Shipping container homes are glamorized all over social media but are they everything they are marketed as? In this video, I uncover 7 reasons why you should stay away from shipping container homes. Since the early 2000s, shipping containers have captured the imagination of designers and home builders worldwide. They fit in with the very popular tiny house movement that advocates living simpler and in smaller homes. The corrugated metal exterior of shipping containers gives it a trendy, industrial look. Thousands of shipping containers are discarded every year. So, there is a sense of being socially responsible and environmentally conscious when one rescues a shipping container from a junk yard and converts it into a home. Along with this mentality is the idea that you are saving money by using waste material as a starting point for your home construction.
First issue: the size constraints. Standard shipping containers are 20 feet and 40 feet long and 8 feet wide. Most of these containers are 8.5 feet tall but you can order custom ones that are 9.5 feet tall.
Second issue: A metal container works as a system, the idea that every part of this box is structural is false. Every single cut that you make for plumbing, windows, doors, roof openings into its structural frame or corrugated metal siding compromises its strength so you have to reinforce it with metal or wood.
Third issue: the thermal conductivity of steel. It’s not a good insulator, so you can expect the inside of these containers to get very hot in summer and very cold in winter.
Fourth issue: the health risks that come with buying old shipping containers. You can track the locations that the container has been to around the world, but you can’t track exactly what it has carried. It could have carried toxic chemicals such as pesticides or fumigants and the contents might have leaked into the wooden floorboards.
Fifth issue: this type of building is not the best for all locations. It might make sense in coastal regions near port cities where a container is readily available. If you are inland, the cost to transport it all the way to your plot of land is not logical. Also, building with native materials is the most eco-friendly and cost-effective method.
Sixth issue: the idea that you are saving the environment when you use shipping containers and that is a highly sustainable practice. Another important thing to consider is the carbon footprint of your container home. Steel construction is not as environmentally friendly as wood.
Seventh issue: the idea that shipping containers can be the solution to the housing crisis in the world but, this crisis is not a technology problem, it’s far more complex. Purely from a financial aspect, it would be cheaper to build a homeless shelter with wood than build a complex shipping container building. This type of building can maybe be 20% cheaper, not more. The modifications that you need to make a metal box livable aren’t cheap.
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