Episode 88
From Huts to Homes: The Rise of Container Living
This episode features a compelling discussion on the innovative approach to addressing veteran homelessness through container homes, led by Tom Zimmerman from Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania. Tom shares the inspiring journey behind the development of a tiny home community designed specifically for veterans, highlighting the importance of supporting those who have sacrificed for their country. As the conversation unfolds, listeners learn about the project’s milestones, challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the collaborative efforts of the community to raise funds and resources. Additionally, Chris Conover from Tiny Custom House joins the conversation, providing insights into the construction and benefits of container homes, including their structural integrity and customizable designs. The episode emphasizes the need for sustainable, affordable housing solutions while fostering a sense of community and belonging for veterans re-entering civilian life.
Takeaways:
- Container homes provide a sustainable alternative to traditional housing, aligning with eco-friendly living.
- The Veterans Outreach project in Pennsylvania demonstrates a successful model for helping homeless veterans.
- Building a container home requires minimal site preparation, making the process efficient and quick.
- Community involvement and corporate sponsorships have been crucial in supporting veteran housing initiatives.
- Container homes can be customized to offer a luxurious living experience despite their compact size.
- The structural integrity of shipping containers makes them a safe and durable housing option.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania
- Ideal Home Improvement
- Legacy Custom Homes
- Stardust Building Supplies
- Mohawk Flooring
- Renewal by Andersen
- Tiny Custom Houses
Transcript
Since the dawn of time, mankind has searched for ways to shelter themselves from the elements.
Steve Dubell:Over the centuries, these shelters have evolved from bamboo huts to concrete towers.
Steve Dubell:The last few years, there's been a push to save the planet.
Steve Dubell:Are you ready to embark on a more sustainable lifestyle?
Steve Dubell:Look no further.
Steve Dubell:You're about to enter the adventures of container home living.
Steve Dubell:And now, contractor, radio and TV personality and your host for Boxcar Universe, Steve Dubell.
Erica Thompson:Hi, I'm Steve Dubell, host of Boxcar Universe, along with my co host Erica Thompson.
Erica Thompson:And here's what's coming up on this week's edition of Boxcar Universe.
Erica Thompson:We have Tom Zimmerman from Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania with us and he's going to give us an update on the project that he started as we were talking about before we started the show about a year ago when we first met, he was just breaking ground in Pennsylvania for the homeless veterans in building a tiny home village.
Erica Thompson:And that's going to be really exciting.
Erica Thompson:I can't wait to hear what Tom has to tell us and how much progress they've made in the last year and all that and more on this week's edition of Boxcar Universe, your home for containers, sustainable lifestyle living.
Erica Thompson:And I'd like to welcome all our listeners to Boxcar Universe as we wind down towards Halloween.
Erica Thompson:Erica, you know, it's maybe, oh, you know, and by the way, for all our listeners, or maybe for some of your listeners who just found us okay, besides being the top notch designer that Erica is, I've been told, but I'm still waiting to actually test it, that she is a great cookie maker.
:I am.
Erica Thompson:I know, I know.
Erica Thompson:And Halloween's coming.
Erica Thompson:So are you bringing, are you bringing cookies next week?
Erica Thompson:Maybe, Maybe.
Erica Thompson:Possibly.
Erica Thompson:Possibly.
:Oh, yeah, it is the 31st.
:Wow.
Erica Thompson:That's right.
Erica Thompson:Yeah.
Erica Thompson:October 31st.
Erica Thompson:Yeah.
Erica Thompson:You know, and then, you know what comes right after that, you know, in the beginning of November?
:£10.
Erica Thompson:Well, yeah, well, you have veterans, we have Veterans Day coming up real soon.
Erica Thompson:And obviously this is, I guess we could call this our early Veterans Day show because Tom Zimmerman, our guest, he's, he's a very, you know, man in demand, as they say, and he's got a lot on his plate.
Erica Thompson:But let's welcome Tom into the show today.
Erica Thompson:Tom Zimmerman from Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania.
Erica Thompson:Tom, great to have you back on the show again.
Erica Thompson:How have you been?
Tom Zimmerman:I've been fantastic, Steve.
Tom Zimmerman:Thank you for having me.
Tom Zimmerman:And you know, as we were talking before the show, I can't believe it's been a year.
Tom Zimmerman:It's it flew by.
Erica Thompson:I know.
Erica Thompson:You know, I couldn't believe it.
Erica Thompson:I was like, you know, and I thought, I thought it was March of this year, but I'm, I must have been thinking of something else because.
Erica Thompson:And I looked back at my notes and it was, it was October 4th or 7th last year that we had you on the show.
Tom Zimmerman:Well, this is really appropriate too, this time of year.
Tom Zimmerman:I mean, I know you guys talk about Halloween, but with Veterans Day coming up and with our organization and helping our veterans who are experiencing homelessness, so, you know, spreading awareness is huge.
Tom Zimmerman:So first of all, I want to thank you guys for inviting me.
Tom Zimmerman:I want to thank you for supporting our mission and I'd love to give you guys some updates.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, I'd love to hear it.
Erica Thompson:But tell you what, why don't you start out by giving our listeners a little bit of history on how you got this project underway and how it got started and then we can get into all the great information and how far you've gotten so far.
Tom Zimmerman:Sure.
Tom Zimmerman: veteran and he passed away in: Tom Zimmerman:I'm from Central PA.
Tom Zimmerman:I grew up here.
Tom Zimmerman:The only time I was away from this was when I went to West Virginia University and I graduated from there, came back to the area, started my businesses and had a few different things and been a 35 year entrepreneur.
Tom Zimmerman:And as we, as my wife and I knew was getting into retirement, we wanted to give back and we wanted to give back and make a difference.
Tom Zimmerman: And back in: Tom Zimmerman:And it is a humbling experience to have a military burial.
Tom Zimmerman:And it was wonderful.
Tom Zimmerman:It was wonderful for the family.
Tom Zimmerman:It was goosebumpy type of feeling.
Tom Zimmerman:But I was a little bit upset because my father was dead and he didn't get to benefit anything.
Tom Zimmerman:And so it dawned on me when I was able to sell our businesses and what I was going to do was to give back to veterans and give back to veterans who have struggled and who have not succeeded being able to transition into civilian life.
Tom Zimmerman: he posted on Facebook page in: Tom Zimmerman:And I clicked on it and watched it for two minutes and I told her, I said, we need one of these in central Pennsylvania.
Tom Zimmerman:And that's how we actually got started.
Tom Zimmerman:She says, I'm in if you're in and we started making phone calls.
Tom Zimmerman:We started learning about different communities, different tiny homes, how we can make this.
Tom Zimmerman:And we turned it into our.
Tom Zimmerman:And made it into a therapeutic community.
Tom Zimmerman:We needed to raise about four and a half million dollars.
Tom Zimmerman:We started it right during COVID so it was a little bit challenging.
Tom Zimmerman: ble to break ground in May of: Tom Zimmerman: our ribbon cutting in May of: Tom Zimmerman:And we started taking in our veterans on June 10, three short weeks later.
Erica Thompson:Wow, that's pretty amazing.
Erica Thompson:You know, and obviously, I'm sure, you know, Pennsylvania is one of the states, especially with our election, it has, is the center of attention.
Erica Thompson:Everybody wants to make sure they win Pennsylvania, but I think the best thing that they could do is obviously, you know, support and win for our veterans that are out there.
Erica Thompson:And I, I commend you for that, for that, for getting started with that.
Erica Thompson:Tell us, was it when you first started out in fundraising, how difficult was it to find people in and basically share their vision with you?
Tom Zimmerman:Great question.
Tom Zimmerman:And I wear it on my sleeve and I talk.
Tom Zimmerman:And as you can tell, I have passion about our veterans.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, one thing that we were very clear in our message is that it was not about politics, it was not about race.
Tom Zimmerman:It was about if you were an American and you were willing to raise your right hand and sacrifice your life for our freedom, you deserve better.
Tom Zimmerman:And the idea in the military is, and they say this quite a bit, is that when they're at war is that no man left behind.
Tom Zimmerman:And that is true.
Tom Zimmerman:They will bring everybody home one way or the other.
Tom Zimmerman:However, I felt that we were leaving them at.
Tom Zimmerman:Leaving them and deserting them here on our homeland.
Tom Zimmerman:And it was just very, very frustrating for me.
Tom Zimmerman:So the message was, it's not about politics.
Tom Zimmerman:It's not about.
Tom Zimmerman:And we need to help those and we need to step up.
Tom Zimmerman:The sell was actually very easy, Steve.
Tom Zimmerman:I mean, and that's one thing I want to kind of talk a little bit about the community here, even though as divided as we are as Americans right now.
Tom Zimmerman:And that is troubling to me, that this project has brought all kinds of people together.
Tom Zimmerman:And it's very humbling to see, even on the corporate front, where competitors are standing next to each other, but working for a better cause, and that causes our veterans.
Tom Zimmerman:And so once we got some momentum and we got some bigger corporations here and the word got out and it went from the vision to the mission, and that Mission was serving our veterans.
Tom Zimmerman:It just started snowballing, and we actually created a board that is very, well, diverse in multiple different areas regarding services and homelessness.
Tom Zimmerman:We have a couple attorneys, we have HR people, and then we have business people.
Tom Zimmerman:And you know, that that core group laid the foundation and people bought in, and they're still buying in.
Tom Zimmerman:But we're just very humbled how it has brought the community together.
Erica Thompson:I can imagine that.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, that.
Erica Thompson:That was something that was.
Erica Thompson:It was so very important.
Erica Thompson:But, you know, making that initial contact in getting.
Erica Thompson:Getting the vision out, obviously, I know with some of the work that I do, it's important that we have, depending on the type of project, some good investors and some people that can see the vision that you have.
Erica Thompson:And that's so important that it's like we could never do enough for our veterans because there's no price that you could put on anything that we could possibly do.
Erica Thompson:When someone puts their life on the line for you, I mean, it just.
Erica Thompson:It's just amazing.
Tom Zimmerman:It is, It's.
Tom Zimmerman:It's one that.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, I've always said this from the very beginning, and I'm a very humbled person.
Tom Zimmerman:I don't need to be the smartest person in the room.
Tom Zimmerman:I just need that person sitting next to me.
Tom Zimmerman:And we also had some very key people in Central PA that was well connected.
Tom Zimmerman:I think you guys might have heard about the sixth degree of separation of Kevin Bacon.
Tom Zimmerman:Well, we got a couple people on our board.
Tom Zimmerman:It's like a second degree of separation here in Harrisburg.
Tom Zimmerman:And they just knew everybody.
Tom Zimmerman:And once we got a couple big corporations involved, such as the Hershey Chocolate family, which, you know, hershey is only 7 miles here from Harrisburg.
Tom Zimmerman:Te connectivity and some of the bigger boys.
Tom Zimmerman:And once they got in, then that kind of like opened up the doors for a lot of these smaller organizations.
Tom Zimmerman:But corporations, I bet you we had about 40 or 50 corporations that did in kind donations, which means that they didn't give us money, but.
Tom Zimmerman:But they provided services and labor for free.
Tom Zimmerman:We had our flooring donated by Mohawk Flooring, and then we had a local installer provide all the services to lay it.
Tom Zimmerman:We had Renewal by Andersen that donated all the doors and windows, and then we had laborers come in and install them.
Tom Zimmerman:So it's been a community of love, and I think it took way too long.
Tom Zimmerman:It took us six years.
Tom Zimmerman:But people in this kind of nonprofit world says what you guys have accomplished in six years, especially during COVID is a.
Tom Zimmerman:Is nothing short of a miracle.
Erica Thompson:Oh, yeah.
Erica Thompson:Reaching out during COVID time is, I mean, that was just tough reaching anybody during that time.
Erica Thompson:Everybody was on lockdown.
Tom Zimmerman:Everybody was on lockdown and everybody didn't know if they're going to have a job tomorrow.
Tom Zimmerman:And you know, so it was very, very difficult.
Tom Zimmerman:But again, the mission, the veterans, the being able to.
Tom Zimmerman:And I'm very proactive.
Tom Zimmerman:So what I do is I challenge these organizations and say, you know, we all talk the talk, but we have to walk the walk.
Tom Zimmerman:And it's one thing to stand on the sidelines and not do anything when you know something needs to be done.
Tom Zimmerman:And if you can find that passion and do something about it, make a difference.
Tom Zimmerman:And it's our time to give back to those that have sacrificed so much.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
Erica Thompson:So obviously putting the companies came together for the actual build.
Erica Thompson:What about, what about the veterans?
Erica Thompson:Okay, how were they, were they selected or how did they come about to be part of it?
Erica Thompson:Like who gets, who gets to live there?
Tom Zimmerman:So, you know, our community here is located on five acres of land we are on right next to the Susquehanna River.
Tom Zimmerman:It's beautiful, it's serene, it's perfect location.
Tom Zimmerman:It's near public transportation.
Tom Zimmerman:It used to be an old steel mill that took us out of the, the 100 year flood zone and put us in the 500 year floodplain because of all the fill.
Tom Zimmerman:We have a leadership team.
Tom Zimmerman:We have, it's a 24, 7 facility.
Tom Zimmerman:We have 15 tiny homes.
Tom Zimmerman:Each tiny home is 210 square foot.
Tom Zimmerman:We're saying that not all veterans would qualify because this is not a program that you can just sit around and watch TV all day long.
Tom Zimmerman:This is a four phase process where the first phase is getting you healthy, you know, sleeping, eating, getting you in front of the doctors.
Tom Zimmerman:Second phase is putting together an individual service plan with our clinical team to put a program together to address the issues that caused you to become homeless.
Tom Zimmerman:And then phase three is working with the corporations and the veterans to get them jobs and employment.
Tom Zimmerman:And phase four is to have a graduation and have them, you know, reenter into society and then come back as a mentor.
Tom Zimmerman:So it's about an eight month process.
Tom Zimmerman:It varies.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, some could be a little bit shorter, some could be over a year.
Tom Zimmerman:But there's questions that be asked.
Tom Zimmerman:And some veterans actually have turned us down because they thought they were going to get three square meals in a bed and not have to do anything.
Tom Zimmerman:But it's a program that's going to hold you accountable.
Tom Zimmerman:And it's what we call, we're going to give you a hand up.
Tom Zimmerman:We're not giving you a hand out.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, it's designed that way.
Tom Zimmerman:There's no kitchen in the tiny home.
Tom Zimmerman:We have an industrial kitchen in the community center.
Tom Zimmerman:So each morning they come in and they eat together as a group.
Tom Zimmerman:And then we do that because that's what they were like in the military.
Tom Zimmerman:They went to the mess hall, they went to that.
Tom Zimmerman:So we're kind of bringing back that environment of what they did and how they were successful when they were in the military and then hold them accountable.
Tom Zimmerman:And just like they did in the military, you know, you're only as strong as your weakest link.
Tom Zimmerman:And they have jobs to do.
Tom Zimmerman:They have performances and they have checks.
Tom Zimmerman:And if, and if they don't all do their jobs, they don't get to go away to go fishing on the weekend.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, like they're held accountable.
Tom Zimmerman:And they also got to make progress.
Tom Zimmerman:And as long as they make progress, they have a place to stay.
Tom Zimmerman:And our Veterans are sleeping 12 to 14 hours every night for the first three to four weeks because they haven't felt safe for so long.
Tom Zimmerman:They either had to worry about the environment they were sleeping in, they had to worry about people stealing stuff for them.
Tom Zimmerman:They had to worry about all kinds of things.
Tom Zimmerman:Now they got a place they can call their own and they can put their head on a pillow and feel safe and comfortable, but it's not big enough that they stay isolated.
Tom Zimmerman:The idea is for them just to have a place to call their own, have their own shower, have their own little tv.
Tom Zimmerman:But all the magic will be done in the community center.
Erica Thompson:All right, we're going to take a short break.
Erica Thompson:When we come back, we're going to have more from Tom and some information about.
Erica Thompson:You know, one of the things that I would love to do is actually clone your system, Tom, and bring it here to Phoenix because that would be an awesome thing to do here because we've got, you know, our air force base here over on the west side of Phoenix, saying in there a lot of veterans here in Phoenix and I'm sure they would be do a lot of good.
Erica Thompson:But stay tuned.
Erica Thompson:You're listening to Boxcar Universe.
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Erica Thompson:All right, we are back and you are listening to Boxcar Universe.
Erica Thompson:And we are here with Tom Zimmerman who as we, as we could say, he, him and his wife masterminded the tiny home community for veterans in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Erica Thompson:And you know, we were talking a little bit in the break about the design aspect of what's going on.
Erica Thompson:And Erica, what some of the things do you think obviously that are important that, and I'm sure Tom will agree that you put, put into when you, when you figure out something like that, what, what are you going to put in in something that's 210 square feet.
:Start with the ADA footprint.
:And really that's what you would have to mark out first is the space for the bathroom and the clearances and then fit in the, the bed and the sitting area.
:That would be my plan of attack for in there because everything is based upon meeting those codes and in that space.
:So just by putting the puzzle together, you work around those parameters and then you get an efficient functioning space.
Erica Thompson:Right.
Erica Thompson:And I think you were right, Tom, that, you know, I'm sure, like you say, a lot of those veterans were, were not living in something that it doesn't sound very elegant, but it's very, it's very usable and it is, it's very functionable, functional.
Erica Thompson:Thank you.
Erica Thompson:That was the word I was looking for.
Tom Zimmerman:And Erica, she was spot on.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, it is, it is, you know, it's not, it's not a, you know, Taj Mahal, but to them it is a Taj Mahal because of where they came and what they had or what they didn't have that they are just so thankful and so grateful that having a good design person.
Tom Zimmerman:And Eric, I would love to see some of your work, but I think that's, you know, that's definitely something that is key, key to the very beginning of a process.
Tom Zimmerman:And we were very fortunate to have Some like minded people to, you know, brainstorm and come up with that.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, I mean, and it's, yeah, it's, it's a lot of pieces of the puzzle and you know, a lot of people, they, they see that this, they see the, the results.
Erica Thompson:They don't know what has gone into it.
Erica Thompson:And just some of the things that you've touched on, which I'm sure there are a thousand more things that, that go into all this, but when it comes out, it, it comes out right.
Erica Thompson:And it had to be such a gratifying feeling to have it all finished and then have the first veterans basically come.
Erica Thompson:And what kind of, what kind of, you know, how did they feel when they first saw it, when they first moved in?
Erica Thompson:So what was some of the reactions that you got?
Tom Zimmerman:First of all, the, with the veterans that we are really housing and supporting and providing this therapeutic model are very, when a veteran comes to us, most likely there is some type of issue, whether it be ptsd, mental health issues, addiction issues, and when they come to veterans, outreach and because there's not really anything local like this on the east coast, there's different housing models, tiny home models, you know, seems to be popular.
Tom Zimmerman:But the therapeutic clinical model was what we were different and what we brought to the table.
Tom Zimmerman:What we found when they first got here is they were broken.
Tom Zimmerman:They didn't trust the system, they didn't trust us.
Tom Zimmerman:They were very apprehensive.
Tom Zimmerman:They wouldn't look you in the eye, they didn't, you know, they were just, it was just almost sad to say that, you know, here we're going to help you, but they didn't believe you.
Tom Zimmerman:And we had to prove and we had to build those relationships up so they wouldn't look you in the eye.
Tom Zimmerman:They were always on their guard and they were short.
Tom Zimmerman:And so part of the intake process is to give them about a week of just getting acclimated and getting adjusted because it's such a big, you know, stress level and anxiety level for a lot of these guys with ptsd.
Tom Zimmerman:But once they buy into the system and they buy into the model, it's almost like we're organizing their structure as when they were in the military and told what to do 24 7.
Tom Zimmerman:But with the therapeutic community model, they're in charge.
Tom Zimmerman:They're the ones that make the choice.
Tom Zimmerman:We're just here to help guide them and to provide the services and to get them to where they can become independent.
Tom Zimmerman:And this actually run by them.
Tom Zimmerman:I mentioned earlier that there's four phases we Have, I think, three veterans now that are in phase two, and they're leading the meetings.
Tom Zimmerman:They're taking charge.
Tom Zimmerman:They do the House inspections.
Tom Zimmerman:They get, you know, different duties and jobs, and they're thriving.
Tom Zimmerman:And now when I come down to the community center, the veterans that.
Tom Zimmerman:They see my car, they're looking for me, and they want to tap me on the shoulder and shake my hand and thank us for everything that we're doing for that.
Tom Zimmerman:And, you know, it's kind of like one of those things where I say, no, we need to thank you, and this is for you guys.
Tom Zimmerman:But it's only as good as what you make out of it.
Tom Zimmerman:This is where we're going to help you.
Tom Zimmerman:We're going to, you know, we're going to have that tough love, and we're going to hold you accountable, and you got to.
Tom Zimmerman:You got to do this, you know, but we're here to help you, and that's what they need.
Tom Zimmerman:And so we're working on the mind, body and soul.
Tom Zimmerman:We're trying to reconnect them with their family members because they've really been disconnected.
Tom Zimmerman:They've been.
Tom Zimmerman:They burned a lot of bridges.
Tom Zimmerman:We're working with getting them jobs.
Tom Zimmerman:We're working them with following.
Tom Zimmerman:But there we took them to a local baseball game, and they actually wrote a nice letter to the baseball team for thanking them, for inviting them to come.
Tom Zimmerman:And, you know, they're just so grateful.
Tom Zimmerman:It's just really humbling.
Tom Zimmerman:And they're cleaning.
Tom Zimmerman:They're taking care of this.
Tom Zimmerman:And the other day, the lawnmower broke, and we fixed it.
Tom Zimmerman:One of my board members came down and he fixed it very handy.
Tom Zimmerman:And there was three veterans standing there.
Tom Zimmerman:And the one guy said, well, I'll use the riding mower, and you use the push mower.
Tom Zimmerman:And the other guy used the weed whacker.
Tom Zimmerman:And the one veteran said, well, he has a bum knee.
Tom Zimmerman:Why don't you let him use the riding mower and you push and I'll do.
Tom Zimmerman:And it was like.
Tom Zimmerman:And I just turned around and said, thank you, guys.
Tom Zimmerman:Thank you.
Tom Zimmerman:And they're like, this is our home.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, and that's it.
Erica Thompson:So it's so important that they all work together like that.
Erica Thompson:It's working.
Erica Thompson:It really is.
Erica Thompson:So where do you see this?
Erica Thompson:You know, now that you've got that established, where do you see.
Erica Thompson:Besides maintaining the community that's there.
Erica Thompson:Where do you see?
Erica Thompson:What's the next.
Erica Thompson:What's the next mission?
Tom Zimmerman:So, you know, we need to raise about a million dollars a year to run this being a Nonprofit, it's a 24.
Tom Zimmerman:7 facility.
Tom Zimmerman:So staffing, programming, we need.
Tom Zimmerman:We need to let people know that we're not done.
Tom Zimmerman:We're just starting.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, like, we were great.
Tom Zimmerman:Thank you for the four and a half million for helping build the project.
Tom Zimmerman:But now it's operational, you know, and now we.
Tom Zimmerman:To maintain that, we now need to work out the kinks.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, we have a great business plan.
Tom Zimmerman:We've.
Tom Zimmerman:We have some great employees.
Tom Zimmerman:We have great leadership, but it never goes as planned.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, there's always issues, and when you learn and you change your policies, and we need to get a little bit more under our feet.
Tom Zimmerman:And then what we want to do is we want to reach out to other communities and other counties and cities and say, hey, here's a model.
Tom Zimmerman:We're willing to help you.
Tom Zimmerman:We've done it.
Tom Zimmerman:And we just want to be the guide because, you know, our job is to end homelessness among our veterans.
Tom Zimmerman:And wouldn't be great in 20 years if we said we had zero homelessness.
Tom Zimmerman:Right now we're at like 34,000 across the United States.
Erica Thompson:Oh, it's just amazing.
Tom Zimmerman:And so.
Tom Zimmerman:But we all need to pitch in.
Erica Thompson:Yeah.
Erica Thompson:It's so very important.
Erica Thompson:So how can our listeners.
Erica Thompson:If.
Erica Thompson:And I encourage all our listeners, if you have any connections out there with your community and you think that this, you know, project would work in your community, I urge you to make sure that you reach out to Tom and his staff to make sure that you get some information so that you could take this to your community leaders and see what.
Erica Thompson:See what you can do with it.
Erica Thompson:Because that's just.
Erica Thompson:It's a.
Erica Thompson:It's a labor of love.
Erica Thompson:How else can you say it?
Tom Zimmerman:It's.
Tom Zimmerman:I'm actually working more and harder now than when I had my own business.
Tom Zimmerman:But I tell you what, you're right.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, it.
Tom Zimmerman:It matters, you know, to the heart.
Tom Zimmerman:And I'm getting so, so much gratification, so much being humble, that it's just seeing the difference really makes.
Tom Zimmerman:But they can reach out to us on our website by going to veterans outreach of pa.org and that's veterans outreach of pa.org or follow us on social media with our Facebook page, LinkedIn, Instagram, and again, Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania.
Tom Zimmerman:And find us, search us, reach out to us.
Tom Zimmerman:There's volunteer sheets.
Tom Zimmerman:There's ways that you can contribute.
Tom Zimmerman:We have a brick campaign where you can sponsor a brick of a loved one that will be in the Star Memorial, or you can even make a purchase like we call 15 for 15.
Tom Zimmerman:So $15 a month for every month, $1 for every tiny home.
Tom Zimmerman:If everybody does that, that will help offset our cost for operations.
Tom Zimmerman:And you know, we just, we just think that this is something that can change lives and change lives of our veterans who deserve better.
Tom Zimmerman:We're not here to blame anybody.
Tom Zimmerman:We're not here to blame the system.
Tom Zimmerman:We're not here to blame our veterans.
Tom Zimmerman:So I think just as Americans, we need to do a little bit better and a little bit more on a personal side.
Erica Thompson:Absolutely.
Erica Thompson:You know, and being here in Arizona, you know, just come to think of it, you know, maybe we could talk.
Erica Thompson:I know a couple of people that know Alice Cooper.
Erica Thompson:Maybe we can get Alice Cooper to come out and do a concert or bring some well known celebrities in and we could take all the funds and put it towards a program like this.
Erica Thompson:And what a great, what a great way to be able to do it for the community to come together.
Tom Zimmerman:I would love that.
Tom Zimmerman:And that's kind of like, that's one of my visions, you know, is try to like, how can we get somebody who could at least be a spokesperson or do an event and raise a lot of money, you know, locally.
Tom Zimmerman: ne of the hair bands from the: Tom Zimmerman:I don't know if you guys know Bret Michaels.
Erica Thompson:I remember them.
Tom Zimmerman:So Bret, Brett is actually from about 10 miles from here and very veteran oriented.
Tom Zimmerman:But if you guys have a connection, we need to get in front of Brett.
Tom Zimmerman:But I would love, if you have anybody else that would put a big program together and we would help out.
Tom Zimmerman:We have the Hershey stadium here that holds 25,000 people.
Tom Zimmerman:You know, I think Foreigner, or I'm not Foreigner, but some of the other guys were just here that are very, very big and old, you know, so we love it.
Erica Thompson:All right, we'll see what we could do.
Erica Thompson:And it will.
Erica Thompson:It'll be a work in progress.
Erica Thompson:Tom, thank you so much for being with us today.
Erica Thompson:And we don't want to hold you up, but we'll be in touch.
Tom Zimmerman:I appreciate that.
Erica Thompson:Take care.
Erica Thompson:All right, that was Tom Zimmerman.
Erica Thompson:And I want to thank all our listeners for listening to Tom and our show today, Erica and myself.
Erica Thompson:And I want to remind everybody that, you know, you are your source for cutting edge information when it comes to container homes, container pools, tiny homes.
Erica Thompson:And as a reminder, yes, the.
Erica Thompson:Our good friend Susan Frayer from the Shed Gal is over on the west side on Thomas Road just south on 99th Avenue.
Erica Thompson:And all the shed lots are sheds are over on her lot that you could possibly imagine every shape and size.
Erica Thompson:And our model container home and container pool will be coming probably in the next two weeks.
Erica Thompson:So I will keep you posted on that.
Erica Thompson:Hang tight.
Erica Thompson:We'll be right back.
Erica Thompson:You're listening to Boxcar Universe.
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Erica Thompson:Hi, I'm John Wisebarth, co host of FYI Network's hit TV show Tiny House Nation.
Erica Thompson:Now people all over the country are downsizing.
Erica Thompson:The tiny homes are all the big rage.
Erica Thompson:But remember, even tiny homes need repairs and left unattended, those tiny problems become big problems.
Erica Thompson:Don't let that happen to you know, what makes your home kick.
Erica Thompson:All right, we are back and you're listening to Boxcar Universe and we have got a great guest on the show coming up.
Erica Thompson:You know, for a lot of people over the weeks have questions about, you know, what does it take to get a tiny home or a container home or you know, what goes into it, how is it built?
Erica Thompson:How do you live in a container in 120 degree Arizona heat and all those kind of questions, you know, how even how far fetched and ridiculous they are.
Erica Thompson:But we have the man to answer all those questions regarding container homes, Chris Conover from Tiny Custom Houses with us.
Erica Thompson:And Chris, great to have you back on the show again.
Chris Conover:Great to be with you guys again.
Chris Conover:Thank you for inviting.
Erica Thompson:Tell our listeners who may not have heard you on our show before, have you tell us a little about, about your, about your company and what you're doing and how you got started?
Chris Conover:Yeah.
Chris Conover:So Tiny Custom House is just an idea that I had one day watching all the DIYers on YouTube turn these containers into really cool homes.
Chris Conover:And I, I thought to myself, you know, I'm pretty handy, I think I can do that.
Chris Conover:And so I started on my first container as a cabin for myself and my family.
Chris Conover:We were going to put it up north somewhere in Flagstaff or Prescott, you know, just a place to get out of the heat.
Chris Conover:And I was putting it on YouTube and social media and kind of sharing my experience converting one of these containers into a tiny house.
Chris Conover:And I have a construction background.
Chris Conover:I'm a contractor by trade, so I have kind of all the skills and the know how to do it.
Chris Conover:And you know, some people started reaching out, telling me how cool the container was that they, they would possibly like a container themselves.
Chris Conover:And one person reached out and you know, people here, local probably heard of the Maricopa county home show.
Chris Conover:They reached out in particular and they were doing a tiny home feature and they asked me to bring my container to the show.
Chris Conover:And I wasn't really prepared to go to the show but, but you know, I wanted to maybe judge the market and see if there was an interest there.
Chris Conover:And so I ended up taking it to the show.
Chris Conover:We ended up winning best in show.
Chris Conover:We sold, I think on that show, we sold 10 or 15 units at that show specifically.
Chris Conover:And so we kind of went from 0 to 100 really quick with orders.
Chris Conover:And we've been trying to fulfill those orders for the last, you know, we've been doing it now for two years.
Chris Conover:And we've placed half a dozen containers in actual properties within, you know, Phoenix area as well as maybe some surrounding areas.
Chris Conover:We have one up north of Payson in a town called Yonge, Arizona.
Chris Conover:We have one up there.
Chris Conover:And if you know anything about Young, and it's a very remote place, I often get asked, well, how do you deliver these containers and can you deliver to a remote location?
Chris Conover:Well, young is a 20 mile dirt road.
Chris Conover:It's a fire service road to get to the town.
Chris Conover:And the container made it down that road and into its location just fine.
Chris Conover:So if I can deliver there, I can deliver anywhere.
Erica Thompson:Okay.
Chris Conover:Yeah, it's, it's been A fun experience.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, it, and it's a great story when you think about it because I bet you when you got all those sales at the, at the home show, it must have been, I know you were excited, that's for sure.
Erica Thompson:But it must have been something like, oh my God, what did I start?
Erica Thompson:You know.
Chris Conover:Yep.
Chris Conover:It's a little, that was a kind of a knee jerk reaction.
Chris Conover:I, now I've got to go build all these containers for these people.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:So we kind of strapped up our boots, we went to work.
Chris Conover:We've been building like crazy ever since.
Erica Thompson:Oh, it's something that's really good.
Erica Thompson:And then just from the time that we met you last fall over at the home show in Scottsdale, you guys have actually grown a lot since then in, in an effort to, as we say, maybe maintain the, the influx of, of sales, leads and purchases so that you could fulfill them.
Chris Conover:Yeah, yeah, we've grown quite a lot.
Chris Conover:I mean we have over, I think we're right around $2 million in pre orders alone for these containers.
Chris Conover:And not only have we had an increase in orders, but we also are developing a container community out in Mesa where we're going to have multiple units for rent or these will be long term rental units out in Mesa, Arizona.
Erica Thompson:Now that's pretty cool.
Erica Thompson:Now is, is that going to be near where you're located at your new address out in Mesa?
Chris Conover:Correct.
Chris Conover:Yeah.
Chris Conover:So that address is our production yard out there off of McKellips.
Chris Conover:That's where we have been building all the containers.
Chris Conover:We had 10 containers on that lot at one time and we've kind of moved a lot of them off and we, we are now converting that, that production yard into a tiny home community where we'll probably have half a dozen units of tiny homes there as well as some other residential areas as well.
Erica Thompson:So that was good.
Erica Thompson:It'd be pretty much exciting because there's a lot of traffic being able to go by there.
Erica Thompson:So you should be able to get a lot of looks and a lot of interest over there.
Erica Thompson:And it's pretty easy for anyone to be able to get to anybody who knows the East Valley here in the Phoenix market.
Erica Thompson:And for those of you interested, you know, throughout the country and other parts of the state is going to be, you know, we're going to have, Chris has got connections so that this way you can get containers made of a high quality and like the one Chris does and they are just, I think they're just pretty amazing.
Erica Thompson:But you've got gone through a lot of different, you know, designs.
Erica Thompson:And when they're finished, they look just like, they look just like your home.
Erica Thompson:And I think that's what people, I tell people all the time that they, they, they said, well, what does it look like?
Erica Thompson:It's in a container.
Erica Thompson:Well, like I said, if you're in a container and if you didn't know you were in a container, the rooms look exactly like they would do in a regular stick build home, you know.
Chris Conover:Yeah.
Chris Conover:They're actually rather spacious.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:They have nine foot ceilings in the containers and they have quartz countertops, full luxury plank vinyl flooring.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:So like you mentioned, it is very traditional.
Chris Conover:It feels like an apartment or a single one bed, one bathroom home.
Chris Conover:Yeah, it is very luxurious and we do very traditional build processes with these containers.
Chris Conover:They've all been structurally, electrical and plumbing designed and engineered so it can be placed anywhere in the country.
Erica Thompson:Yeah.
Erica Thompson:And that's the one thing that I always liked about the containers that you build, that they are very compact in areas like, for instance, like the kitchen, the cabinet area, you know, the appliances, and then also, you know, how you incorporate bathrooms and showers.
Erica Thompson:So I think that's.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, it looks, it looks, it looks pretty amazing when you go out there and you know, just one of these days, you know, Mel, we should do a.
Erica Thompson:Mel and Steve on the street.
Erica Thompson:We should get someone who, who is interested in a home.
Erica Thompson:Let's blindfold them, bring them to a container home over at Chris's, take the blindfold off and see if they could tell if they're in a container.
Erica Thompson:What do you think?
Erica Thompson:Okay, why not?
Erica Thompson:I mean, you know, hey, we might have some fun.
Erica Thompson:Febreze also.
Erica Thompson:Just kidding, right?
Chris Conover:Yeah.
Erica Thompson:Well, you know, hey, we just like to have some fun here too, besides all the great information that we share.
Erica Thompson:But it's really, really an up and coming thing.
Erica Thompson:And I know you're, you're.
Erica Thompson:And think about this too, right?
Erica Thompson:You're growing in these challenging times with the high inflation rate, high interest rates and people are still buying.
Erica Thompson:I mean, that's, you know, that's, that says a lot about what your company and what you're doing to be able to withstand some of those forces that are actually, we're trying, they're negative forces, but you know, trying to work against what you're trying to do.
Erica Thompson:But you seem to be doing a great job at moving forward.
Chris Conover:Yeah, you know, I think that is probably what is impacting our business in a positive way.
Chris Conover:Really.
Chris Conover:I think people are looking for alternative options to housing because a lot of people have been priced out of the market or maybe they're waiting for the prices to come down for homes and are looking for an interim possibility.
Chris Conover:And so we actually have.
Chris Conover:I think that's probably helped our model.
Chris Conover:It seems like there is a lot of buzz out there around containers and maybe this kind of, you know, kind of like nomadic lifestyle too, right?
Chris Conover:With traveling and not being, you know, so tied down to a single location.
Chris Conover:These containers, you know, you know, as soon as we kind of get everything moving further, we would like to start to kind of build outside of Arizona and have different container community communities and different vacation destinations or, you know, desirable areas across the country so people can, you know, lease different containers in different areas that are advantageous to their lifestyle at the moment.
Erica Thompson:And that's.
Erica Thompson:And that's important and that would be something that's really good.
Erica Thompson:But I think, you know, Chris, I think we're going to get there eventually.
Erica Thompson:It's just going to take a little bit of time.
Erica Thompson:Like any good new trends, the word spreads and when it spreads, it's going to become more mainstream than it already is.
Erica Thompson:Which I think, you know, if we go back several years, you know, five, 10 years, you know, there wasn't a whole lot of information out there regarding container rooms.
Erica Thompson:I know with the city of Phoenix, you know, when you try bringing a container home plans to them, they're looking at it like, you know, they have nothing, nothing to refer it against because their whole, all their protocols and guidelines haven't been brought up to this new way of building.
Erica Thompson:So they're gauging all these plans under old guidelines.
Erica Thompson:So I mean, I wouldn't even want to begin to think about how many plans were refused because not saying that they were, their plans were incorrect in the way they were structured.
Erica Thompson:They just wasn't what the planners were used to approving.
Erica Thompson:And I think that led to a lot of frustrations.
Erica Thompson:I know with a lot of builders as well as a lot of architects.
Erica Thompson:But I think we've come a long way in that area.
Chris Conover:Yeah, we have.
Chris Conover:And they are becoming more mainstream.
Chris Conover:And I like to think of containers as an alternative building material and that we can, we can put multiple together to create larger homes.
Chris Conover:We can do our single unit homes for easy transferability and quick on site, you know, up, up and running operations.
Chris Conover:We even have some going out in California.
Chris Conover:In California, as you know, has become very friendly to multi generational type housing ideas.
Chris Conover:Tiny houses, containers even where they had kind of taken a stance on containers previously, they've now become very open to these types of ideas because there's such a need out there.
Chris Conover:So we have a few containers even going out in different areas of LA and Southern California for container homes.
Chris Conover:So it's pretty, pretty awesome to see the trend in a positive way where people are accepting the containers more and more often.
Erica Thompson:That's really good news.
Erica Thompson:People are and municipalities are moving in that direction.
Erica Thompson:All right, we're going to take a short break and when we come back on the other side, Chris Conover from Tiny Custom House.
Erica Thompson:We're going to be going through and asking him some FAQ questions.
Erica Thompson:And Allison who's here in the studio, I know she has a few questions because she is interested in tiny homes and we got some great FAQs to talk to you about.
Erica Thompson:So stay tuned.
Erica Thompson:You're listening to Boxcar Universe.
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Erica Thompson:All right, we are back and you're listening to Boxcar Universe and we are talking with Chris Conover from Tiny Custom House and we're talking about container homes and what it takes to put a container on your property and a little bit about the things that go into a container.
Erica Thompson:You know, the same things that go into a stick built house.
Erica Thompson:But they're significant differences.
Erica Thompson:But you know, some of the houses that we've seen that containers that Chris has actually built, he makes it all come out just right.
Erica Thompson:And you would never, never know that you were in a tiny home.
Erica Thompson:But Allison, who's here with us has some questions about container houses.
Erica Thompson:And Allison, let's talk to Chris and see what he can answer for you.
Allison:Okay?
Allison:Yeah.
Allison:So I have a question and I'm wondering how does somebody prep their space before they're going to drop a container home on their land.
Chris Conover:Yeah, so that's another reason we use a container itself is because the side prep is fairly easy.
Chris Conover:It doesn't require a lot of, you know, you don't need a structural foundation for these containers.
Chris Conover:So generally what we advise is that you, you pour a foundation or not a foundation, but a 4 inch slab, 4 inch thick slab for the container to sit on.
Chris Conover:Kind of like when you would maybe install a hot tub at your property.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:You would need to pull utilities and services to the hot tub or the slab for the hot tub.
Chris Conover:Does it go on top of usually have permits required to pull those utilities and those services to that location and then you just put the unit right on top of that slab.
Chris Conover:So generally our site prep is about three weeks.
Chris Conover:That's one of the benefits of a container.
Chris Conover:Then doing a stick build.
Chris Conover:House is a stick build.
Chris Conover:We're going to be on your property for months at a time.
Chris Conover:Six, six months to a year.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:Building a container we can build in six weeks, the interior and then we can place it on your property in three weeks.
Allison:Okay, that's pretty cool.
Allison:And is that something that you guys do yourself or is that something that you guys can do where you guys come out and you guys prep the land, or is that something that is up to the landowners?
Chris Conover:Yeah, good question.
Chris Conover:No, great question.
Chris Conover:So I am a contractor by trade, so I can absolutely come and do the site prep for our buyers.
Chris Conover:Thus far, we've done all the site prep for all of our customers.
Chris Conover:It's an additional fee to the price point of the container itself.
Chris Conover:Outside of Arizona, I would be able to help guide and direct people of how to do it.
Chris Conover:But I don't have any licensing outside of Arizona, so that would be up to our customers that are outside of Arizona to do the site prep.
Chris Conover:They don't always have the forest lab.
Chris Conover:You know, they could kind of level it out, put some AB down or something like that to keep it more mobile.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:But yeah, outside of Arizona we, we would be more of a, you know, a consultant.
Chris Conover:We wouldn't be able to do that, that work for our customers.
Chris Conover:Chris, I have a question for you.
Chris Conover:Give us an idea of the cost of the shipping containers.
Erica Thompson:And with that being said, do you have access to financing so people are not coming out of pocket completely for these containers?
Chris Conover:Yeah, great question.
Chris Conover:So we have a couple different tiers when it comes to containers.
Chris Conover:That the model that we've taken to the home show recently, that comes with all luxury finishes and appliances and has a large nine foot bifolding doors.
Chris Conover:You can kind of do an inside outside type living space with the containers that container comes ready to live in with your appliances, your finishes, everything in that container drop and ready to go.
Chris Conover:That one is $95,000 ready to go.
Chris Conover:And that's 320 square feet.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:And so you get a livable apartment at 320 square feet and $95,000.
Chris Conover:We do have some better, you know, a little bit lower cost models that don't include maybe some of the luxury finishes.
Chris Conover:Those start right at 75,000.
Chris Conover:And then we do have a complete off grid package where all of your solar panels, your batteries, your inverters, we even have an agreement with Starlink to provide off grid WI fi that starts at 115,000 for those off grid units.
Chris Conover:So all in all, you're going to be looking about 200 to $225 a square foot on these container units.
:That's amazing.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, I mean that's that and that pricing is not, not bad, especially when you think about what you're getting.
Erica Thompson:And that's a 40 foot container, basically a one bedroom.
Erica Thompson:Right Chris?
Chris Conover:Yeah.
Erica Thompson:Okay, so I mean, I mean and the spacing, like you said earlier, there's a lot of space inside those and with those nine foot, we'll call it nine foot bifolds, they look, yeah, they open up and you know, very easily once the container is placed.
Erica Thompson:You could put, you know, a shade structure in front of that with another more or less like a patio, concrete floor or tile or even pavers to be able to have an additional shade structure out there.
Erica Thompson:So your space just naturally seems to increase when you do that.
Erica Thompson:And it's great way to let the outside in and the inside out.
Erica Thompson:So it's something really, really nice that people should consider.
Erica Thompson:But yes, go ahead.
Chris Conover:It is really nice because it takes your livable space from 320 inside the container to living more like 500 square feet with those BI folding doors.
Chris Conover:And we've got a couple containers on Airbnb.
Chris Conover:And that's the number one comment we get from our guests is that they love the bi folding doors and be able to have the entryway right there into the kitchen and be able to have dinner and things like that outside and inside the container.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, and again, that's just, it's a great, great way to be able to basically, you know, have that huge entryway and especially it's off the kitchen.
Erica Thompson:So the ones that I saw in the models that you had out in the production yard, they were right off the kitchen area.
Erica Thompson:So it's great if you're entertaining and you bring, and you have that additional patio square footage outside.
Erica Thompson:So it's great.
Erica Thompson:It's easy to bring all the food and stuff outside to your guests and they can enjoy, you know, the area that you've placed the container in.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Erica Thompson:You know, one of the other things that people ask for as well, you know, is it safe to live in a shipping container?
Chris Conover:Yeah, it is very safe to live in a shipping container.
Chris Conover:The way that we actually prep the containers is there is no vapor or water barrier between you and the container.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:So we use an inch and a half of closed cell industrial spray foam around every piece of that container.
Chris Conover:And so that, you know, there's no vapors, there's no toxins, there's nothing coming from the container through to your living space.
Chris Conover:And so it is very safe to be inside the container.
Chris Conover:We also, one thing that we do to mitigate any kind of concern with maybe chemicals or anything like that is we use one way containers that have only been used one time have never had any sort of hazardous material inside the containers.
Chris Conover:And so they are very safe and clean containers.
Chris Conover:Some of them I don't even like covering up because they're so clean.
Chris Conover:But, you know, kind of we've talked maybe in the past about doing an industrial look where we insulated it from the outside and keeping the walls kind of bare, but we haven't done any of those yet.
Chris Conover:We've stuck with the traditional look of the, you know, the drywall and everything on the interior.
Chris Conover:So, yeah, the answer to that question is very safe.
Chris Conover:There's no, there's no transfer of chemicals or vapor between the existing container and your living space.
Erica Thompson:That's.
Erica Thompson:Yeah.
Erica Thompson:And that's important for people especially because, you know, there are people out there who are.
Erica Thompson:I mean, I know our resident home inspector, Dan Hayden actually had gone out and checking on healthy homes where people actually can be allergic to certain materials that are used within the home.
Erica Thompson:So making sure that those are not, you know, in a container home are so very important.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, definitely, definitely.
Erica Thompson:So one last question.
Erica Thompson:If you had to choose a shipping container house instead of a traditional house, why.
Erica Thompson:Why would you choose that?
Chris Conover:So I really like, obviously I'm biased.
Chris Conover:I love the container house idea and I love the idea of maybe even adding multiple together a single unit container home wouldn't work for me because my wife, she's not looking to go tiny as much as I am.
Chris Conover:We have A two and a half year old and she doesn't, she doesn't think it's big enough.
Chris Conover:However, I would love to live in a container home with our family, but she doesn't.
Chris Conover:She's not quite there yet.
Chris Conover:But why I would choose a container is the structural integrity of a container is very good.
Chris Conover:And you ask any engineer, architect, he'll tell you how well designed these containers are.
Chris Conover:They're stacked on these shipping yards, you know, 7, 8, 9, 10 high, and they're fully loaded with product material.
Chris Conover:Containers are loaded up to as much as £40,000.
Chris Conover:10 of those high and the one container is on the bottom.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:So structurally, these are incredibly strong resources and very strong to use in a building.
Chris Conover:You know, methodology and way.
Chris Conover:And, you know, if you're a prepper or you want something that's a little harder to get into, you know, just makes sense to have steel.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:A steel container is a lot harder to, you know, infiltrate than a traditional home.
Chris Conover:The other great thing about containers is if you're in a remote area and there's any kind of pest problems, right.
Chris Conover:These are completely pest and rodent free.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:Your pests and rodents can't chew through the wood and the material, they can't chew through the metal.
Chris Conover:And so you won't have any pest problems if you put it up, you know, somewhere in the woods where a lot of people may have problems with rodents and whatnot.
Chris Conover:Containers won't have those types of issues because of the steel.
Erica Thompson:That's right.
Erica Thompson:You can't chew through steel.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, that is one definitely good aspect of, you know, having a container home.
Erica Thompson:And I think one of the things, also an advantage of if you're into, you know, different types of architectural design, that you could make some amazing combinations with containers to be able to give your.
Erica Thompson:To be.
Erica Thompson:Actually be a.
Erica Thompson:A piece in the.
Erica Thompson:If you're not off grid and you're in a neighborhood to be able to get some.
Erica Thompson:A lot of people interested in talking about your container home because the styling and the architecture, it is so very different.
Erica Thompson:But like I said, it's not for everybody.
Erica Thompson:I think doing it that way is an exceptional type of architecture that people can.
Erica Thompson:Your house becomes almost like a story that people talk about, well, what was it before?
Erica Thompson:What did it look like?
Erica Thompson:And then watching it being created and put on your property, that's just another whole story in itself.
Erica Thompson:It's.
Erica Thompson:It leads, it's a different type of construction, which I understand where you're coming from, Chris.
Erica Thompson:You know, wanting to do the container but you know, hey, you know, give your wife some time.
Erica Thompson:Keep building, keep building them.
Erica Thompson:You know, one of these days she may just say, yeah, let's go ahead.
Erica Thompson:Well, you will put about six of them together.
Erica Thompson:What do you think?
Erica Thompson:Maybe put six together.
Erica Thompson:That might be okay.
Chris Conover:Yeah, you could make a really modern looking home out of some of the containers.
Chris Conover:A lot of people are more into the modern square metal, sleek look, kind of moving away from more of the Tuscany style.
Chris Conover:So, yeah, I think she'd like it.
Erica Thompson:Yeah.
Erica Thompson:All right, well, it sounds good.
Erica Thompson:Chris, tell our listeners how they can contact you.
Chris Conover:Yeah, so, you know, our, our best way to probably see some of our current projects is on social media.
Chris Conover:Tiny Custom House, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
Chris Conover:You can also go to our website@tinycustomhouse.com There's a little bit of details there on, on our containers and what we do, what we do for people is we have a complete interior design team named Dwellify.
Chris Conover:Right.
Chris Conover:And what we have, our listeners and people who are interested in our, in our products is they put down a down payment to design their own container.
Chris Conover:And also with that down payment, we send them out a material box with all the samples of their materials to make sure they, they like it.
Chris Conover:And as soon as they like their container, then we go, we go to work and we start building it for them.
Chris Conover:So again, the price points are, right, ranging around 75 to $115,000 for a container.
Chris Conover:And you can go and design your own.
Chris Conover:On our website, all you got to do is put down the 500, you can design your own container and we can get to work on building one for you.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, and that's really great.
Erica Thompson:It gets the potential new homeowner involved in all the things that you're going to be putting into it.
Erica Thompson:So that, this way there's no question about, well, did I really want this or do I want this particular product?
Erica Thompson:You send all that out.
Erica Thompson:So I think that's a great way in the consultation process to make sure that when you start building, you don't have to do it over.
Erica Thompson:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Erica Thompson:Chris, thanks again for being on the show today.
Erica Thompson:We look forward to working with you in the future and having you back on the show.
Erica Thompson:And like I said, we've got some, we've got some interested parties looking for some container homes.
Erica Thompson:So we'll be able to touch base with you on that.
Erica Thompson:But if you are interested in getting a container home or a container pool, make sure you email us@boxcar livingmail.com stevexcaruniverse.com Reminder, Boxcar Universe could be heard on any podcast player.
Erica Thompson:And if you have a special note, if you have any suggestions of any type of cookies that you would like Erica to bake and bring in next week, please email us and I'll make.
:Sure that you pick them up.
Erica Thompson:What?
:I said where to pick them up.
Erica Thompson:Okay.
Erica Thompson:All right.
Erica Thompson:And always remember, Boxco Universe, remodeling and renovating your world.
Erica Thompson:Have a great weekend.
Chris Conover:You're a great American.
Erica Thompson:I love.
