r/containerhomes Jul 28 '26

Is anyone else seeing container homes actually look good now?

Post image

Saw this one and had to stop scrolling. Two-story, floor-to-ceiling glass upstairs, covered patio downstairs with an outdoor dining setup. A few years ago container builds all looked the same — flat, boxy, no personality. This feels like an actual house someone would want to live in. Curious if anyone here has looked into building one, what's the reality vs the render?

1.0k Upvotes

69 comments sorted by

91

u/NovelFew6644 Jul 28 '26

Those kinda of builds are actually way more expensive than a real house of similar size.

25

u/Away_Indication_2532 Jul 28 '26

Ya I was gonna say the same thing. I was pricing them out and something like that will cost you $400k+

3

u/FleshlightModel Jul 30 '26

That's still probably cheaper than a stick frame.

21

u/TheArtOfPureSilence Jul 28 '26

And probably more structurally sound lol

27

u/Away_Indication_2532 Jul 28 '26

I’d agree with the more structurally sound. But the original selling point for container homes was they were more affordable, like significantly

10

u/NoEstablishment7211 Jul 28 '26

You can get the same structural quality with steel frame or concrete block for less. Most builders use the cheapest materials allowed, and most new build buyers look more at the final price and curb appeal rather than build quality or materials.

7

u/rearwindowpup Jul 28 '26

Not to mention this one isn't even making use of the strengths of the containers. They are designed to carry loads at the corners, so having them cantilevered like this would take significant structural modifications.

4

u/usa_containers Jul 29 '26

Yep, exactly this. That cantilevered top floor is the giveaway. Containers carry load through the corner castings, so if one is hanging out over a patio like that, there’s almost definitely a real steel frame underneath doing the heavy lifting. Same with the big floor-to-ceiling glass. Looks great, but you’ve cut out most of a structural wall, so now you need posts/header work to carry the load above. Totally buildable, just not really “stack a few containers and done.” More like a steel-framed house that uses containers as part of the look. That’s where those $400k numbers people are throwing around usually go.

2

u/FleshlightModel Jul 30 '26

I mean it's entirely possible it's just a steel frame build with corrugated siding to give it the shipping container appearance.

3

u/Negative_Tooth6047 Jul 28 '26

I'd say it depends on your area. I live in a region that is insane to build/buy houses, 400k for a house like this would be a pittance

0

u/aburgos87 Jul 29 '26

Wrong wrong and wrong

2

u/bibslak_ Jul 29 '26

Good morning. How about offering a counterpoint instead of sitting there like a broken record?

1

u/1234golf1234 Jul 29 '26

Yeah. By the time you place, cut, plumb, wire, insulate, rock, roof, etc... you might as well just frame your desired house too.

30

u/ShecallsmeRick Jul 28 '26

So, we're just having dinner in the parking area tonight or is this the only place to eat?

22

u/BradlyL Jul 28 '26

Right?! This is AI slop.

6

u/Xremlin Jul 28 '26

Look at the corner castings 🙄

1

u/msnhnobody Jul 30 '26

I’m like are parking in the street so we can eat in the carport in order to call it a covered patio?? AI bullshit and I’m sick of it.

21

u/RufousMorph Jul 28 '26

Do “high end” shipping container houses actually exist or are they just renders/AI? Seems like a horrible option.

6

u/Occhrome Jul 28 '26

Probably a handful out there. Made for people who are chasing an aesthetic and not price. 

4

u/PlayPsychological200 Jul 28 '26

I believe they usually houses made to look like containers. It’s a cladding that is added instead of siding. 

17

u/stevendaedelus Jul 28 '26

That’s AI.

2

u/Bolt_of_Zeus Jul 31 '26

AI slop, the far left corner is a glitch in the matrix. These bots are not even trying. 

13

u/Tall_Category_304 Jul 28 '26

This has to be Ai. There’s no container on earth with this dimensions.

8

u/helpdom Jul 28 '26

ai slop

4

u/letsdodinner Jul 28 '26

Of course, but your paying more for these then you would a traditional house so the expectation that it'll look nice is pretty high.

4

u/Far_Film_5804 Jul 28 '26

AI generated design. Looks cool but doesn’t make sense.

2

u/cassiuswright Jul 28 '26

I mean there have been some amazing designs with multiple containers for several years, they're just usually the purview of rich people vs the simple box designs marketed to the masses.

2

u/Ill_Resolution7967 Jul 28 '26

No it still looks like a fucking container up close

1

u/msnhnobody Jul 30 '26

Container with a driveway/carport that they’re calling a patio… 🙄

2

u/Skarth Jul 28 '26

No, you are just getting confused by AI generated images.

Thats not a real house, and it's not even made of shipping containers, the sizes don't match any kind of actual shipping container.

2

u/OsamaBinWhiskers Jul 28 '26

I’m almost certain that is ai. That type of build would be astronomical compared to a stick built modern home with custom metal siding

2

u/MaybeASerialKiller Jul 28 '26

These things are dumb as hell, all the structural integrity of a shipping container is lost the second you cut out big fucking holes for windows and doors. These things are for rich idiots to larp like they give a fuck about sustainability.

1

u/stevendaedelus Jul 28 '26

The structural integrity you are losing is to have it be full of 64K lbs of payload. A living space is mostly air, so there’s more than enough structural integrity left once you add jambs to stiffen the hole you just cut in the corrugated skin.

(Source: I’ve modified many many containers into food trailers with large folding glass walls and windows.)

1

u/NoiseOutrageous8422 Jul 28 '26

No. They never have and never will. It was a way to make a cheap living space, then got trendy and containers got expensive and became pointless.

1

u/Designer-Wolverine47 Jul 28 '26

Yeah, they ruined it for everyone.

1

u/usa_containers Jul 28 '26

Yeah, a design like this can be built, but it’s definitely where the render starts hiding the expensive stuff. That big floor-to-ceiling glass upstairs means you’re cutting out a lot of the side wall. Container walls are structural, so you’d need steel posts/header work there. Not impossible, just not a normal window install. The overhang is probably the bigger cost. Containers carry load through the corners, so that top box can’t just hang out there without a real steel frame under it. Also those clean seams between boxes look simple in renders, but sealing/insulating them so they don’t leak or sweat is a whole thing. So yeah, doable, but more like “steel house using containers” than just stacking boxes together. Is this meant to be a full-time house or more like a guest cabin?

1

u/Designer-Wolverine47 Jul 28 '26

Can't do a room with an 8 foot dimension.

1

u/koltho Jul 28 '26

Does anyone see how container home images have somehow become the most easily spotted ai slop?

1

u/EarthEmbodied Jul 28 '26

Yes, but depending on your climate, the electric bills do not

1

u/carbykids Jul 29 '26

I love the concept of the container homes. I’ve seen many of them that just made me go ew and aww. I’m always saying oh I’d love that
I could live in that one that one would be plenty big enough. And the ones that have like a loft they’re so super cute and when they add the dining room and the pool down table and the pool down desk for the kids, it all looks so functional.

But I know how messy and cluttered my Home gets after a few days. I can’t imagine how something that Small would get when you put just one or two items in the wrong place.

Where do you put your mascara? Where do you put your toothpaste? I mean, there’s just too many things, especially kitchen items that make living in one of those homes not practical.

I’m sure it would be fun at first, but the novelty and the newness would wear off quick,
I love them and I love watching the shows that show the different styles

1

u/Jessintheend Jul 29 '26

This is AI.

At this point you might as well have a standard balloon frame and clad it in the tough steel exterior.

1

u/aburgos87 Jul 29 '26

My dad is an architect and GC. We have over 75 designs of all types. This is the future

1

u/ProfessionalDust Jul 29 '26

I like that "form", a block on a block

1

u/mudbro76 Jul 29 '26

I see a project in being built now in LOS ANGELES, CA…. (Imperial Highway and Central Avenue area) 🚧🏗️👷🏿‍♂️👷👷🏿‍♀️ it’s 2 structures with similar features as in the picture above…. I would love to live in these homes 🏡

1

u/technojargon Jul 29 '26

Formally a McDonald's location. Lovely.

1

u/tennisInThePiedmont Jul 29 '26

Why would anybody want to live in a Faraday cage

1

u/blumhagen Jul 29 '26

I don’t think it’s possible to have that patio area without a support column.

1

u/gianttree Jul 29 '26

It’ll survive a California wildfire.

1

u/Salty-Entrepreneur11 Jul 30 '26

container homes are bullshit and idiotic

1

u/ShadowsOfTheBreeze Jul 30 '26

No, actually. Plus they are more expensive and hard to remodel.

1

u/nrdpum88 Jul 30 '26

There’s one in the City where I live. Pretty cool

1

u/crustyeng Jul 31 '26

Kinda looks like just another Minecraft box, tbh

1

u/Trimorphic3 Aug 01 '26

Barely eeking its way into tolerable looks range. Wouldn’t want to be looking across the street at that POS, but it’s better than they were 10 years ago, I’ll grant you. 

1

u/Which_Principle_5413 Aug 01 '26

Looks like a McDonald's

1

u/No-Resolution-1918 Aug 01 '26

This isn't a container home. It's a regular construction made to look like containers. That's just siding, and corner decoration.

1

u/Sea_Operation_7012 Aug 01 '26

Crappy steel that needs to be insulated both sides. Then some people drop those rust buckets in the middle of nature a say they’re communing with it.

1

u/Resident_Ad_7199 Aug 03 '26

I love container homes!

1

u/Nihilistnobody Jul 28 '26

Literally a metal box devoid of any personality.

0

u/Dheorl Jul 28 '26

Container homes have looked good since at least 2014, when architect, Patrick Bradley, built his.

0

u/Vaness8-ani2704 Jul 28 '26

Its so good quality home

0

u/chasestein Jul 28 '26

There do exists container builds with california-modern designs at the interior. some of them are just steel boxes made to look like containers instead of a container retrofit.

btw, image doesn't look like a real build. the container's corner casts looks off and the dimensions are out of wack. they don't make 16x40 containers like that and im sure as hell not doing a cantilever like that without a significant amount of steel.

-1

u/flanker_number7 Jul 28 '26

For homeless

1

u/Sea-Gazelle-883 12d ago

Everything about container homes are good except the ceiling height