, the only reason I was considering a tiny home is just due to lack of funds. Housing is far too expensive in my country. But I know I'll struggle to live in a tiny home. I like having ample storage
I think that calling it a scam is more accurate than saying "it is not a good idea". Many of the ideas being pushed by the tiny house movement sound good if you don't think about it but fall apart under even a moderate amount of scrutiny.
Depends on how you look at it, I guess... In my mind (prior to this), they have always been marketed as sustainable, cost effective, low footprint, they're doing their part to save the planet, we're so impressed, why don't we all do this? I've certainly been captivated by this idea... I don't think it's particularly bad for individuals to build themselves a container house, if they just like this particular style and can live with the downsides... But, building a container skyscraper to save the poor? That would certainly be a scam, according to her arguments.
Would make perfect sense to make modular housing frames the exact dimensions as shipping containers cause you could fabricate them cheaply anywhere then ship them where you need them
In my city our apartments are usually constructed prefab, they have premade concrete slabs that they stack on top of each other. But this is because my area is very densely populated with limited landarea and natural resources, while having a good transportation network. Like she said in the video, the best practices are adapted to the needs of the home and location. Choosing modularity comes at a cost of something else like perhaps transportation costs or structural support.
Prefab and SIP panels are already a viable solution but aren't pushed, at least in the States. I worked for a company that did disaster relief homes and mining homes in poor countries. 4, 600sqft homes fit in shipping container and took 3 hours per home to erect with 4 man crew and a lift. Each home had heating and electrical prefabbed. In half a day, livable space was erected and furnished.
I was skeptical when I clicked on this video, and was pleasantly surprised to be informed about this. In my opinion it would be most functional to design a modular building system inspired by shipping containers but made out of more suitable, and more eco materials. Something that is designed to be lived in, stacked, and joined. It would be fairly low cost to manufacture such a thing on a large scale.
_No,_ base it's dimensions on either standard plywood panel sizes (I forget the details, but you should aim for whole-number multiples of yards and meters, since those two measures are close enough to be good substitutes for each other), or on something that is a bit taller than a shipping container, wider along the narrow dimension, and shorter along the long dimension. Shipping containers are _only_ designed to be reliably transportable, and it shows itself in their otherwise odd dimensions. As for construction, their approximate style isn't too bad- go for post & beam construction based on your standard dimensions, likely with most of the beams being embedded in walls as trusses, but with explicit beams where appropriate. Build walls, floors, & ceilings as standardized panels, and focus on making it easy & reliable to first secure the panels to the posts & beams despite construction irregularities, and to then easily connect & seal the utilities that're embedded in the panels. Design standard layouts for hallways, toilet rooms, bathing rooms, and various closets (for food, linens, water heaters, and pretty much anything else you can think of), that fit into those dimensions without having to spread to another flooring panel, and more particularly design a flexible system to produce standardized auxiliary walls for those purposes. Utilities should run vertically through posts, and horizontally through beams and foundations (and ceilings/floors where appropriate). Remember to design several fractional post heights, beam lengths, and wall, floor, & ceiling panels to allow more flexibility where desired (particularly to make easier both higher ceilings for more luxury construction, and to make it easier to bridge separately constructed areas). Remember that finished surfaces should be a _separate_ stage, so that customers can either stick with standardized surfaces, or choose to install custom options through unrelated contractors; this includes ceiling that don't have any finished ceiling surface, so that they can be paired with either standardized drop ceilings, or full-custom ceilings (e.g. arched, domed, or other more complicated ceiling shapes).
@@absalomdraconis pro tip, if you want people to take their valuable time out of their busy day to read your post, break up the post into several paragraphs. This wall of text was a headache to read and I lost my place a handful of times because we are usually all staring at a vertical screen and not a horizontal one.
They are called manufactured homes and their problems lie in where to put it. Parks for these home charge for the lot rent and have insane rules like an HOA but oft times worse. "Trailer parks" as they were known are scams actually and the scam is called "Buy the Dirt". Many of these homes cannot legally be transported and if the lot owner wants you to move it out you face either paying the owner a fine or dismantling it and hauling it off. The newer modular homes that are taking "mobile home" place look more like a house but their quality is low and non-standard construction makes repairs a pain. The exteriors are inferior as well and weather fast and look shabby in no time. Tell your city government to let contractors build when and what they want because a shortage of housing does not cure itself and trying to attract only upscale residents is the same as socialism but in reverse. Plus their will be no free market or services provided by lower income workers since they are being priced out. It is a disaster thanks mostly to zillow and govt following and allowing it to corner markets nationwide and inflate house prices. The bottom drops out of everything that is top heavy. Hang on!
The overwhelming response to this video deserved a follow-up th-cam.com/video/kjbgduaH_7U/w-d-xo.html
I address some comments that I received on this video.
Yeah, I'd like a cool sci-fi/dystopian house myself. Yet I'd rather hire an architect to be creative then build something out of toxic of trash though. Great video!
Good insight. I found that in Malaysia using a shipping container is more expensive because of the reasons you mention above... plus in Malaysia almost everything is expensive unless you're a tourist... nice video..
Full size School bus tiny homes are less space than shipping containers yet they are quite sustainable.
Good video even before this video I wouldn't use one for a home probably use it for a tool shed
Made a whole video about nothing
The problem with the whole "sustainablility" movement is when marketers realized that people are willing to spend more if they think they are saving the planet. Tons of counterintuitive products have been far more costly to the environment than what they were marketed to solve.
hehe, batteries for vehicle power storage instead of old school fuel
@@mikesouthey1657 I think that makes sense, even the electricity was produced by the same fossil fuel, the power plant is way more efficient than internal combustion engine. Concentrated pollution source is way more easier to manage than thousands of sparse pollution source.
cough, Apple justifying why they removed chargers from new phones
@@fromfareast3070 And dont forget the pollution created to mine and process the lithium for those batteries.
eco friendly water bottles made from a plant, they're cutting down rain forest to farm the plants lol
As a kid I remember being made fun of for living in a trailer, and now hipsters are doing it to be trendy
Hell some trailer homes looking better then some standard homes
Think it started in france or something and these hipsters followed the trend
Someone in my town bought some property beside a church. It’s probably 1-2 acres. At first he had just one double wide trailer. With in a few months he had it looking like a house. Full garage, front porch, and now he has a little horse pasture
Hipsters thrive off LARPing as an impoverished spiritual guru
I remember my grandmother saying "wearing sandals used to be a sign of poverty and hillbillies and now it is fashion to use them.."
I don’t know why this video was recommended to me, but it was oddly fascinating. Very clearly explained.
Me to totally agree with you👍
Same
So it's not just me😅
Same lmao
right? i never wanted a shipping container as my home and now we know how people live in them 😭😭
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Thank you for this amazing tip. I just looked the name up and wrote her.
I really thought she would say “to add insult to insulation” that one time
missed opportunity
I mean I heard it so clear even if she didn't say it 😂
@@ambientoblivion i swer to God! 😂
@@zconiglietti me too!
Me too I even finished the sentence
Before people started using shipping containers for homes they cost anywhere from $250 to $850 dollars each. Now they cost upwards of $5,000 each. The manufacturers will just continue to raise the cost of them as demand grows.
When they were inexpensive it made sense to use them as housing alternatives because the cost to fortify them was offset by the cheap initial investment. Now, the cost per square foot of living space is prohibitive.
Seriously it once was 250? Wow i thought theyd be 10k even after wear and tear 😂
@@capsfederation3154 you’re right, they’re nothing like $250 😂 and never have been! Maybe you could have found a really badly beaten up one for $1500-2000 but they’re hard to come by because you don’t really scrap old shipping containers, you repair them and keep them in service.
@@capsfederation3154 this is an outright lie. You really think all the shipping companies buying up shipping containers for product shipment was a smaller demand than a niche portion of the homeowner population? Lol.
Shipping containers were NEVER $250, that's absolute nonsense.
Well, maybe in the 1960s?
They've ALWAYS been expensive.
And right now, where I live, there sre companies that resell them in 10'x10'x40 for $2k apiece. Yes, it's getting pricier, but houses are FAR more expensive.
Videos like these are just propaganda to try and discourage property ownership so governments can push the populations of their country towards getting comfortable with permanent rentals.
Someday, EVERYTHING is going to be subscription based.
And society will be divided by what 'tier' of subscription costs they pay for food, cars, housing, healthcare, etc, you watch.
These rich bastards will bleed us dry every step of the way in every aspect of our lives. We're just cash cows to them
@@mgmg116 The video was not propaganda. She made valid points that make sense to me, someone who works in construction.
For instance, a big point she was talking about was modification to make the containers livable. Every hole cut for a window or door must be reinforced.
Generally speaking, going back to modify will be more expensive than having a plan before work to build from the ground up, especially due to labour costs.
I was looking into this, but for $3k I might as well buy a used camper
"Homelessness is not a technology problem" - Amen Belinda!
It's correct, it's a priorities problem. Imagine "LOSING" OVER 1 TRILLION in a foreign country......yet claiming that your country cannot afford to make affordable housing.....wow....what a joke...
@@gomahklawm4446 Exactly, and in many countries that have "housing shortages" or a homelessness issue, there are millions of empty uninhabited homes. In cases there are more empty homes than there are homeless people. The problem there being investment banks and landlords buying up property as investments. Not to sell or rent it out. Just to have, keep empty, and sell when prices have gone up in future.
This even further shows how it's not a technology problem, because if you build MORE houses, they're just gonna be instantly bought up by those same investment types. Since with their wealth they can outbid any 'normal' person that was looking to actually live in those homes.
@@TheMrVengeance ahem CHINA ahem
@@Geeler Indeed, but China does NOT allow greedy USELESS rent collecting capitalist pigs to dine in perpetuity. Thankfully they are cracking down like a freight train on these useless rent collecting/nation destroying trash. They are ordered to sell the properties at cost if the delay is too long. I love the "ghost cities" thing.....as if MOST of them aren't busy as f*ck now....AND...on the main transit lines like anyone in govt WITH A BRAIN.....would/where put them. It's almost like....planning works.
The only reason to be against central planning is the inability to RIP OFF/STEAL from the govt/ THE PEOPLE.
@@TheMrVengeance Imagine possessing nuclear weapons and the BILLIONS.......yes, BILLIONS it takes to develop them.....and having the audacity to plea for aid for your citizens. So disgusting. Any nuclear power should be excluded from any and ALL foreign aid, including you know who....
When the average cost of a home is 700k+, container homes start to look real good.
This video probably paid by realestates lol because a shipping container house can last long forever and it's cheaper. Why pay for a house that will cost you 10-20 minimum years of work and I'm young and seen workers who are 40-70 working all their life for a land and a house and still broke
When it comes to small scale it makes sense
@@tremainebligh8984 rust is a thing, like any home maintenance is required and with one made of metal u CANNOT afford any part of it to be exposed or any part to begin eroding.
Exactly. I live in Ohio. They're not that pricey here, depending where you live, but they're still more money than I care to pay. 8:40
that's an existing house. building one from scratch can't possibly cost that much.
My father is an engineer and I asked him for his take on using shipping containers as a building materials for home and office space, he told me that his engineering firm actually studied this and concluded that it's a niche solution because the added costs needed to make them viable would make them actually cost more than structures built with traditional materials
what about burying them in the ground
This
@@prioris55555
Wouldn't it still need structural reinforcement so it doesn't cave in?
@@JohnDoe-lp1ec There are a few videos where people used them underground, and I think they sealed them in concrete.
@@prioris55555, They aren't built to sustain forces from the sides. And there is also Galvanic Corrosion to be worried about. Good for an underground junker emergency type thing.... But not as a home. Imo
I lived in a dumpster once. It's the tiny house version of a shipping container.
🤣🤣
Lol I'm doing that right now😂
@@indicakid4866 , and you don't have to look for food. People keep throwing you stuff to eat.
i would really like to hear ur story now.
Dr. Zoidberg?
You know what is scam... Mortgage, debt ridden life... That's a scam..
I know. This is my imitation of some "rich" ppl.
Random person: yeah, so i can only do w/ what i have. I mean, if you really had to hear that. Anywho, I was wondering if i could get __
Rich person: yeah so anyways, about me. & What do you mean you dont have more crack? 😤 How dare you.
I feel like people who call shipping container homes a scam are real estate agents/agencies who just want people to continue buy or rent houses from them to support their own cash flow.
School loans.... add that in
@@bossdawg165 Debt!!!
So, paying for someone's services, labor and materials is a scam? With that logic, buying groceries, a car or getting a haircut is a scam also. You don't have to engage in the free market. Live under a bridge or on the streets. Or, buy all of the materials and build it yourself.
I lived in an unislated shipping container home for over 14 years. I was in a coastal city though. With the exception of some minor rust from salt air and periodic molding from humidity due to the tropical humidity, I thought it was a comfortable and manageble spot to live. I would totally recommend their use to help combat homelessness in big cities.
Someone didn't watch the video.
@@WattersWaveYosay 😂 shills
Yeah, because everyone is ok with periodic mold. You are in the extreme minority if you're ok with mold in your home. That stuff can kill you, ya know.
@@WattersWaveYo I don't about the @#$%! It's up to the person building it and
from my viewpoint, The maker of this video has her OWN Agenda and I saw nothing mentioned about that!!!!!!!!
Rob's family informed me he just passed from tetanus aids. the medical examiner said it was cause he lived in that gross house. homeless people deserve BETTER than these crust factories.
It seems like a shipping container would make a terrible home. They would be ideal for use as storage on one's property, but at the price they sell for you'd be better off just buying a shed.
It really depends. 10' x 10' x 40' is pretty large. A normal wooden 10'x10'x10' shed is going to cost $1500+ unless you build it yourself
@@jq7323 add a grand to that shed and you're closer. I bought one 2 years ago for 800 and now that same one is 2 g's because the price of wood
They are good for bunkers. Bury one under your garage or house before the concrete goes in.
We live inland and a used shipping container delivered for us was $3,000 for a small one. Now, lord knows. I looked into them and the ones that were available were so rusted out and full of holes, that they weren't even useful for storage.
Heck, the mice would have a field day if I even stored grain in one. Forget furniture or anything else.
For one that wasn't swiss cheese, I had to immediately tack on another $2,000.
At that point, a shed was the better option. So that's what we built.
A container can be a great home - the point is to not just work off flashy renderings on design blogs and think about what it really takes, and what living in it will be like, and the kinds of problems you might face.
When this concept started, it was a great idea. As soon as self centered designers and greedy people got a hold of the idea it became a bad idea.
It Is unbelievable.
W.A.F.I.
Exactly, shipping containers cost 800$ when it started and last I checked it was 3500$
it's demise isn't because of designers, its because anyone call themselves a designer. The people who purported it was a good idea, very early on knew they were lying. Hunt them down now and see what they can say. But I remind you there is one singular way to wuse each one to produce 1 home. So don't write of ship-cons yet for something is coming you've never seen.
@@addisonlanier4226 well said... you're right. All those self proclaimed people have changed alot of stuff for the benefit of themselves.
The most environmentally friendly way to deal with shipping containers is to recycle them. It's steel. It melts. It's super-easy to recycle.
@Ken Williams Volcanoes perhaps
@Ken Williams better than throwing tons of steal away each year
@Ken Williams Carbon that is being produced in the smelters can always be contained with technology, trees that are saved from not digging for iron ore can also play its part as lungs for the earth. So it is far more eco-friendly to recycle containers than to use it for making homes.
Yeah they aren’t the big waste items . Masks though they are
@Ken Williams You produce it the same way as you produce heat to melt iron ore. But you use a lot less of it. So yes, it's environmentally friendly.
I'm a carpenter . I have 39 years in my trade, 24 of those years I spent framing homes. Now I just repair them.
Recently my wife and I purchased rural land with the intent of building a house.
The option of a container home has come to the table. There's a lot to think about when designing one.
Your video has a lot of valid points and I'm going to watch it over again and share it with my wife.
My skills unfortunately do not include welding which seems to be a requirement in the construction of a container home which means that I would need to hire a welder.
Cost as always is a prime factor and I feel that your video along with some others has shed enough light on the subject for me to make an educated decision. Thank you
I will bet that a great part of the reason you are repairing wood frame homes is because framers get paid by piecework and take every shortcut possible while building. When you go to build your own home you hopefully will not take the same shortcut. Unless you don't actually know anymore what the correct way to build is.
Run!
You can buy a mig welder pretty cheaply
What did the wife say?
@@dlppl3407she’s gone with the welder
The only wise use of shipping containers as places to live that made sense to me was some specially made ones purpose built as easy transportable temporary buildings for short term use.
Do you mean a caravan?
@@jameslockyer9796
Huh, I guess you're right. So then the only other advantage they "might" have over caravan, are that they're stackable
Stackable caravans
They use those at construction sites in Finland. Sometimes workers live in them
@@kasperkosminen2679 in the UK thay can be used as an temporary office for people like the site manager so I gess its the same thing ish
@@daemonace5910 no No stackable but once you have stacked it the bottom one is still the only use able one unless you billd stars or put scaffolding up wich would contribute to the industry look but does also look weird
"Reinforcing the walls" was enough as a reason, because essentially the whole point of those containers is to avoid building walls.
Good thing there's something called a "column".
Add to that the current price of steel. Is crazy expensive and long lead time.
It's not a requirement. If you feel that way just don't do that part.
Except that essentially the whole point is to avoid FINISHING the walls, i.e. buying and installing the siding. Belinda failed to mention you can widen your living space by coupling 2 containers and opening up opposing portions of each container. Installing a weight-bearing frame between the 2 openings is not very complicated, and the weight the frame must bear is not very substantial.
@@g-ma_of_8 She mentions it on minute 3, just not as specific as you did.
"If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is."
Nobody, 2021
Doesn't sound good at all if you ask me
@@JMS849 And it looks pretty ugly if you ask me.
Yeah because the world we live in is runned and controlled by Satanists so of course there’s nothing good.
@@r33k24 Hello! Fellow realist here, theres some good things... just a lot more bad ones unfortunately :( dont lose hope tho, if not for yourself then for those out there who care about you and you may or may not have met. Have a good one chief!
There are several inaccuracies in this video, let's go over some of them.
1) Shipping containers do require some reinforcement, but recycling even a one time use shipping container into a permanent structure is environmentally sound, and even if you do use steel reinforcement the steel used for that reinforcement is relatively inexpensive. The reason why it's environmentally sound is because one time use shipping containers are actually very common. This video doesn't touch on shipping practices and there are many good containers that end up being stacked in some warehouse field that are destined to rot because they'll never be shipped out again.
2) You can use 1x1 framing on the interior and exterior with environmentally friendly spray foam insulations (which have been available for nearly a decade now) thus preventing sweating, reducing interior space loss, while reducing overall frame out costs and cladding costs.
3) Under US law, the contents of a shipping container and its full history must be disclosed. So not just where it's been, but what it contained. Shipping containers that are damaged or have been exposed to chemicals that may or are known to cause health issues aren't allowed to be sold to the general public. This is regulated under the EPA.
4) Interior shipping costs for a shipping container are actually far lower than you might think. In almost every state in the US you can buy a shipping container for under $2000 and if you're within 100 miles of the seller's location, they'll ship it to you for free.
5) The exterior paint may contain some carcinogenic or hazardous chemicals (anti-corrosives), however, new sealant layers can prevent leeching, and is generally recommended anyways to prevent rusting.
Overall container homes are actually a valid and inexpensive way to construct a shell for a home or building. They repurpose an otherwise wasteful and carbon intensive material (steel boxes) into something with longevity after their useful life as a shipping container is complete.
Thank you for the info, very detailed.
Well said.
Lot of good points to consider.
Thank you for this.
Thanks for this information!
Video should be titled, Things to consider before purchasing a "container home". Using the word "scam" is over the top.
Cedric 313 its just the TH-cam clickbait life
@@keizercas6051 Agreed, the biggest $cam of them all.
Yes I concur. She needs to get her "facts" straight and the SCAM is not a SCAM at all...
Scam could be the case in some occasions, but looks more like an attempt to get publicity. "Things to consider" on the other hand is just too weak for how bad Containers really are as the basis for a house of any kind - except emergency shelters.
Containers rust, they don't breathe, they collect condensation like crazy, the metal walls radiate heat to a distance to 1.2 meters. Depending on your climate, you'll live alternately in an oven or a freezer, unless you spend more on mitigation than a structure with appropriate materials would have cost you. Building with earth bags is nearly free and as interior comfort goes, far superior.
I agree 100%.
They're cool to look at but as a guy that moves em around goes in and out she's totally right.
90 outside 120 inside -10 outside -10 inside.
Yeah, we worked out of these pretty often when I was in the military, and they're hot as hell in the summer. Everything she said rang true. I think all the downvotes on the video are from people who wanted to believe containers are a good option, or have some vested financial interest in the industry.
Lol you think they’re not going to insulate them? Cmon use your head, any traditional house would be the same without the use of some kind of insulation technique
@@PreCiseCope And she already brought up the issues with insulating them.
We had one that we used dead airspace and kept dirt and clay from touching the container more or less and it was that dead airspace with the wooden ends where the door opened up the only place that we really didn't have insulated much. It seems to do all right more or less
@@ShadeSlayer1911 It's not an issue if you don't mind a smaller living space. The point she made about that is completely moot seeing as there are people who already willfully live and enjoy spaces that small.
I lived in a shipping container when I was studying. It was part of a structure, stacked three high and twenty wide. 30m2 for myself, with a toilet, sink and shower, cooking on electricity and a heating unit which also worked as a cooler. I had one window and one door. It was a great home and very affordable.
The container homes discussed in the video are the ridiculously over-engineered ones, and go so far that they could've used anything instead of a container.
What was the door? Because it can't be the regular double doors on the end, which only work from outside. And fitting that window was probably a big task. The pipes for water and waste water would also have been tricky, though if you were up a floor it isn't so bad.
Yeah, studs inside? Spare me.
There are those that will do and others that sit and tell you how it can't be done when there is evidence it has been done many times. Studs frame the window. OR you can cut hole a little large and weld a piece of flat steel around the opening. Then the cased window will fit in. I hauled these things and they are tough as crap. You think hauling freight across oceans on high seas it is going to be flimsy? They are also corrugated and conduit could be ran. OR yes put in studs down the outside wall. Have to put together for 16 ft wide like....OH a single wide mobile home. Those are 16 wide. But go price a new single wide mobile home. They are now 60-80k. So a few k for each container. Some mods for those that have two brain cells to rub together....it can be done and has. Doors and windows can easily be framed. Harbor Freight sells welders cheap enough to make that a cheap investment. Spray foam insulation works well .
this video is to poison the well of those who are thinking not buying a single family residence . real estate agents probably funded this video.
@@nathanpeep4019 I appreciate your passion, however you seem to be comparing someone making a home for themselves out of a container (a fine ambition I agree) with a mobile home that's made in a factory then sold for a . It's not a good comparison. Personally I have been intrigued by converted containers because I've seen some really cool looking projects done with them but I would bet the amount of actual work and materials that are needed to build comparably performing homes would be a wash.
I’ve been watching a lot of your videos lately. So basically, what I’m getting at is: don’t buy shipping container homes (including expandable ones), manufactured homes, modular homes, and Boxabls. Don’t even buy land because of all the prepping trouble that it’ll cost you. But sheds that you can buy from Home Depot that you can convert seem to be okay (although you still need to have land to put that on).
Yep. I think she is a propagandist as well. Getting paid by Russia.
If you just like the aesthetics, I guess you *could* bust buy the "raw" corrugated sheets and fasten them to an existing structure - Why limit them to the shed roof?
BOOM! All Problems solved!! You are so right about that! Can make it any size or shape you like as you are no longer constrained by the container's dimensions. Only reason I would consider a container is so I can haul it everywhere with a fold-up deck and awnings and expandable rooms perhaps telescoping roof and other mods but it will cost so much I might as well purchase a luxury mobile home.
Smh
If you want aesthetic why not a plane in a open field?
@@pugasaurusrex8253 Bro what?
@@RASIII9
You heard me
Where’s my Boeing?
That is called a "Quonset hut".
I was once in love with the idea of a shipping container home, as shipping containers are very cheap where I live. However, I discovered a few truths myself that she also outlines here and realized that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Cool idea, but usually impractical.
Because of your comment I will actually watch this.
ive done handballs in these things you will roast to death in the summer
@@dresheraton9276 do you regularly go to the comments of a video first to see what the video is about? That just seems backwards and prone to getting misinformation.. People will straight up lie in comments what a video is about.. Why not just watch it for yourself and form your own opinion?
Yeah it's one of these ideas that sound plausible but when you take your time and get a closer look at them, they don't look as good anymore.
@@chillax319 yeah I consider trying to build one after seeing the dozens articles and videos about how cheap it is..its definitely not cheaper in the long run. It's definitely just for the looks.
It’s true: if you just buy sheets of corrugated steel, and apply them to the exterior of a wood home, you’ve got the aesthetic without the cost, complications, and size/load bearing limitations… it’s kind of a no brainer, unless you just want to live in one instead of the back of your van, it doesn’t make sense.
Why would I want to have the look of a shipping container when all I care for is the box itself? No, really, I always thought of them as practical. Not for a permanent home, but for a small shed in a garden, where you can sit inside on rainy days, brew some coffee and just have a nap. and by using the "doors", you could create an area, protected from wheather to sit and avoid sun, rain and stuff.
effing would 100% still buy one, set it up on some vacation property and just have a place to relax and chill in between gardening, then close it up again at some Sunday evening and go to my ACTUAL home.
@@chaosgoettin for a shed yeah they’re perfect, me and my dad have two in the backyard that we use to store all tools and yard work gear in one, and a mini wood shop in the other and they’re perfect for that! But if you want one as a home, like the video said there will be plenty of complications
I don't see the "aesthetic" in it, maybe it's like denim, was worker person's clothes then turned into an everyone's clothes, fashion is perversion of reality through pretense, virtue signalling and upper class perverse understanding of lower classes and their own relative position.
@@chaosgoettin still wooden shed will be cheaper and comfier than shipping container 😉
@@VTJasmine69 yeah, just for storage or garage it's acceptable, and not for human beings ☺️
Great points. I started building a shipping container home and found it was a lot more expensive than building a wood framed house with a lot less room.
shows me you FUCKED UP and did not PLAN very well at all period what so ever
@@deathlyrose7911 Nahhh, Didn't mummy breast feed you? cheer up sunshine. You're still a winner. 🤣
The worst thing about shipping container homes, is how difficult it is to convince your clients that it is an unfathomably terrible idea.
Show them the transportation cost and crane fees. Yikes.
@You are correct But we'll of course he was.
He was a genius helping save the planet with his cool unique home that everyone would be talking about.
And you were the dumb luddite trying to ruin his ability to brag and mount his high horse 🤣
@@alexanderrahl7034 yoo I was literally saying this to myself, like that really the only reason they would still buy these things
@You are correct But spot on. As soon as you need to cut, it's not with doing.
There is a couple on YT that has shown them building their own by themselves
These are all important factors to consider when dealing with shipping container homes, but they hardly make it a "scam." Using that word is total click bait.
I agree.
Click Bait Yes! But it did get us all here. Not sure I would have watched it otherwise and I am happy I did because I am planning on building out an office and containers were a major part of the plan. Now I’m going to to do some more research and potentially move in another direction🤷🏾♂️
This woman is saying pour crap. Every house need reinforcements. She need to research her facts more. I think they paid her to post this video good job lady you will be pay well. I have seen my shipping container house cost me way less than building a house from wood or concrete. And my house took only 4 months to build beautiful luxury house two storage. You need to come spend at lease two days in it you would know how comfortable these containers house can be.
Maize clickbait means grabs your eye so it’s clickbait anyways learn the word
@@TheBakers5 I completely agree with you 100 percent. All the things she claims are unsubstantiated. Hence these people are actually the scammers and not the other way around. When your application is other than shipping goods, the best advice I got was to buy it new.
I'd say it's best use is emergency housing as its easy to transport. But not really a permanent home.
True,it feels like it would be good as temporary housing for people with destroyed homes etc
I doubt it. Emergency housing often involves quickly repurposing a large public space like a stadium or a hall that is already liveable. Sending out hundreds or thousands of shipping containers to wherever, to act as single family homes, is far slower and inefficient. Imagine how many trucks or train cars that would take.
Probably a good quality tent may be a better option for emergency housing than a container.
Good as a man shed / man cave
it sure beats none at all...i don't get why people are crying about cheap housing
Shipping containers can still be used for lots of other projects, I've had family that used them as small stables/shelter for their farm animals. This way it didn't need to be insulated and it as pretty cost effective :)
So the poor animals don’t feel cold or hot? How cruel
Do humans need insulation more than them or something?
Those poor animals were in a shipping container that wasn't insulated!?!???? Wtf where is P.E.T.A when u need them. Do u know how hot a shipping container gets just sitting without insulation.... I'm guessing u just made this up .... U need more ppl we do NOT believe u
@@Puddycat00animals usually sleep outside just fine without a house lol
@@CriticalninThey usually do it under a shade or somewhere with a light breeze
She is dropping a whole ton of knowledge. I thought container homes were good, and now I agree with her. She has convinced me 100% to change my position.
This was a great video! More people should see it.
Speak for yourself. This sounds INCREDIBLY biased and plenty of these points are kind of painfully obvious. REALLY doesn't help her case that she's pretty clearly running on the assumption that you're using ONE shipping container to make the home, when most shipping container homes that ARE funtional and livable use multiple to create a single unit. One point she makes should be discarded completely, the point that cutting parts of the metal away means that there needs to be alternate reinforcement and framing. Thats literally the same for ALL contruction types! If it isn't a solid wall, and even if it IS, you need structural supports of some kind. Facts are, she ONLY has a point if you're trying to obviously live in a shipping container. The damn things absolutely can be reused on a large scale with proper decontamination proceedure and established architectural/construction practices. Repurposing shipping containers like this has a great deal of potential to drastically cut down on the need for lumber and other materials. If you abandon the 'trendy' industrial look and use the things more as a skeleton to build off (And do so correctly), shipping container homes are absolutely a good and feasible idea.
@@YaoiChan18 projection much?
@@asapatheist pot meet kettle
She literally talked about how multiple containers being build on the side or on top of eachother is a bad idea and expensive..... I don't understand what you are trying to prove? Did you buy a shipping container house and realize it was a dumb idea?
So if you want a "shipping container" home, just build a tiny house then put metal siding on it.
@@drakoinx Converting maybe a grand? 🤨 Its going to cost alot more to run plumbing, electrical, add a wood frame, insulate it, floor it, and paint it...
@@drakoinx converting it only costing a grand? There's no way
@@drakoinx all of the material and labor costs you just mentioned also apply to shipping container homes...
lightning strikes will find you lol
Not only that, but you: 1.) You can make the rooms any size and shape that you want (7' ceilings are tight) and 2.) You don't have to accommodate an existing structure not meant for this type of conversion. I think one of the biggest takeaways I got from this is that as soon as you start cutting into and through a shipping container you have to reinforce the integrity of the structure. Essentially you are forcing an already conventional means of building into a limiting space, when instead you could just forgo the container and build the home in any way you see fit.
"It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled"
Mark Twain
People will continue buying container homes, sadly.
I mean, look at the dislikes. This is a genuinely good video!
It's 100% not foolish to buy a shipping container home and it proven to help the environment and save money. The dislikes prove this video is skewed towards trying to convince people that its bad practice to use materials destined for a landfill, instead of addressing that there are positives and negatives of every building application.
How much does it cost to buy a shipping container house
Its the new rich trend
Wow
Imagine having so much money and free time you feel bad for the earth .
@@samtheskoolie the bottom line is that it's not as efficient.
I looked at containers as a weekend home on rural property but came to similar conclusions. I did purchase a container but use it for secure storage only. Some of my neighbors like to "borrow" stuff when I'm not around.
It literally seems to rain inside my shipping container at work, the ventilation holes are so small.
Yeah it's not uncommon to see four huge 2' x 3' desiccant bangs in these containers for that very reason.
And is it conditioned to be lived in???? This includes spray foam insulation, quality materials and craftmenship, proper heating and ac....no building just "rains inside" of it without improper building OR gaping holes in the ceiling 🙄
@@samtheskoolie They said "at work", so it sounds like a shipping container was converted into something like a Portakabin. In which case, there's probably a number of people in there, all exhaling water vapour.
I'm converting my van to a camper, but I haven't fitted the main roof vent yet. When there's no wind to power the Flettner vent, my own breath can turn the ceiling wet in a matter of hours.
During the day it hot and at night it cool down the different in temp moister will formed in the metal panel.
Trash video, when you actually know how to put studs together it might mean something
it seems to me shipping container houses are like stone soup:
"I can make a hearty soup merely out of water and a stone, it just needs some carrots, lettuce, meat, and potatoes added to it."
"I can make a house merely out of a shipping container, it just needs a new floor, studs added, reinforcement, insulation, etc."
seems to me the best way to think of it is as a more permanent tent, otherwise you're just building a small, regular house around an often inconvenient metal shell.
What would be interesting is to pit a storage container builder against a more conventional builder to see what each can build with the same budget/labor.
Haha I love this analogy
A same sized wooden frame structure is only about $1000 in lumber for the framing. And another $2000 for exterior plywall/interior sheetrock. That's the cost of the used unit just right there. Single story homes are very very inexpensive to make with wood and it's only when you add special features, rooms, or a second floor that it starts to get expensive. But a simple shotgun type house with a flat tar roof? There's a reason so many were built in the first place. Dirt cheap housing.
Stone soup I loved that story in primary school 🤣 great metaphor!!!
These containers get melted down as recycled Metal anyways. People who buy these are basically like fake TikTok "I'm a good person" clips. They're just doing to gain praise.
Ooh, faux shipping container homes. That would be interesting. They look like a shipping container but their built like a practical home.
It might be cheaper to find a defunct train car and fix it up as a permanent house than buying a shipping container. Especially if it is a caboose or passenger car. Or building a tiny wood house to look like a train car.
I like the point you made regarding the need to frame them out, insulate, and dry line them - if you're doing that, then the container is now just cladding for the building...
WYou need to do the exact same thing no matter what material you use for construction
Yes it's just a great start if you want a home like that, especially if you can get it for just scrap price.
@@Unanuma and better yet free
@@Unanuma the problem is the scrap or free containers are unusable for anything but outside exterior aesthetic.
Made my office out of a insulated container all I did was cut out the windows and door done and dusted
I would still spend 20k building a container house than spend 100k building a normal house
Do some real arithmetic, math is not required, and reread your comment. You have your head stuck somewhere dark and smelly.
Why not just spend 20k building a small house? You'll get more for your money
You’ll have closer to that $100k in a decent container home by the time you’re finished. You’ll spend 20k just for the containers to begin with. A 40’ one will probably run +/- $7k each. In the end, yeah you’ll save some money but not as much as you think.
@@peternorton5648 You can buy regular wood home kits, 2 or 3 bedroom.
You can build you own real house for under $50k plus land of course.
40’ container are 2500 delivered
A shipping container as a home sounds like a bad idea. As a shed to keep bikes, tools and other storage it sounds pretty good. It can take the weather, you don't need windows, and the door already there can be an advantage due to its size.
We use old transport truck trailers. $1000 for a shed, pretty much. Works great. Where the reefer went you can put a clear plastic, or what ever, it lets the light in.
Much better idea. These people are just trying to be creative but kind of failed
They are great for underground tunnels. If you put them from end to end you can have your own private tunnel. Or saferoom under the home.
Steal as been used for a very long time why now are they talking about it calling it a scam says it all really brickers having less homes to build making people out of business maybe is that shy she’s saying it’s a scam wonder honestly iv lived in containers for 10 years now it’s amazing no problems up to now so yeah
My old Highschool used them for storage! It was great and it kept the stuff clean!
The scam is a used shipping container is only really worth it's scrap value, but sell it as a 'modular home' and it's value multiplies by 20. Smart money sucks in dumb people. A fool and their money are easily parted.
you have to put it somewhere and if well done...its very solid on its base and put ciment to make it heavier. anti bullet...allready in a conform size...and by the way, this is not like people havent spends month inside one of those. you have your self the one last home you will ever need since you can move its anywhere. who is dummer now i leave somewhere else now but its still my mamas house...ah ah...dont worry, dumb people doest exit, only uninformed
@@sankako6075 Old shipping containers get sold to recycling plants. The iron is a valuable limited resource and VERY wanted. So, very easy to sell. I ship scrap metal all the time as a cargo barge helmsman. Day price as I type this in Belgium is 245.- EUR per a 1000kg. A container is 22000kg. So your average old container is worth 5400,- Euro.... My brother build tiny houses for a living. He can make you a complete one out of more eco friendly materials for ~2000.- same size... People that went container. Either just liked the look or didn't do the research...
too many empty containers end up in north america and it costs ($8000?) to ship them back.
@@xander9460 I'm genuinely interested in purchasing a tiny home. Is there any way I can get in contact with your brother and his construction business? Thank you
@@xander9460 Where did you get 22,000 kg from? assuming the truck and trailer weight you could carry more weight in a station wagon than a legal 40 ton truck? Stop making stuff up. Do the research. An empty 40 foot shipping container weighs 3.8 - 4.2 tonne. 3800kg x 0.24 less transport.
"But if this is the magical solution to our problems, why don't we see shipping container homes everywhere?" -YES, I have been thinking this for a long time! I knew there was a catch. And apparently, there are a lot more than I imagined. Thank you for this very informative video, Ms. Belinda Carr!
A dog named a cat! :o
Not being popular equating not being good is a bad argument.
Electric cars aren't popular right now because of price but the price will drop once big car makers finish their investments.
Home containers are still shit though for other reasons.
It's the same issue with the banning of gas engines in California and the UK (and I think Canada). The cost and environmental impact of creating/disposing/charging of batteries for EV's is far worse than what they're leading people to believe. We need top stop thinking about batteries and start thinking of a new power source.
I think the biggest reason is that people don't want to live in a shipping container. It's not all the problems that come with living in a shipping container that scares them off, because they've already lost interest at it being a shipping container. It may seem hip in some circles, but I feel fairly confident that the average mom and dad don't want to live in a container.
@@cujoedaman Ehhh, batteries are still significantly better over their life cycle than gasoline/diesel engines. The problem is that your replacing the least sustainable possible method of transport - gas cars - with ones that are merely mostly unsustainable, rather than going for the real solution which is better public infrastructure.
Thank you for this great and detailed video Belinda.
I've recently grown quite fond on the idea of using Shipping containers for certain projects. In my case I'm looking to create some kind of underground bunker with Gym facilities and general storage. This would require multiple containers stacked next to each other. I've taken note of the issues outlined, especially the structural integrity which could easily be overlooked. I am aware there are going to be added costs and that this isn't ideal in every situation. At least this is now food for thought and helps me to plan accordingly and address the points you made.
they have ZERO STRUCTURAL issues and can be stacked as high as 25 high fully loaded so really if you were looking to this Quack for information look else where seriously her LACK of understanding is horrendous to me
The title should be “things to consider before investing on a shipping container home”
its just something like 300$ 500$ lol
Not that catchy :D
Why would I click that? 😂
+
SCAM was a bit clickbaity
I've repurposed more than 100 shipping containers. My experience:
1) Size constraints: of course that size modulation is an issue. As architects, we are trained to solve this issue (and have).
2) Not every cut made compromises the container for it's final use as a home. And those that do are reinforced. Solved.
3) Insulation is used just as in other construction sustems.
4) True.
5) Shipping containers may be more plentiful in coastal areas, but can easily be found inland.
6) Recicling a shipping container DOES HAVE a positive impact on the environment since it prevents processing, manufacturing and using new materials. In other words, it reduces the carbon footprint of the building project.
7) My experience has been that compared to other constrution systems, the 20% savings is true, comparing to the same project being built with traditional systems.
8) If required, the home can be built in such a way that it can be relocated. Try that with other construction methods.
9) Construction time needed to build with shipping containers can be reduced by 50% in comparison to other methods. Not bad.
10) Having 40 years of experience in the industry as both an architect and builder, I can say that ALL construction methods and materials have limitations. For this reason you must have enough knowledge to decide when to use or when not to use a specific construction method. This does not make a SCAM out of any of them. My recommendation is to change the title of the video.
11) If needed, photos of many of my projects can be made available.
I'd love to see some of your stuff! :)
Me too. I would really love to.
We need photos! 😄
What’s the cost difference for a wood framed house vs shipping container for the exact same size.
Thank you. Having been in construction management for most of my life, I could see potential of container homes from day one. We us them for everything, as I am sure you are aware. They are abused and take anything we throw at them. I have been obsessed with with starting a business like yours as well as living in a home utilizing the medium. The all out assault I have seen recently has been concerning. It sees like a lack of vision, construction technique and a concerted effort to stop the practice. I wonder if the big home builders are trying to sabotage.
I worked in shipping containers, if you ever drummed on when you’ll see how weak they are. The sun makes them an oven.
They are just thin metal boxes
._.) Covered it with dust and soil, like in the Africa..
It's so enviromental friendly that the rich wont use it at all..
You get to live in them and get a daily tan all at once
Insulation and proper building you can negate that.
@@ItzPubby at that point just make a normal house
You should use old refrigerated containers. They are only destined for the landfill once they’ve been condemned. They only (except in very specific cases) carry food grade materials. They are insulated. They sometimes have what’s called an airflow floor that you can run cable in instead of the walls. There’s usually hundreds of them spare since they usually only have the two walls and set of doors, since they remove the motor for scrap. Very good for a container home.
I mean there are some downsides, but a scam is a big word.
They use it as clickbait. But of course you are right. I think this video is quite interesting and has multiple valid points.
@@PreservationEnthusiast Judging by her other content, she clearly has a solid understanding of the field. No idea to what scale, but certainly has had an education in the field easily.
Scam is a very small word
Scam is a four letter word. Duh!🤓
Video title is a scam.
"Shipping Container Skyscraper" sounds like the housing equivalent of covering a bucket of fried chicken in gold leaf.
Taking the worst from from both words
It sounds like a front for an evil mega corporation in a cyberpunk story: "We at the Wright-Filstein corporation can't be evil, we made the Shipping Container Skyscraper (that's full of regulatory violations)"
You don't need an earthquake to topple the Damn thing just a weak breeze from a twister
@@Saint_Wolf_ * Coughs * Ready Player Number 1 Apartments * Coughs *
@@stalinsoulz7872 exactly what I thought. It’s THE STACKS
Modular multi-unit buildings have a major strike against them. The most prevalent example is the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Japan. It was specifically designed to be able to have individual units removed and replaced, or even just transplanted for the sake of modularity. No longer would the whole building have to be rebuilt from the ground up if the units were to be updated, and they could instead just rip out the old ones, and install the new ones in their slots.
The only problem is that this never happened. The building is about 50 years old, and many of the units currently installed are the original units that were there back in the 1970's when the building was constructed. This is because in order to remove even a single unit from the building, the entire building needs to be cleared out. The units were designed to be replaced every 20 to 25 years, meaning the majority of the units currently there are overdue for being replaced twice over, and said replacements would currently be due for replacement. The process would take over a month, and those people and their things need to be put somewhere else for the time that would take. It only works on the small scale, where you can handle the units with your bare hands. Once you get to life size, and you need cranes and trucks to move anything, modular buildings become too dangerous and impractical.
Yeah I've heard about that building, kinda sad it will most likely get demolished :/
Seems like a bad design if you cannot replace one apartment without evacuating the whole building. Gimmick designs are just expensive gimmicks :) Might have been cool if it actually worked.
Well clearly simple magic is the answer here...
@@DVankeuren
It works perfectly with the model that you can play around with, using your hands. Once you get up into the literal tons of steel, wood, electrical wiring, plumbing, and stuff like that, and you risk these multi-ton units swaying in the breeze and slamming into already-installed units, it becomes far too dangerous.
Hey I remember getting taught about this back in college. Im glad I found your comment. Do you remember what it was called again? I believe there was an example of a room in a Tokyo architecture Museum
You are a genius! After I clicked on this I instantly realized. This has to be Belinda Carr! I looked and yes. I really enjoyed your insulation video with mineral wool.
I lived in a shipping container, while deployed overseas, as a member of the armed forces. I loved it!! I would willingly live in one the rest of my life, if my wife was okay with it. Yes, they are small, but how much crap does one really need?
Yes, I would too and was actually planning to do so BUT! the points she makes are so valid! for example, the investment to actually convert the container into a home, I had no idea it would take so much. The point is not only to downsize but, to save. I don't see the savings really.
There are some good designs, all depending on needs. Wifey & I can accept 3 or 4, 40ft x 9.5 high containers, with a 20 ft for garage, side by side or with some stacked designs.
Say a tornado rips through. Shipping container will survive 99/100 wood sheds.... Not so much. Plus security in remote areas. Cant burn a metal structure easily. Wood.... Poof.... Safety from wild animals and say men who mean you harm. Give me the metal container done right over a wooden house or shed. Remember in remote places it's you vs them....
@@mdarks4117 Yeah but why not just make a tiny house with wood? It's more environmentally friendly, a better insulator, greater longevity & it's cheaper in most places when you take into account the cost, delivery & reinforcing a container.
The only benefit of a container would be to save several hours work installing the exterior walls & roof but that's insignificant to the entire project that still remains with a shipping container.
@@JoshManMate indeed, people tend to think that these are more economical than a traditional home with the added benefit of being more environmentally friendly. And the narrator is stating valid points why this is not the case. And because this is such a fad, unscrupulous sellers of containers will raise prices to ensure a healthy profit. But like politics, people will only believe what they want to believe and continue to think this type of housing will be the most economical.
I laughed at the drones carrying shipping containers
Its ridiculous that she is using those renders to "prove" her point, no one with a brain takes those images seriously. Its just like a kid drawing.
@@HelmuthGerka she wasnt taking then seriously either.
its not a problem to build an drone that can lift an container. i think what stopping it is the risk of all that comes with lifting the container in right spot. one wrong move on the controler and you send it all flying the wrong way or crashing instead
@@FatFrog11 And one failed drone means that you have a falling container on top of an already sketchy stacking of containers, not to mention the workers below. It's just not practical or safe.
Why...The problem is people view drones as these toys that kids use to play with. In actuality, the military drones used for airstrikes are the same size as small fighter jets...so drone helicopters used for lifting shipping containers are very likely.
I wouldnt say they are a scam, but anyone interested in purchasing one needs to do research before they decided to go through with it
Right! I plan on building a home but I'm doing ALL the research needed to make sure that I ALL my ducks in a row. I don't think that container homes are a scam though. She needs to change the name of this story. Lol nice try lady😂😂😂
Well said JK. "7 reasons why shipping container homes are a SCAM" is just sensationalism to attract viewers. Some topics that Belinda presents have merit, such as shipping containers are not "environmentally friendly" or shipping containers cannot solve to the "world housing shortage" but anyone who would think otherwise would be a twit. Shipping containers do have their place as an alternative building option. This can allow for creative, inspirational and interesting designs.
All building methods/materials have their pros and cons. It all comes down to availability, location and doing your homework and planning before commencing construction.
Agreed you can go cheap or you can spend a little bit more and get it the way it should be. I hate her title though it's really so misleading all her video did was annoy me and show me how much more I want to build one of these just to spite her. The reason you don't see them everywhere is because the same reason you don't see electric vehicles everywhere it hasn't gone mainstream yet it's only a new product that takes time to get out there. Her whole logic with being limited to 8 ft wide only is absolutely bonkers because you can stack two containers side by side or even on top of each other cut out the inner wall build a support and boom now you've got a 14 foot wide place or 14ft ceilings let alone anywhere else you want to stack them up like Legos. Next you can cantilever shipping containersa prime example is a new-build that just got built in Toronto. Sure it may add to the cost but who really cares when you're getting what you want and it's safer and your saving more money overall in the long-term.
Scam word was used to just attract attention.. i suppose.. good idea id say
I agree
As a person who designs and build homes and other types of dwellings using shipping containers, in my experience, I have never come across most of what she spoke on. Keep in mind the following:
1. Belinda Carr is an Architect not an engineer, which means she is great at drawing and designing but not building
2. Steel will always be stronger and cheaper than the amount of wood on a tensile strength factor. meaning in order for wood to have the same strength as a steel beam the amount will be almost double what the steel beam would cost.
3. The recycle factor of steel is that it can always be clean and clear of chemicals, you can have yours cleaned at the port before transport or just pay the xtra 500.00 to get one in top condition. Either way its more environmental than cutting half a forest down.
4. It can be added onto or expanded upon with ease due to its shape (Like legos), and yes they can be stack over 20 units high. you can't build any building with wood that is safe to stack half of that.
5. Last point, there is a reason why the places we spend the majority of our lives are not made of wood but of steel. grocery stores, strip malls, schools, offices.
Thank you!
I already thought that nobody would speak it out!
Building with wood is damn expensive!
How ANYONE could say 'Building with wood is the cheapest option' is beyond me!!!
I already feel like I'd have to sell a kidney to renovate my bedroom and build a wooden platform for my bed...
i watched a house being built from shipping containers, what a joke, basically paying for expensive cladding, you don't need to cut half a forest down to build a house of shipping container size. part of my house is ferro cement a couple of corner posts half rotten bamboo, end result was extremely strong wall that should last hundreds of years, put colour in cement and will never need painting. most concrete fails due to cheap skates skimping on cement powder and having steel too close to surface.
Yeah, well - I just watched a recent TH-cam video where a whole bunch of stacked containers on a ship came tumbling down in the midst of a storm, and ended up in the ocean.
@@protosphalol maybe because they were not welded together?
If you're framing out the inside AND the outside, you're using more wood than a wood home... but with metal sandwiched between.
Yes, you are & that is more cost then building a simple, small home that is larger then a container.
@John Doe where i live houses are made of brick and stone. I do know in some countries like the USA it's basically just a stick box that's quite flimsy
completely false, do you know how much wood goes into building a home?
@@wahahabuh
Lol! 06:23 isn’t in the USA. Our houses are built just fine.
@John Doe
Where do you live in the USA where building standards are poor??
almost like "living in a shipping container" is just as bad as it sounds
I often wondered exactly how it might suck ( I
Have family obsessed with building one , though they haven’t . )
I always wanted to know the hidden down side .
Yes , but it doesnt have to be , do you think anyone plans to just drop a container on the ground and just swing the doors open and move in ?
There are a lot of assumptions made in this video .
@@mikldude9376 assumptions like what?
I live outside...
@@mikldude9376 no there aren't
Honestly, I clicked on this video because I thought it would going to be a bunch of BS to laugh at. Instead, you opened my eyes and completely changed my mind on these things. Thank you!
You should examine your ignorance
All solid points. I think the summary here is that the modifications required to make a shipping container livable aren’t worth the time, effort and money.
Do your own research,,, its just an opinion.
I always was surprised how people think the roof of shipping containers is so strong and durable. My middle school had two big shipping containers on the schoolyard that held sports equipment and soccer goals, and we used to climb on top of it. If you jumped up and down the roof would bend and rattle and make all sorts of noise, just from the weight of a 6th grader on it.
Probably because you see them stacked 10 on top of each other in dockyards, with cargo inside.
They could be good at load bearing (decent tensile strength), but terrible with shear forces (tearing and high impulse forces). This means if you apply gradual pressure over all of it, it can bear a lot more than a much smaller force jumping on a weaker part in the middle.
Edit: I just realized this is because the metal itself is cheap and weak, but the corrugated structure is what makes it strong.
Key word jumping
@@xplosionslite6439 When they are stacked the weight is supported at the corners, which are heavier guage steel than the sides and roof which are just a thin sheet.
Why is a kid allowed on the roof? :-(
Coming from someone who has built several commercial facilities inside a shipping container (because I was given no other option by the people I worked for) I can say that she makes a lot of good points. You definitely have to insulate well with close cell spray foam, and install Dehumidification or something like a mini split running on dry mode. If you don’t it will become a box full of mold. The best option is to insulate on both sides of the steel wall if you can. I really find you’re better off in most cases just to get a pre-fabricated concrete building then to go with something like a shipping container. But sometimes you can’t convince people otherwise.
What is the benefit of going with a pre-fab concrete before going with the shipping container?
02:30 GIGGIDITY! THATS WHAT I WANT!
@@tkgus2408 several things…
1: much easier to insulate. Does not sweat like steel.
2: entire structure is structural so you don’t have to worry about doors and windows that you have cast in during construction. Of course your doors or windows will have a normal frame that is part of the door or window, but generally that’s all you will need because when they cast a hole in the concrete it will have plenty of support from above and won’t require a steel lentil. Not unless it’s really thin or you’re putting a lot of weight on top.
If you go with a prefab building made out of concrete that is designed for your purpose, you can have all of the penetrations that you need cast into the structure, and all of the electrical, etc. put in at the time of fabrication. It is a heavy structure but almost impervious to fire and wind damage.
They typically are just a better building.
@@wb5mgr I'm guessing that I misunderstood you when you said "I really find you’re better off in most cases just to get a pre-fabricated concrete building then to go with something like a shipping container."
I thought you meant use pre-fab and then follow with a shipping container. I am thinking that there was a typing error and you meant to say "than" rather than "then".
Interesting points about the pre-fab. I'm trying to develop a lot that I own. Perhaps I can email you? I'm trying to find the least expensive way to do it without shorting the buyer of a decent product.
@@FourthWayRanch Solar panels do work... I should know because I use them to power my chest battery. Like iron man.
Most people end up framing the inside anyways, like you would a house. Use local suppliers if you want an industrial look. You can frame a house and cover it in tin/steel. So much more practical, economical, and sustainable.
That has no feel-good factor
Not if you are living in cold or hot climates... You realize that steel will match the outside temperature right, maybe even be amplified by it... in the heat...
@@richeyrich2203 aka Wanker factor.
@@FirstLast-nt5ui don't see how different it is to a tin roofed/walled cattle station in the outback.
@@meikahidenori certain climates it would be fine.. just not extreme heat or cold, in my opinion...
As a builder in Australia, your comments and deductions are sound. It is cheaper to build from scratch, a small home to suit your needs rather than to convert a container and make compromises due to the restraints of the container. Well done ❤
This answered every question that I ever had about the viability of container homes. The point about humidity control is right on the money... if you have metal in your walls, especially on the exterior, it would be impossible to prevent condensation... vapour barrier is not a 100% effective solution - if it were, you'd suffocate in your own home.
Concrete blocks,bricks wood houses also has problem with humidity and moisture...they make this videos to keep you in they're track...so they have no competitors
that container sky scarqqer is a big fucking hell no to me
i know what jenga is and im not going in a sky scraqqer jenga
Well I hope not. She has left many generalizations and neglected actual facts, from a construction point of view It appears she knows little about actual construction and construction methods.. Proper venting and air circulation. Steel is not the issue. These challenges happen throughout the country in every environment. Different solutions for different environments. You are not going to use the same methods in wisconsin as you do in Arizona. Your house needs to breath. You need a continuous exchange of air. Different methods are used in different climates. If you have condensation you don't have or are lacking enough air circulation. I've seen it on wood framed and concrete block construction in Wisconsin and Arizona.
@@MarcoAurelio-gn6sz true wooden house doesnt need air vents.. no problem with humidity.
I live in a 26foot wilderness camper. About the size of a shipping container. I paid
$ 1,100.00 for it. It was partially gutted. Perfect for customization.
I live in North Dakota and it gets cold here. So...I insulated it with 250 pink insulation and painted right over it. Yes I have foam walls but if I didn't tell you, you would never know. Drywall mud hides everything!
I went right over the windows and later made my own but far less windows. Two to be exact. I have solar led lights.
Total spent: less than $2,500 bucks.
This will be my third winter coming up.
Thank you for your comment. A lot of shipping container 'buzz' tout looks and allege convenience. It seems that insulating and weatherizing a container must add heavily to the expense. But right now plywood is $50 a sheet! Still, I can see the advantage of a well clad (and connected) container home in high wind country. Gabions?
no leaks?
@@deathbyvanity1955 I fixed all of the leaks. I had to do quite a bit of caulking. A lot of Caulk has about a 30 to 40 year lifespan. The camper is a 1986 so.... I had to replace all of it. But no leaks now! Should be good for another 30 years or so. Longer than I'll probably be around. Lol
thanks for for explaining it so wonderful
You have the ingenuity which not all of us have.
As an Architect who has designed a container home I completely agree with you. I wanted to add a few more drawbacks.
1. The plan reviewers most likely have never reviewed a container home plans. When they review something that is new they pick out things that don’t matter and overlook things that do.
2. The people who are actually going to build them don’t have years of experience building them. Everything new takes time and manny iterations to perfect so you will probably have a lot of unforeseen issues come up.
Sir, this is a Mcdonalds.
@@Movie2Documentary Oh sorry i thought this was a Wendy´s
@@eggman1006 No, this is Patrick.
You are mostly spot ON with all your comments...and saved me lots of $$$ in my retirement on building one. Thanks.
Randomly got recommended this video and I love it. Simple breakdown of architecture basics which was dope to see.
"dope", isn't quite the word that's needed here.
Same
Same here, very informative.
Same!!! Excellent break down.
@@adambane1719 ok dopey
*scam is taking a 50 years mortgage*
Thank you!
The scam is you paying off the landlords 50 year mortgage in 25 years so he can have a 200% capital gain
modern slavery ~ bank loans
Well, you wouldn't need a 50 year mortgage for a wooden house the size of a shipping container
@@tedros6917 THIS! Literally the only part of the building process that a container replaces is the siding... and it's MUCH more expensive than wood panel or even concrete block. You still have to do LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE that you would need to do to build a traditional house. A container home is MORE EXPENSIVE you mathematically incompetent bafoons. The purpose that you trying to serve has already been addressed by manufactured homes, aka trailers.
most underrated argument: the housing crisis is not a technology problem. brilliant!
True, but technological solutions could help, no?
@@sweetlohlah A bit, but not really. The housing crisis is less of an issue of actual supply and more of artificially restricted supply, such as landlords who would rather their houses go empty for years than sell or rent for less than what they want.
It's a land problem , right?
So what? So do you have to insulate a Shed to make a Tiny House!
Anon A political
I really enjoyed you telling us about the Shipping Containers, I would like for you to continue to let people know what they are getting into.Thanks
she is only speaking from her ASS sorry to say as her many ISSUES are non issues period she only brings them up so she can POO POO on container homes so she can MAKE MORE MONEY building Traditional homes
This isn't really a scam it's just things to take in consideration when building a tiny home.
Ronnie Madden Indian call centres are the real scam 🤪🤪🤪🤪
Then she is a SCAM!
Title is click bait and we all fell for it
She is not attacking tiny homes. She is just exposing that shipping container homes are not as perfect as the media describes them, and I think her points are very well thought out and accurate. As an advocator for tiny homes, I can tell you there are soooo many types of tiny homes, and shipping containers are just a fad. When building a tiny home, you do not need to worry about where the materials have been, or to essentially make a frame for your house if you ever want to expand it anywhere but upwards. All she is trying to say is that people look at shipping container homes as an eco friendly, cheap, and sustainable solution to the housing crisis, when in reality it’s just little more than a fashion statement.
It is the way containers sellers market those containers, as if containers is the best way to build a house.
My friend lives in a semi-tropical zone and he used a shipping container for storing his valuable collection of great items. Many homemade works of art were stored for quite a few years. When he finally got around to unloading the container, everything had gone mouldy. He had a very difficult job to do. It was a dangerous job because of spores and mildew. So, I include this to warn people to take extra precautions if you plan to use containers in this way. Perhaps a container would make a good formwork for a concrete root cellar. This was a very nicely presented video, and I, for one, think you have presented a timely warning to potential home builders. Thank you, and peace and blessings to you.
Its a shipping container, not a storage one.
yep surprised he would do this... basically if you store anything in the tropics you need to ensure there is airflow - regardless of the building material..
@@sweetsweet3753 Yes, I just posted the incident to alert people that it can happen, and probably not just in the tropics. It is due to condensation which can happen most places.
Your friend in a burke. What did he think would happen?
@@andrewemery4272 No, he happens to be an exceptional person. He thought, like many others, that a container, being made to cross stormy seas, would stay dry inside. It is east to forget about condensation, and many have found this out the hard way. Even people who live in temperate areas get condensation in containers. That is why this topic is important.
Thanks. I'm convinced. I want a container home now!
Same here 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
haha thanks for making me laugh.
LMAO
You're gonnna regret it if you hava family
Its not really a scam... Maybe some cons..
Thank you for your thorough analysis of the shipping container scam. I live in Hawaii and spoke to a retired structural engineer/contractor/businessman that made that statement. I am an Industrial Designer that worked for Architects and Engineers for 44 years and don't like design trends (I prefer Timeless Designs). I don't care for current buildings that look like shipping containers. Thanks again!
Very informative. I have lived in a used 40ft container in the tropics for 2.5 years. It needed a separate roof over the top to keep it cool, and two port holes one for air flow fan and other for window and a wall mounted air conditioner, which was necessary. It was raised 500mm off the ground with basic steps to also allow under floor air flow, therefore cooler and more bug/rodent resistant. It had a toilet, shower and basin but no kitchen or living area. It smelt a bit due damp floor boards. It was very useful because it was modified only as a temporary home and served that purpose well.
Back in 1983, I lived in a four-unit apartment made out of the pallets that the Alaska pipeline was shipped in on. Unfortunately it wasn't built very well with minimal insulation, single pane glass windows, and an electrical system that kept blowing fuses. After trying to spend a -60 degree winter there, we had to move out.
😱😱
@@arbjful you should have built a home out of shipping containers instead 😃
In all fairness even a properly built house is not designed for -60f (-50c). I built homes in northern Canada, it often got to -50c in February and I would get a constant stream of calls from home owners having frost build up issues in various places where thermal creep couldnt be prevented at those temperatures... most of those systems are designed for -30c max. If you look at doors in Antarctic bases, there is a reason they look more like freezer doors... that is what you need to do for those extreme temps.
@@gabesnooks3549 We moved into an apartment complex that was built a lot better than the one made from pallets. Very well insulated, triple pane glass all around, and no frost problems down to -65F. So I would say this was a properly built house.
@@southwestxnorthwest lol, it would be warmer inside the sewage tubes in your city, and very comfy with the rats.
So to sum this up, shipping containers are a terrible choice for use in a home. The costs to retrofit and render them structurally sound will exceed the costs of just building new in most cases. Their designed to be crushed, warped and deformed, and aren't the indestructible boxes many think they are. Even ones designed for multiuse are built so that the walls give out before the corner struts do to ensure the boxes can be at least lifted and removed from the ships. Their literally just steel kleenex boxes. For those saying "Using them prevents their being thrown away." Next to car batteries, shipping containers have the highest rate of recycling of any manmade item and the lowest natural impact for an extracted resource next to standard glass. Like car batteries, most shipping containers are made...from old shipping containers.
Unless you are an engineer, can get the steel to reinforce to meet requirements and weld/paint everything yourself.
@@MrUnknownNz exactly what I did. Friend is an engineer so he helped me and didn't charge to go over the designs. I'm a trades person it was pretty cheap for me to make the one I designed.
Still don't see the scam but ok
They're not great for housing, but if you need a secure shed for tools or what have you? Pretty great option if you can find a cheap one that's not too mangled. My family used to have a half-length one we used to store yard equipment in. It was cheaper to get than a shed of the same size; didn't need a foundation and is more than secure enough. Basically all we had to do was pour some gravel to make a ramp level with the floor after setting it down on level ground.
@@telly115ify People trying to sell you a home made out of them would be the scam, since they would be more expensive than a normal home, and worse than living in a trailer.
You and your presentation has given me a new perspective on container building.
The feedback was excellent.
I am a general contractor living in Michigan.
I see many people disagree with the title. Not all container homes are a "SCAM" (misleading information)
Please change the title of your video.
Maybe like "7 reasons to reconsider using shipping containers for a home" or something like that. Dump the "scam" word.
Ok Karen.
How about "reasons why shipping container homes are a piss poor idea"?
@@KJamesMellick that could be better than scam
@UR A Meathead
Your name explains many things about you :)
Meathead haha
Soooo...they're literally shittier mobile homes at that point. That's pretty close to how the old style trailer homes were made.
Pretty much.
Yup. And still I think trailer homes are a little more suitable for the job than shipping containers.
I'm all for sustainability but I'm really happy when people show how some of these ideas are nothing more than marketing jargon when you look deeper into them or at least not as environmentally friendly as companies make them out to be.
shipping containers as appartments can still be used effectively as mobile and cheaper alternatives in areas with high rents. As they already are.
hence why you don't go through a company to build them. Instead you should build it yourself.
@@vibewhen While I agree, you need to have the skills required to install the plumbing and the electrical wiring as well as insulation etc etc, AND then some states/Cites/Counties will make it near impossible for you to NOT go through a "Certified Construction Company" due to all the kickbacks our Elected officials get, they will have inspectors fail you left and right. SO you have to have the know-how AND live in an area where there is less corruption in order to be able to build it yourself.
@@tbirum any skills can be learned, with enough effort. So that's not as large a hurdle as it might seem.
As for local corruption, well that's up to you and your neighborhood to fight, if that's the case. If they're unwilling and you have the means, move. If you don't have the means, well that sucks. It does happen though.
Sustainable design doesn't really mean eco friendly. Sustainable design actually means a design that will age with time and is versatile. That's what I have learn from my interior design classes.
Scam? Not at all. These are cautionary issues. What's a scam is committing 30 years to pay for a two bedroom house "valued" at $350K...that is a SCAM!
This just tells me you can build a home and then assemble it. Doesnt have to be shipping containers.
@@devilselbow The Japanese have mastered the art of the flatpack home. I think it would actually take them longer to convert a shipping container than to just build a home using all their standardized trucked in components(QA is unusually good in Japan, as is speed and the weirdly low noise/disturbance of their construction projects)
For prefab however, shipping containers do have the advantage. Shipping being the operative word. Japanese architects often use them for temporary disaster relief housing(assuming you're going to truck in maybe 100 temporary housing units)
yea bro that call that construction
The Germans have some terrific flat pack and prefab house designs. Grand Designs (UK) featured one and even went to the factory in Germany. It is computer-controlled and incredible to watch.
Just show an left over shipping container home project near the main street it's too good but the problem is It's a built in oven since my place(In tropical Country) is a blistering 34-36 Celsius. I say just build a home. It's not so Consumer Saving than a cost product even if you have one that has holes for ventilation just doesn't do good than a private owned storage room. It's pretty much like a lengthy room than a house
@@devilselbow i have no help so i make walls 16x10 on jig in quantity and put them up tacked end to end as a one man rodent proof outbuilding.
This shipping container fad is the classic trailer home making a comeback.
no, it's lazy architects looking for something that is already built and labeled as trash to cut costs with. the problem is that if the shipping industry is disposing of it, it's because it's been damaged or has reached it's product lifespan and is no longer structurally sound. I never understood this when my architect teacher brought it up. I thought it was a small awkward shape that you needed to do too much work to make feel livable in.
@@evilcanofdrpepper
I agree with lazy and cheap, but not entirely with it not being structurally sound. just because it no longer meets shipping requirements does not mean that it is not structurally sound. Shipping containers need to be stacked like 20 tall when filled with cargo and not loss structural integrity. So a past prime or damaged container may still be well rated for a much smaller load.
Ie: rated for 10 tons in shipping with safe factor of say 1.2, meaning it is built to hold a 12 ton load before failure. If it is past prime and is now only good for 10 tons before failure, but if you only load it to 8 tons max as a houses then it still would have a safty factor of 1.25 that is fine. (Note these are not real numbers, just hypotheticals, and the safty factor is on the lower end.)
Edit: this example also assumes minimum alteration the storage container, alternating it may stranthen or weaken the structure significantly.
@@evilcanofdrpepper Most people that build their own by brand new shipping containers though it’s still a stupid thing.
Atleast trailer home can be "moved"
When did trailer homes ever leave?😭I’m in the south and they’re pretty popular
There is a guy near me that placed two containers parallel with about a 25’ gap in between. He then built a pole barn roof over in between them and opened an auto repair business. It seems to be a great use for them.
👏👏👏👏
You can get a 20'x 20' two car garage from Home Depot for under $11,000. Hit it with some spray foam insulation and I'm sure you could put a toilet and shower in it and it wouldn't be a bad deal. I'm thinking of something like that for my backyard but without plumbing.
I think recycled shipping containers would work well as sheds or for storage rather than as an actual home.
I think those metal sheds you can buy for your back yard to store your garden tools are made out the same materials and you guessed it, they are dirt cheap to buy!
@@nslouka90 Yeah, I live in a port city and after googling it the cheapest used container is 5-10x more expensive then a similarly sized garden shed. However I've seen a lot of them used as structural elements in industrial areas so they're likely more durable in the long term.
Or, actually _recycle_ them. They ARE a huge (~4t) thunk of steal, which is very easily recyclable.
@@jfbeam You can use them for that too.
Thing is, everything you can do with a shipping container, you can do for cheaper with actual materials intended for it. Using a container for a shed is cheap, but building a wooden shed is cheaper.
Best you can do with containers is to just recycle the steel. Steel is easy to melt and reuse.
Never understood this trend, it's almost like these people have never driven past the myriad of flimsy houses built in the 50s and 60 clad in this "wonder material" called metal siding that gives you the exact same look if you flip the sheets 90o. It would be reams cheaper, less toxic, a sight more functional and will look just as tatty in a couple of years. It's like face tattoos, just because it's the hot new thing on social media doesn't mean it is well advised.
180°
Insert quote from Last Action Hero
People are desperate to have somewhere to live.
@@thomaswhite3059 No one is making steel shipping container homes because they don't have the money. to have one you need to buy land. mobile trailer would be if you had no money and need a home it's a cheap 1 term purchase. Shipping container needs to be ship to your property since you would need to own or lease the land and have to pay to reinforce and insulate it.
Living remotely, its way, way cheaper than having a house built.
Shipping containers are good for one thing: Shipping things.
Not for burying,
Not for living in,
Not for converting,
And you can easily build a much nicer looking storage unit.
But... taxes and permits are quite a rip off con job, so looking like you're trash as best you can IS a way around it...
anyone pondering a 'tiny home' should try living in a 'travel trailer' for at least a year; the lack of storage, restricted amenities, and overall feeling of claustrophobia will help them decide what to do.
(ex truck driver here, 'home' was wherever the Peterbilt Hotel happened to be parked)
agreed, the only reason I was considering a tiny home is just due to lack of funds. Housing is far too expensive in my country. But I know I'll struggle to live in a tiny home. I like having ample storage
Current truck driver here and it’s badass living in my truck
Shows you how much unnecessary things you have in life.
I live in a travel trailor cause rent is 1500 a month nothing included.
@@joyf801 you must live in California. Arizona you can rent a 5th wheel for 500 with power water and septic.
loved the video! very insightful indeed. I had a different point of view of container homes before I watched the video.
thank you!
The title is definitely not worded well. Should be "Why shipping containers might not be a good idea?" or something similar.
Well that's how clickbait works🤣
@@LehotandetPhom exactly hahaha
I think that calling it a scam is more accurate than saying "it is not a good idea". Many of the ideas being pushed by the tiny house movement sound good if you don't think about it but fall apart under even a moderate amount of scrutiny.
@@chrisose EXACTLY!
its better idea then building a normal house ;) as a person living in one do not have to pay anything to the government for the house,
"Misconceptions" are one thing. "Scam" is quite another. You might want to rephrase that.
Depends on how you look at it, I guess... In my mind (prior to this), they have always been marketed as sustainable, cost effective, low footprint, they're doing their part to save the planet, we're so impressed, why don't we all do this? I've certainly been captivated by this idea... I don't think it's particularly bad for individuals to build themselves a container house, if they just like this particular style and can live with the downsides... But, building a container skyscraper to save the poor? That would certainly be a scam, according to her arguments.
"Scam" gets more clicks than "Misconceptions"
@@Bob_Lablaw bingo! Sort of like clickbait. Well, we clicked. Lol
scam would be more watchable than misconception i guess
Would make perfect sense to make modular housing frames the exact dimensions as shipping containers cause you could fabricate them cheaply anywhere then ship them where you need them
@Nashtark 111 ok. Stack 4 living vans on top of each other then
In my city our apartments are usually constructed prefab, they have premade concrete slabs that they stack on top of each other. But this is because my area is very densely populated with limited landarea and natural resources, while having a good transportation network. Like she said in the video, the best practices are adapted to the needs of the home and location. Choosing modularity comes at a cost of something else like perhaps transportation costs or structural support.
Prefabricated buildings are already a thing.
Prefab and SIP panels are already a viable solution but aren't pushed, at least in the States. I worked for a company that did disaster relief homes and mining homes in poor countries. 4, 600sqft homes fit in shipping container and took 3 hours per home to erect with 4 man crew and a lift. Each home had heating and electrical prefabbed. In half a day, livable space was erected and furnished.
Trailers have been following this format for years though
You end up having to do just as much work as a framed building, having the container does nothing except limit the size of your build.
I was skeptical when I clicked on this video, and was pleasantly surprised to be informed about this. In my opinion it would be most functional to design a modular building system inspired by shipping containers but made out of more suitable, and more eco materials. Something that is designed to be lived in, stacked, and joined. It would be fairly low cost to manufacture such a thing on a large scale.
_No,_ base it's dimensions on either standard plywood panel sizes (I forget the details, but you should aim for whole-number multiples of yards and meters, since those two measures are close enough to be good substitutes for each other), or on something that is a bit taller than a shipping container, wider along the narrow dimension, and shorter along the long dimension. Shipping containers are _only_ designed to be reliably transportable, and it shows itself in their otherwise odd dimensions.
As for construction, their approximate style isn't too bad- go for post & beam construction based on your standard dimensions, likely with most of the beams being embedded in walls as trusses, but with explicit beams where appropriate. Build walls, floors, & ceilings as standardized panels, and focus on making it easy & reliable to first secure the panels to the posts & beams despite construction irregularities, and to then easily connect & seal the utilities that're embedded in the panels. Design standard layouts for hallways, toilet rooms, bathing rooms, and various closets (for food, linens, water heaters, and pretty much anything else you can think of), that fit into those dimensions without having to spread to another flooring panel, and more particularly design a flexible system to produce standardized auxiliary walls for those purposes. Utilities should run vertically through posts, and horizontally through beams and foundations (and ceilings/floors where appropriate). Remember to design several fractional post heights, beam lengths, and wall, floor, & ceiling panels to allow more flexibility where desired (particularly to make easier both higher ceilings for more luxury construction, and to make it easier to bridge separately constructed areas). Remember that finished surfaces should be a _separate_ stage, so that customers can either stick with standardized surfaces, or choose to install custom options through unrelated contractors; this includes ceiling that don't have any finished ceiling surface, so that they can be paired with either standardized drop ceilings, or full-custom ceilings (e.g. arched, domed, or other more complicated ceiling shapes).
@@absalomdraconis pro tip, if you want people to take their valuable time out of their busy day to read your post, break up the post into several paragraphs. This wall of text was a headache to read and I lost my place a handful of times because we are usually all staring at a vertical screen and not a horizontal one.
It's like all the worst parts of the old single-wide mobile homes (aka trailers) without the good parts.
They are called manufactured homes and their problems lie in where to put it. Parks for these home charge for the lot rent and have insane rules like an HOA but oft times worse. "Trailer parks" as they were known are scams actually and the scam is called "Buy the Dirt". Many of these homes cannot legally be transported and if the lot owner wants you to move it out you face either paying the owner a fine or dismantling it and hauling it off. The newer modular homes that are taking "mobile home" place look more like a house but their quality is low and non-standard construction makes repairs a pain. The exteriors are inferior as well and weather fast and look shabby in no time.
Tell your city government to let contractors build when and what they want because a shortage of housing does not cure itself and trying to attract only upscale residents is the same as socialism but in reverse. Plus their will be no free market or services provided by lower income workers since they are being priced out. It is a disaster thanks mostly to zillow and govt following and allowing it to corner markets nationwide and inflate house prices. The bottom drops out of everything that is top heavy. Hang on!
At the end of their lifespan, a steel shipping container is unlikely to end up in landfill, but rather recycled as scrap metal into new products.
Not in Brasil. We recycle almost all kinds of metal we use. Specially aluminium of drink cans (around 95%).
@@mat-bh Isn't that exactly what they're saying?
@@kotirobotti6400 maybe
Yeah, the only way it's going to a landfill is to be the landfill office.
More likely to be abandoned and left to rust.