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c/container-homes-buildssimon_chensimon_chen1mo agoProlific Poster

Realized I was wasting thousands on custom steel frames because I didn't trust the container's own structure.

My architect in Boise kept telling me to use the container walls as load-bearing, but I insisted on building an interior steel skeleton for my two-story build. Added like $15k and 6 weeks. Then I saw a finished home in Spokane where they just welded the second box right on top, no internal frame. The whole place felt more open and solid. Why do we overcomplicate this so much? Anyone have a good structural engineer in the PNW who gets container builds?
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the_sage
the_sage1mo ago
Totally get where you're coming from. I used to think you needed that whole internal frame for safety, like building a house inside a house. Saw a video last year of a guy in Oregon stacking three containers just by welding the corners together and adding some cross bracing on the ends. He was walking on the roof and the whole thing didn't even creak. It really made me question all the extra work and money people put into overbuilding. Sometimes the simple way is the right way.
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lee_barnes70
Used to think the same until I saw a triple stack in Portland.
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