7 reasons why shipping container homes are a SCAM

The overwhelming response to this video deserved a follow-up https://youtu.be/kjbgduaH_7U I address some comments that I received on this video.

As a kid I remember being made fun of for living in a trailer, and now hipsters are doing it to be trendy

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.

When the average cost of a home is 700k+, container homes start to look real good.

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.

You know what is scam... Mortgage, debt ridden life... That's a scam..

I don’t know why this video was recommended to me, but it was oddly fascinating. Very clearly explained.

I would still spend 20k building a container house than spend 100k building a normal house

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.

I really thought she would say “to add insult to insulation” that one time

I laughed at the drones carrying shipping containers

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

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 :)

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.

"Homelessness is not a technology problem" - Amen Belinda!

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.

My shipping container room: https://youtu.be/IyrawM9Bh3Y

"Shipping Container Skyscraper" sounds like the housing equivalent of covering a bucket of fried chicken in gold leaf.

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.

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.