Episode 115

Revolutionizing Home Design: The Rise of Container Architecture

Published on: 1st July, 2025

This week's episode of Boxcar Universe delves into the transformative potential of shipping containers in modern architecture, emphasizing their capacity to evolve into extraordinary living spaces. We explore a variety of innovative designs, ranging from sleek casitas to advanced modular offices, showcasing the versatility and functionality that container homes offer. Our esteemed guest, Mike Pearce from Vomae7 and Carbon Vudu, provides invaluable insights into the practicalities of constructing container-based structures, addressing common inquiries regarding DIY projects and the necessary engineering considerations. As we navigate the intricacies of sustainable living and design, we emphasize the importance of proper planning and professional guidance to ensure successful outcomes. Join us as we embark on this enlightening journey into the realm of container home living, where creativity and sustainability converge.

The dialogue between Steve Deubel and Mike Pearce delves into the evolving landscape of container homes, emphasizing the innovative potential of repurposed shipping containers as sustainable living spaces. The episode begins by establishing a historical context for human shelter, tracing the evolution from primitive structures to modern architecture, while highlighting the current movement towards sustainability. As the conversation progresses, Mike outlines the versatility of container architecture, showcasing various applications ranging from compact casitas to elaborate multi-story buildings. He emphasizes the importance of professional guidance in the construction process to ensure structural integrity and compliance with local regulations. This episode serves as an informative exploration of how container homes represent a forward-thinking solution to contemporary housing challenges, advocating for a shift in perspective toward sustainable living options.

Takeaways:

  • The evolution of human shelters has transitioned from primitive structures to innovative container homes.
  • Container homes provide a sustainable alternative for modern living and are customizable to various needs.
  • Understanding local building codes and regulations is critical for successfully constructing a container home.
  • Investing in professional design services can significantly enhance the quality and safety of a container build.
  • A comprehensive plan is necessary to address structural integrity when modifying shipping containers for residential use.
  • Collaboration with experienced contractors can mitigate potential challenges associated with DIY container home projects.

Links referenced in this episode:

Companies mentioned in this episode:

  • Vomae7
  • Carbon-Vudu
  • Ideal Home Improvement
  • Legacy Custom Homes AZ.
  • iFoam
  • Stardust Building Supplies
Transcript
Speaker A:

Welcome to this week's episode of Boxcar Universe where innovation meets design and shipping containers turn into amazing living spaces.

Speaker A:

We're talking everything from sleek little casitas and high tech modular offices to full on homes that will seriously blow you away.

Speaker A:

If you could dream it, we can build it.

Speaker A:

So let's get started right now.

Speaker B:

Since the dawn of time, mankind has searched for ways to shelter themselves from the elements.

Speaker B:

Over the centuries, these shelters have evolved from bamboo huts to concrete towers.

Speaker B:

The last few years there's been a push to save the planet.

Speaker B:

Are you ready to embark on a more sustainable lifestyle?

Speaker B:

Look no further.

Speaker B:

You're about to enter the adventures of container home living.

Speaker B:

And now, contractor, radio and TV personality and your host for Boxcar Universe, Steve Dubel.

Speaker A:

Hi, I'm Steve Dubell, host of Boxcar Universe.

Speaker A:

And here's what's coming up on this week's edition of Boxcar Universe.

Speaker A:

Mike Pearce from Vome7, his architectural firm and Carbon Voodoo, a sustainable container home and office company will be talking about container homes, offices and everything that could make your life easier.

Speaker A:

If you are interested in having that type of container building either on your office property or if you have a residential property you would like to build a casita on.

Speaker A:

So I want everybody to stay tuned.

Speaker A:

We've got a lot coming your way on Boxcar Universe, your home for remodeling and renovating your world.

Speaker A:

And we want to welcome all of you to Boxcar Universe today.

Speaker A:

And as I like to say, like to give everybody a little weather report on how things are doing here in the valley of the sun, beautiful Phoenix, Arizona and you know, people like, and I have to say to be quite surprised that here we are at the, the end of June and we're still right around 100 degrees.

Speaker A:

Somebody in the other part of the country may think, well my God, 100 degrees.

Speaker A:

Oh well.

Speaker A:

But my friends on the Northeast and Midwest I spoke to this week and they are experiencing that same temperatures.

Speaker A:

However, they're experiencing a lot more humidity.

Speaker A:

So we're doing quite well.

Speaker A:

No monsoon here in the valley yet, but it's, we're expecting that to come soon, probably in July or August.

Speaker A:

So it's going to be an interesting time here weather wise.

Speaker A:

But we want to get back to talking a little bit about containers.

Speaker A:

I know we've been talking about ADUs here the last few weeks and Mike Pierce is here and we're going to be talking a little bit about his company and some of the things he's doing in, in building container homes in some different Unique ways and, you know, answer.

Speaker A:

He's going to be answering a lot of different questions, you know, because I hear people answering or asking me questions about, well, I mean, you know, what happens when you start, you know, can I.

Speaker A:

Can I diy, you know, and build a container, you know, my home, myself, And I just look at them or listen to them and say, you know, if it was.

Speaker A:

If you had some DIY skills for a traditional casita, yeah, maybe, but not with a container.

Speaker A:

It's just there's so many things in other variables that you need to consider with a container because you've got.

Speaker A:

Once you start cutting it apart, you have issues with strength.

Speaker A:

And it needs an engineered stamp once it's fully strengthened with the design.

Speaker A:

And again, like we talked about, the ADUs, you need plans, you need, you need a course of action.

Speaker A:

You just can't take your torch or your.

Speaker A:

Or your cutting wheel and start cutting a container open saying, well, I'll put a door here, put a window here.

Speaker A:

That's.

Speaker A:

That's not going to be good.

Speaker A:

You need a plan, and you need to speak to somebody who actually does it for a living.

Speaker A:

As I always say, a homeowner with tools could be a dangerous thing, and cutting into steel could be a dangerous thing.

Speaker A:

If you're not familiar in doing it.

Speaker A:

I don't care how many videos you've watched on YouTube, it's.

Speaker A:

It's not, it's not cracked up for the, the average homeowner to try and do so with that.

Speaker A:

And I want to bring Mike Pierce into our conversation.

Speaker A:

Mike, thanks for being on Boxcar Universe again.

Speaker A:

You know, our listeners who listen to us from, you know, I don't want to make it sound that old, but way back in the day when we first started doing the show as Boxcar Universe, Mike was on the show and we were talking a little bit about his business and what he does.

Speaker A:

He's located right here in central Phoenix, and Lord knows, I was down at his lot yesterday, and he's got a lot going on down there that we're going to be talking about.

Speaker A:

And Mike, we might even call it Container City.

Speaker A:

What do you think?

Speaker A:

It's a lot going on down there.

Speaker A:

Mike, tell us a little bit about, about your company so our listeners can get up to speed.

Speaker C:

Hey, Steve, thanks for having me.

Speaker C:

So there's two companies, one, Vome7, which you brought up, which is an architecture firm, and the other which just specializes in prefab architecture.

Speaker C:

So that's the design firm that I use that moves the product, the Design product into Carbon Voodoo, which is the manufacturing part of my company.

Speaker C:

So Carbon Voodoo, which you asked about the name, and I thought I was going to say this carbon is in every living creature.

Speaker C:

And it was the primary.

Speaker C:

It was my main use of steel.

Speaker C:

It was in that carbon and voodoo, because it was designed to be in New Orleans back in the day.

Speaker C:

Actually, Harvey was the voodoo because of the history of New Orleans and all that.

Speaker A:

Yeah, because I think.

Speaker A:

I think people would.

Speaker A:

Would take voodoo as part of.

Speaker A:

Oh, my God.

Speaker A:

It was, you know, some of the things with, you know, they're.

Speaker A:

What's the word?

Speaker A:

I'm thinking of that.

Speaker A:

The event that they usually have in February, you know.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Mardi Gras.

Speaker A:

Mardi Gras.

Speaker A:

There you go.

Speaker A:

Thank you.

Speaker A:

I forgot.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Brain locked there for a minute.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Mardi Gras.

Speaker A:

So.

Speaker A:

And there's a lot of history, like you say there.

Speaker A:

So.

Speaker A:

But yeah, that's an interesting name.

Speaker A:

So I'm sure that's a point of discussion that people come up with and that they ask you, but tell us a little bit about, you know, you know, that, you know, what you.

Speaker A:

What your what your, you know, obviously you.

Speaker A:

We talked about it yesterday about the things that you want to do in the community, but what is, you know, Carbon Voodoo's mission statement here in the Valley of the sun and the country?

Speaker C:

Well, I guess to sum it up, Carbon Voodoo is a manufacturing company that's registered with the state of Arizona.

Speaker C:

So all of my drawings go through that.

Speaker C:

But my whole goal is to make entertaining living, office commercial.

Speaker C:

To help you live better.

Speaker A:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A:

I mean, yeah, that's to create a.

Speaker C:

Space that makes you healthier, creative.

Speaker C:

It works with you to help stimulate you to be the best you can.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

I mean, in doing what we said, containers are a sustainable type of product that you could use.

Speaker A:

And you know, it depends.

Speaker A:

It's like not for everybody, but some people.

Speaker A:

You know, I think it's a very unique way of building that people can utilize it.

Speaker A:

And you know, a lot of people, they say, well, you know, it's only so wide and it's only so long.

Speaker A:

But you could do so many different configurations with.

Speaker A:

When you build not just, you know, home home designs, but again, like you had showed me yesterday, you know, building designs when you put together a group of them.

Speaker A:

And again, it doesn't have to be one story.

Speaker A:

It could be.

Speaker A:

It could be multi story, which I think is an interesting concept depending on where you're going to do it.

Speaker A:

Because a lot of places, depending on where it is, will Allow you to build up, you know.

Speaker A:

But tell us a little bit about the, the, the project that's on your property, what you're doing there with that three story design.

Speaker C:

So two things going on.

Speaker C:

One, when you came to the site yesterday, where the shop is located, where.

Speaker C:

That's where I lease from United Scenic.

Speaker C:

And also I'm helping Bill, I'm an owner's rep with him, to help him build his new shop, which is all out of containers.

Speaker C:

I think there's 48 to 42 containers there right now because he used it.

Speaker C:

He used all the containers to store all of his stage settings for doing exhibits.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker C:

So they go to Vegas and they do whatever, a show and then they take it down and put it up and wait for next year and they put it back up for a lot of his clients.

Speaker A:

Sure.

Speaker C:

So the reason why we're using all these containers, because there's a surplus amount of containers and that's what he wanted to do 10 years ago.

Speaker C:

And we're finally doing it.

Speaker C:

So Bill's is going to be four stories.

Speaker C:

It's going to be mixed use, so retail, some flex space in front the main office and then all lease space there to run my other project, which is the John Kai project, which.

Speaker C:

That's three stories.

Speaker C:

So the first story is a PLO T, a steel pilot that you drive underneath.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker C:

A lot of this was dictated because of City of Phoenix zoning back in the day before, they didn't allow casitas and ADUs and they didn't allow R16 was very strict.

Speaker C:

But anyway, they caught up to time.

Speaker C:

And so that's the John Kay is three stories and John wanted to use containers.

Speaker C:

And it works perfect because this is a recovery housing project where someone doesn't have a lot and it's a single studio.

Speaker C:

Very minimal.

Speaker C:

Again, helps you get back with yourself spiritually, you can control that space.

Speaker C:

There's not a lot of clutter.

Speaker C:

Really simple.

Speaker C:

And the way it works is there's five units on the second floor, five units on the third floor.

Speaker C:

And there's a door like a hotel room.

Speaker C:

So if it needs to be a two bedroom, a three bedroom.

Speaker C:

These doors all link it.

Speaker A:

They're all interlocked.

Speaker C:

Yeah, right, right.

Speaker A:

So you can expand on them.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Right now it's set up as a two bedroom, which is two units and a three bedroom, which is three units.

Speaker C:

But down the line John can take it and make each unit a specific unit.

Speaker C:

So there could be a potential of 10 units.

Speaker C:

And a lot of these people don't drive they don't have cars.

Speaker C:

You know, it's all transportation.

Speaker C:

So we'll see.

Speaker C:

We're just going to build it and see where the market takes it for him.

Speaker A:

Okay, and where about in the Valley are they going to do that?

Speaker C:

So this is across from the VA between Tourney and Montecito Avenue.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker C:

Like 8th around there, off 7th Street.

Speaker A:

Right, right in that area.

Speaker C:

Right.

Speaker C:

And he's zoned R4, so he could do multifamily.

Speaker C:

And basically you run a yield, the site yield and you work it.

Speaker C:

And if you could park it, you can build it.

Speaker C:

Came down to parking with the city of Phoenix, and we were talking yesterday about Ida with Stark's design and how he got zero parking.

Speaker C:

And I'm going to say that's because I think his partner, her name's Kathleen.

Speaker C:

She's genius.

Speaker A:

Yes.

Speaker A:

She's the designer.

Speaker C:

She.

Speaker C:

Well, she just knows the city and how it works and she's worked a lot of magic.

Speaker C:

I, again, I've never met her, but I've seen what she's done.

Speaker C:

It's pretty amazing.

Speaker A:

Yeah, but parking, it'd be right.

Speaker A:

Parking down there in that part of the.

Speaker A:

Of Phoenix is like, very sparse.

Speaker A:

I mean, I don't remember there even being a lot around Ida that people are park.

Speaker A:

I know when I was there, I had to find a spot on the street to go look at it.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

When the news people were there.

Speaker A:

So.

Speaker A:

But yeah, parking is.

Speaker A:

Is important.

Speaker A:

If you're going to have some kind.

Speaker A:

Some kind of structure for people to live in, you can't expect them.

Speaker A:

I mean, not unless, of course, like, you're in Miami.

Speaker A:

Miami is another whole story, which, you know, I.

Speaker A:

I won't get into completely.

Speaker A:

But, you know, if you go visit Miami, Miami beach, and you go to resort, make sure that you ask questions like, is there a resort fee?

Speaker A:

The answer is probably going to be yes.

Speaker A:

Do they have free parking there?

Speaker A:

A lot of them don't.

Speaker A:

And that's.

Speaker A:

And that's just for a resort.

Speaker A:

We're talking about a regular traditional building for people to live in.

Speaker A:

I mean, if you're going to create something like that, you got to have parking.

Speaker C:

Understood.

Speaker A:

You know, unless, of course, maybe you got light rail running in front of you.

Speaker A:

You know, that could be.

Speaker A:

But you still should have parking.

Speaker C:

Well, especially for us.

Speaker C:

Arizona.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

I mean, la, we're sprawl, so we're very dependent on.

Speaker C:

On that.

Speaker C:

But now that.

Speaker C:

Now with the density with downtown and the neighborhoods like I live in Coronado, you can ride your bike pretty much everywhere.

Speaker C:

Downtown, so that works out great.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Unless, of course, it's 115.

Speaker A:

It's.

Speaker A:

I don't know.

Speaker A:

But like I said earlier, you know, the weather's here this week has been, it's, it's been pretty decent.

Speaker A:

I mean, you know, and 100 degrees, no humidity.

Speaker A:

I mean, it wasn't bad.

Speaker A:

So.

Speaker A:

But you know, you still got to make sure you still got to have protection because the sun will just, you may not die from sweat, but the sun will eat your skin up and you can get quite burned if you don't put enough protection on your skin.

Speaker C:

Yeah, I've had melanoma, so I know about that.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So that's not a good thing.

Speaker A:

So, you know, I, you know, see stuff online now.

Speaker A:

People talk about protection from the sun, you know, back, back a few years ago, you know, SPF 30 used to be good enough.

Speaker A:

Now they're talking, I think SPF 50 or, or if there is a higher one, I don't know.

Speaker A:

But there, you know, you got to go out or just, just cover up, unless you want to go out and get a suntan.

Speaker A:

But then you can only go in here.

Speaker A:

You get 15 minutes with a little suntan lotion on you.

Speaker A:

That'll do you fine, you know.

Speaker A:

So again, but being.

Speaker A:

Building something and being convenient for the, the people that are living there as far as in the community now, in that area that they're.

Speaker A:

We're talking about there, there's a lot of other retail shops and other things there.

Speaker A:

So people will have, you know, it's easy as far as transportation goes to get anywhere you want.

Speaker A:

There's places to shop there.

Speaker A:

So plus you're close to downtown.

Speaker A:

If you, if you'd like to go out, you go to the.

Speaker A:

Go, go to the ball game, watch the Diamondbacks play.

Speaker A:

So it's everything, it's centrally located.

Speaker A:

So I think it's a great, great piece of property.

Speaker A:

Any idea on, on timeline for which project?

Speaker A:

For the Kai project.

Speaker C:

Kai, we have already had state approvals, so that's building permit.

Speaker C:

So I could start building those at any time.

Speaker C:

But right now I'm working with Bill to get the shop through the city of Phoenix.

Speaker C:

We're almost done with the minor site plan.

Speaker C:

Gradient and drainage landscape's been approved.

Speaker C:

Gradient, drainage and minor site planners still in need to get that.

Speaker C:

We'll get that out of the way.

Speaker C:

Then we're going to build a prototype for John's.

Speaker C:

Get that going.

Speaker C:

So I'm hoping with bills to start construction into summer fall.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker C:

And Kai, I need to go back into the city for my fire plan and my utilities.

Speaker C:

So anything that's not prefab, anything that's, everything that's on the site goes through the city.

Speaker C:

So the city reviews that.

Speaker C:

So I, I have those two submittals and then I can get a permit to start the, the infrastructure, the PLO T, the steel PLO T to hold the containers, why that's going on.

Speaker C:

Then start the KAI prototype, get that going and then start bills and then just mass produce the Kai.

Speaker C:

'm hoping by the beginning of:

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker C:

Or before summer and Bill.

Speaker C:

So they're both moving about the same time.

Speaker A:

Cool.

Speaker C:

So it'll, we'll see.

Speaker C:

We'll work out the logistics and this, this coming next July.

Speaker A:

But so it's, it's, it's a work in progress.

Speaker A:

So I got to say, correct.

Speaker C:

But we're moving and to me, you know, fortitude.

Speaker C:

Just keep going.

Speaker A:

That's all you can do.

Speaker A:

That's all you can do.

Speaker A:

And then deal with the city.

Speaker A:

The city could be a challenge.

Speaker C:

You just got to keep going.

Speaker C:

Call email.

Speaker C:

There's.

Speaker C:

Because there's so much, people get distracted, things get buried.

Speaker C:

You just got to stay with it.

Speaker A:

All right.

Speaker A:

Absolutely.

Speaker A:

All right, we're going to take a short break.

Speaker A:

When we come back, we're going to be talking more with Mike Pierce and his work at Carbon Voodoo and a little bit about Vome 7 with the architectural plans and how that would affect anyone that is interested in, you know, looking at building a container home or a casita, which would be a 20 footer instead of maybe a 40 footer.

Speaker A:

So I want everybody to hang tight.

Speaker A:

You're listening to Box Car Universe.

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All right, we are back and you are listening to Boxcar Universe.

Speaker A:

And we are here today with Mike Pierce from Carbon Voodoo.

Speaker A:

And we're talking about container homes, offices and basically anything that you could use a metal container for when it comes to those kind of things, you know, multi container homes, offices.

Speaker A:

And these are things that are a reality that years ago you couldn't even, the city wouldn't even, you know, understand what you were doing because they didn't have any guidelines to help them actually review the things that you were doing, you know.

Speaker A:

And Mike, you know, I remember I was working with a designer years ago and he had a, he had a big property in Scottsdale and he wanted to build a, a two story, I guess you could call it an office casita.

Speaker A:

The office was downstairs, the casita was upstairs.

Speaker A:

I think it was, I think it was four or six containers stacked in a unique way where the top containers, there was a deck on top, but the other one was utilizing containers for garage space.

Speaker A:

But when they sent the plans to the city, the city of Scottsdale looked at it and they were like, like, almost like deer in headlights.

Speaker A:

Like, what is this?

Speaker A:

Because they didn't know.

Speaker A:

They didn't have anything to compare it to.

Speaker A:

They didn't see it.

Speaker A:

So, you know, anytime they don't understand something.

Speaker A:

So what's the first thing they do?

Speaker A:

No, well, it's not going past.

Speaker A:

We don't know, you know, the plants just don't work.

Speaker A:

You got to do something else.

Speaker C:

Well now with the IBC:

Speaker C:

I don't know if it's the same chapters, talks about containers and now they're called there's, they're prescriptive builds, which means it's not something custom.

Speaker C:

So because it's a prescriptive build, it's, it's, it's easier to get through the city because it has guidelines.

Speaker A:

Who came up with that term, prescriptive build?

Speaker C:

I don't know.

Speaker C:

You got me.

Speaker C:

I don't know.

Speaker C:

But anything that's not if it works.

Speaker A:

That'S all it counts.

Speaker C:

Yeah, typically, yeah.

Speaker C:

A lot of would fall under the structural engineer and how everything goes together.

Speaker C:

So you take steel out of the container, you're taking steel out of a beam, a steel beam, so to speak.

Speaker C:

So where do these forces get transferred?

Speaker C:

What deflects?

Speaker C:

So a lot.

Speaker C:

When you came to the shop yesterday, you saw large pieces on the sides all taken out.

Speaker C:

We're putting in channels.

Speaker C:

So that channel goes in that open the rough opening and makes it all rigid again.

Speaker C:

But what's going to really make it rigid when it marries to the other unit with that other channel and then it gets welded and all put in place and they're static so they're not moving.

Speaker C:

It's not like it's a ship where these loads are dynamic.

Speaker C:

So.

Speaker A:

Yeah, so, but yeah, I mean it got to the point where I know the, the, the, the casita office area wasn't an issue, but the garage didn't seem to make much space, you know, sense because when they nixed it, the only other thing that they could do is, you know, I know they were talking about having the basic structure built as a traditional garage and then the outside skinned in container metal, which didn't make much sense to me.

Speaker A:

But I mean, okay, if that's what you want, that would, that would make sense.

Speaker A:

But from a structural standpoint, that was the only way they thought that they could get it through.

Speaker A:

Now I don't think they ever built it because I know there's some issues there that happened with the city and the owner and you know, one thing led to another.

Speaker A:

But they never built it, at least while I was there.

Speaker C:

Yeah, a lot of that's not efficient.

Speaker C:

I mean it works.

Speaker C:

It's really, really efficient.

Speaker C:

I think for single studios, recovery housing, students, small scale, maybe a couple just starting out, I would do two units.

Speaker C:

Sure, it has its pros and cons.

Speaker C:

I think the best world is you.

Speaker C:

You if you have a container, it's accessible, it's affordable, it's efficient, it's what you want.

Speaker C:

You remove part of it and you do a modular build and marry it to it.

Speaker C:

And the modular can be any Other size, but it needs to get down the road.

Speaker C:

So you can have multiple modulars.

Speaker C:

13, 6, 10ft and Mary on site.

Speaker C:

And these don't have to be a box.

Speaker C:

These can be anything to really make this space unique.

Speaker C:

So you have a pop out.

Speaker C:

It's much more creative than a trailer when you go camping and you have the pop out for the kitchen.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker C:

This, this whole modular thing can open up to a deck and it can be a triangle and you can entertain, you have it, you know, it's, it makes the space much more usable, correct?

Speaker A:

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker A:

I mean, you know a lot of those ones that you see now, when they start they'll basically for the sake of discussion, like cross stack them.

Speaker A:

So maybe the bottom could be almost like a carport.

Speaker A:

And then the other ones on top, depending on where they are, you could have a 20 on top of a 40 and you got a 20 foot deck.

Speaker A:

Yeah, there on top that you could have.

Speaker A:

I mean, I remember I had somebody on the show, I think it was last year and he, the builder was in the Midwest, upper Midwest and they, I think it was eight containers and they, it was built for on hgtv so a lot of people had seen it and the way it was built, it was built on the top of a hill overlooking this whole giant forest area then and the view was just amazing from there.

Speaker A:

But watching them crane it into place, that was a challenge because they had, they had to get them up there first, then they had to get the crane up there to be able to.

Speaker A:

And they had more than one because it wasn't just one crane because of the way they had to set them in place.

Speaker A:

So it was a challenge, but it was unique to watch them to be able to do that.

Speaker A:

And they were again on the time, on the time limit.

Speaker A:

This one thing that we don't have to worry about too much here because of the weather, for the most part it's usually sunny, but they had, they had the weather to deal with out there because they had a storm coming in and they were on a timeline and they were worried that they were not going to get it in place and locked down before the storm hit.

Speaker A:

So they were, you know, they were working at warp speed for sure.

Speaker C:

Absolutely, I bet.

Speaker A:

But you know, these are things that people need to understand.

Speaker A:

But if you, you know, if you're an investor out here or anywhere in the country and you have an idea that you want to be able to use these container type builds for, for office space too, it's.

Speaker A:

You mean, you see A couple of them in and around the valley, they're, you know, they improve.

Speaker A:

Just like your office.

Speaker A:

I mean, you could just pick it up and move it to wherever you want, wherever you have it on a construction site and set it down and, you know, instant office.

Speaker A:

So you have it there so you don't have to worry about, well, where am I going to work out of?

Speaker A:

Because some of these bigger projects, they.

Speaker A:

It's be advisable to have something like that.

Speaker A:

I mean, it's got to be convenient for you, not to mention the build that you're doing, but for the rest of your, your office and your.

Speaker A:

And everything, the design work that you do.

Speaker C:

Yeah, I.

Speaker C:

I believe in all that Kinetic architecture.

Speaker C:

That was part of my thesis in architecture school.

Speaker A:

Oh, okay.

Speaker C:

You get the best of both worlds.

Speaker C:

For a car, you have full automation and then you have this static house and you merge them to now where you can just turn the music on, roll the windows down just that quick, like a car.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

Well, hey, you know, to build something, it.

Speaker A:

It has to.

Speaker A:

I think, I think the word that we're looking for here is functional.

Speaker A:

It has to be functional to work properly.

Speaker A:

And you don't want to have something that, you know, looks awkward.

Speaker A:

But then on the other hand, does, doesn't.

Speaker A:

It doesn't fit your, your lifestyle in the business that you're trying to run out of it.

Speaker A:

And I think that's important to be able to go back and when you have a consultation with a, you know, with a homeowner or a business owner, like, there's got to be a lot of information that you find out, much like I do when we talk about doing remodeling.

Speaker C:

Yes.

Speaker A:

Do you have any other, like, projects that are, you know, outside of Arizona that you've got on the drawing board or for right now, is it just in state?

Speaker C:

Well, we had a big project in Colorado, but the owner sold the property.

Speaker C:

It was just after Covid hit and they was going to be a brewery.

Speaker C:

It was going to be a festival.

Speaker C:

Was it just outside of Vail and.

Speaker A:

Just outside of Vale?

Speaker A:

And so.

Speaker A:

Go ahead.

Speaker C:

It was in Minturn, and it was right off the river and we were going to use eight containers and most of them were going to be bars and drinking.

Speaker C:

And a lot of it was all automated.

Speaker C:

Owners were big into automation.

Speaker C:

So you can go up, you swipe your card and you pour your own beer or whatever beverage out of this kiosk.

Speaker C:

So it was hardly any.

Speaker A:

That sounds.

Speaker A:

I could use a wine kiosk.

Speaker A:

I think that Would be really good with Kendall Jackson in it.

Speaker A:

I think that would be really good.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

So.

Speaker C:

But that, that they sold the property, canceled the project.

Speaker C:

So, no, I do not have anything out of state right now.

Speaker C:

I just have them focusing on those two major projects.

Speaker C:

And I'm helping a neighbor.

Speaker C:

She's doing an addition with her house and we're doing addition to ours as well.

Speaker C:

And her addition, we actually use bunker steel, which is a different type of manufacturing because she wanted the building to be all exposed W section.

Speaker C:

But they're using I beams.

Speaker C:

But a lot of people can't tell the difference.

Speaker C:

So that, so just, just trying to stay focused.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And that's.

Speaker A:

And that's it.

Speaker A:

That's good.

Speaker A:

I think, I think the, the good thing about it, like we were talking about earlier, is being able to have something to be built in the factory.

Speaker A:

And I think there's pros and cons about that too, because some people like, well, let's just get a container, build it on site.

Speaker A:

Well, you know, maybe not.

Speaker A:

Because I think if it's.

Speaker A:

If you have it in a factory, you can actually control a lot more of the processes a lot easier than if he was built on site.

Speaker C:

Yes.

Speaker C:

We talked about this on the last show.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

There's this, there's this principle in shipbuilding, it's called 138.

Speaker C:

So to, to do a container at the site, that's eight hours to go there, pick up your tools, pack up the truck, go to this site to do the same task.

Speaker C:

Now then you go into the yard, that's three hours.

Speaker C:

You go into the hull, that's eight hours.

Speaker C:

So one hour in the shop is more efficient.

Speaker C:

So everything's under controlled environment, everything's there, problem solved.

Speaker C:

All that, all the manpower is there.

Speaker C:

That's what, you know, 138, it works good.

Speaker C:

You're not humping down all your tools down into the hull to, to build a house.

Speaker A:

That's true.

Speaker C:

Everything's eight hours.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

I mean, you lose.

Speaker A:

People don't understand that.

Speaker A:

You, you lose a lot of time if you have to do that.

Speaker A:

And things take longer, not to mention it.

Speaker A:

You know, the longer it takes, the more money it's going to cost you.

Speaker A:

So it's easier to be able to do that and design it right there in, in the, in the shop.

Speaker A:

And then when it's ready, or even if you're going to marry some up together, at least you get a large majority of the, the work completed.

Speaker A:

So that when you put them together, you're just worrying about you Know, anchoring them, making sure they're together properly, and then doing the cosmetic finish work on it to marry the two together with walls and flooring, any electrical that needs to be connected.

Speaker A:

So these are things that it's easier to be able to plan in the shop, build them, and then just bring them to the site and then.

Speaker A:

And then do that kind of work instead of worrying about.

Speaker A:

Not to mention you can control, you know, like we're talking about here in Arizona.

Speaker A:

I mean, it's easier to do it when you can.

Speaker A:

When the temperature that you could have some kind of control over or the weather.

Speaker A:

And we're not doing it in, like, Seattle, where everybody makes a lot of fun.

Speaker A:

Well, you know, it rains a lot in Seattle, and if you've got an outside yard and you're building outside and it rains a lot, like we had said yesterday, you could have a lot of containers that look like a lot of patina, and you got to do twice the work to get the rust off.

Speaker A:

But it could be a challenge.

Speaker A:

Definitely could be a challenge.

Speaker A:

But I think it's important for people to understand if they're going to put one, like a small addition on in their property, whether it's connected or separate.

Speaker A:

It's just easier in my.

Speaker A:

In my book to be able to get.

Speaker A:

Get the pad down, bring the utilities over.

Speaker A:

When the.

Speaker A:

When the unit's ready, you crane it over, you put it in sight, hook it up, and.

Speaker A:

And away you go.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So I mean, I think that's.

Speaker A:

That's.

Speaker A:

Has a lot to be able to do with it.

Speaker A:

And I think that aspect, along with people deciding, you know, they have all these containers out there that are not being used, well, what are you going to do with them?

Speaker A:

You know, until somebody started going back and say, hey, you know, you know, let's make a structure out of them.

Speaker A:

And the military's been using containers for.

Speaker A:

For years for storage for temporary housing, you know, utilities.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Maybe not to the degree that we build them now for.

Speaker A:

For.

Speaker A:

For residential homeowners and stuff, but they've used them all over the world, and Lord knows there's enough of them come at.

Speaker A:

Most of them come from Asia.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Did you get that price sheet from the broker?

Speaker A:

Yes.

Speaker C:

Okay.

Speaker A:

And that's one thing I want to talk about.

Speaker A:

We'll talk about it right after we come back from this break a little bit about the cost of containers, and if you're interested in buying one places that you can get them, what the average cost is, because I got a.

Speaker A:

I have to tell you that I know a lot of people that are clueless when it comes to the well, how much do they cost?

Speaker A:

They're, they're, they're here, they're not, you know.

Speaker A:

But again, if you go to the, if you go to the supermarket, just because you see a lot of different types of the same kind of meat in, in the refrigerator, in the refrigerated section, does it mean that they're all the same even though they look the same?

Speaker A:

So case in point, we'll explain that analogy when I come back.

Speaker A:

So you're listening to Boxcart Universe.

Speaker A:

Don't go away.

Speaker D:

Hi, I'm Erica Thompson, the dominating designer.

Speaker D:

A hard working artist with a sense of humor.

Speaker D:

What is the dominating designer process?

Speaker D:

It's just like what you see on tv.

Speaker D:

We discuss your wants and needs about your project, go over your ideas.

Speaker D:

Then I provide you creative, one of a kind options that fit your budget with respect to your home's value.

Speaker D:

When we finish your project, you are set to enjoy your new space.

Speaker D:

I would love to help you with your upcoming project.

Speaker D:

Please reach out to me on Instagram.

Speaker D:

The dominating designer.

Speaker E:

Hi, I'm Sean with Mr.

Speaker E:

Electric and I have a tip to help make your life better.

Speaker E:

One important reminder is to call a qualified electrician when you have frequent problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers.

Speaker E:

When a circuit breaker trips or a fuse blows, it's indicating that you have a problem with some other part of the circuit.

Speaker E:

If your breaker trips more than once, you should have a qualified electrician come out and take a look at it.

Speaker E:

Contrary to what may be acceptable, you really shouldn't try to keep continuously try to reset the breaker because there may be a problem somewhere else down the circuit and you could be causing a fire hazard.

Speaker E:

There could be a loose connection or some other form of problem on the circuit and every time you reset the circuit breaker, it could be causing a spark at the other end.

Speaker E:

We recommend having a qualified electrician come out and check on the condition of the circuit.

Speaker E:

Make sure that the circuit does not have any problems and it could just be a bad breaker also.

Speaker E:

But you definitely want to have a qualified electrician check that out.

Speaker E:

To have someone come out for from our team may only take a portion of a day, but it could potentially save you a lot of money for your life.

Speaker E:

And that's just another way Mr.

Speaker E:

Electric has the power to make your life better.

Speaker A:

Govern the future of sustainable lifestyle living.

Speaker A:

With Boxcar Universe your go to source for cutting edge container home and container pool information.

Speaker A:

Want a Dream container, home or pool.

Speaker A:

We can build it for you.

Speaker A:

Hi, I'm Steve Dubell from Boxcar Universe.

Speaker A:

For the latest in container innovation and expert insights, tune in to our weekly podcast, Boxcar Universe.

Speaker A:

Ready to start your project?

Speaker A:

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Speaker A:

Listen, learn and build with us.

Speaker A:

All right, we are back in your life listening to Boxcar Universe and I'd like to remind all our listeners, especially our listeners here in the Phoenix metro area and surrounding cities, our good friend Susan, better known as the shed Gal, has her shed lot over on the west side of town on right around 99th Avenue and Thomas.

Speaker A:

And if you're looking just for a shed, nothing, nothing like we're talking about with, for a casita or something, she's got every kind of shed in the world.

Speaker A:

And I, believe me, you will get a lot better quality and choices and the variety of the different types of sheds she has over there.

Speaker A:

A lot better than the big box stores.

Speaker A:

And most importantly, too, if you are interested, you know, we, I, you've heard me talk about having a container pool and our good friend Matt Walton supplied us a model container pool which is over on Susan's lot.

Speaker A:

So I want to let everybody know that if they'd like to go see that.

Speaker A:

And what, what's that about?

Speaker A:

And when people ask me about, my God, how do you make a pool out of a container?

Speaker A:

Well, you know, Matt's got it down to a science and he has a great product that he could manufacture something for you specifically to your needs and all your bells and whistles.

Speaker A:

And then we could ship it down and I could build you decks around it or anything else that's going to make it part of your outdoor experience at your home.

Speaker A:

So a lot going on there.

Speaker A:

But make sure that you look her up on Facebook.

Speaker A:

Just, you know, put it, put the shed Gal in there.

Speaker A:

You will find her, her posts and stuff like that.

Speaker A:

So she's got some great things going on over there.

Speaker A:

So make sure you do that.

Speaker A:

Or if you'd like to talk about container pool, make sure you can always email me at steve@boxcaruniverse.com But Mike, let's talk a little bit about, you know, we talked a little bit before the break about pricing on containers for people that are interested in maybe doing a DIY if they, if they have the time, first of all, and the skills to be able to build Something out.

Speaker A:

What are, what are pricing on containers going for?

Speaker C:

Well I'm going off memory, I briefly looked at that broker page that I get bi weekly.

Speaker C:

So there's cargo worthy which is, it's pretty beat up container but it's still cargo worthy.

Speaker C:

to:

Speaker C:

Those are around 47 to 5 grand for, for a 40 foot high cube specifically what we're talking about.

Speaker C:

The 20s are usually standard which is 8, 6.

Speaker C:

A high cube is 9, 6 and the 20s pretty much usually come standard but you can get them in high cubes.

Speaker A:

You know been thinking about.

Speaker C:

Oh cost.

Speaker A:

Yeah, cost.

Speaker C:

So if we're going to talk about building something, there's a couple ways to it.

Speaker C:

If you want a container, you're adamant about a container and you're going to do it yourself.

Speaker C:

Let's say you're going to spend, say you get the container for 3, 600.

Speaker C:

You're going to pay minimum 200 shipping.

Speaker C:

So you're under 5.

Speaker C:

You have to get the foundations.

Speaker C:

You're going to have to put something up for the city.

Speaker C:

The city's one going to see a foundation package.

Speaker C:

You could put the, you can put the container back there.

Speaker C:

I think it's a thousand square feet or less for the ADU or the casitas to get that submittal going with the city.

Speaker C:

So to have a, to hire an architect, a designer to do it, you're going to be around seven to ten grand in drawings, mechanical, electrical, structural, depending on the scope of this project.

Speaker C:

You could do it yourself and save a lot of money.

Speaker C:

But what's good about hiring somebody like that, they really work with you and use the efficiencies to get you the best product you can and then run it through the city, all your liabilities covered and then you go into the construction which can be minimum 20 grand to 80 grand based off finishes.

Speaker C:

What type of insulation you want to use?

Speaker C:

Closed cell, open cell.

Speaker C:

What kind of framing?

Speaker C:

Are you going to modify it?

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So now talking about the, the, the materials at all and everything.

Speaker A:

Okay, so like we were looking at that one container that you have in the yard yesterday.

Speaker A:

It had closed cell insulation completely.

Speaker A:

And the difference from being outside and inside was just like night and day where the, a lot of the heat was, was kept outside of the container in that closed cell insulation.

Speaker A:

And it wasn't, it doesn't have to be that thick.

Speaker A:

It was on there and it in in the framing was actually like you say, there's a, there's a barrier between the foam and the, and the 2x4 framing.

Speaker C:

Yeah, the thermal break.

Speaker A:

The thermal break right in.

Speaker A:

You know, you've got, you have some kind of movement.

Speaker A:

That's one of the things that we talk about in traditional housing because you know, people like when you hear these people, well, let's, we'll seal up the house and it'll stay, you know, we'll keep the cold air in and the hot air out and everything else.

Speaker A:

But your, your walls have to breathe in one way, shape or form.

Speaker A:

So especially with a metal container, you've got, you know, you're still going to have some kind of air between the, this, the drywall and the, the foam.

Speaker A:

And it's got to have some kind of like that thermal break.

Speaker A:

So it's not all like landlocked.

Speaker C:

Well, excuse me.

Speaker C:

I think you remember when you touched the windowsill, the steel still the jam where it transferred that heat and it was hot inside the unit.

Speaker C:

So yeah, thermal brakes are essential, especially out here in super cold climates.

Speaker A:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker A:

I mean, you got to be you again, thinking of things like that, I don't think the average homeowner would take into account and I know some people say, they said, well, yeah, like we'll, we'll take a, we'll take a cutter, you know, a grinding cutter and just cut the side open and this and that.

Speaker A:

But then on the other hand too, it's like you don't know really depending on the opening, how, how piece of, how big a piece of steel you need and, and if it's going to be good enough to support the container and the wall and everything else you want to put in there.

Speaker A:

Because I think a lot of people think, well, let's just cut it open, put a piece of L channel in there or, or some kind of, some kind of tubular channel and get it in there.

Speaker A:

And then once we put the door or the window in, it's structural, but not really.

Speaker A:

I mean you wouldn't do that in your house if you built a home.

Speaker A:

If, if the framing of the house wasn't done right.

Speaker A:

And you think, well, the doors and the windows will make it sturdy enough.

Speaker A:

I don't think so.

Speaker A:

It doesn't work that way.

Speaker A:

And I don't think the dear city inspector is going to, you know, take a look at that.

Speaker A:

But what happens if somebody, if somebody wants to build a DIY of that nature of a container, a casita or a home, a 40 footer how does that affect what the city is going to require?

Speaker C:

Well, the city's going to definitely check the structural.

Speaker A:

Are they going to look for that engineered stamp?

Speaker C:

Correct.

Speaker C:

So you're going to have to have structural calcs, structural drawings showing all the headers, rough openings where they are, how the loads transfer down into the footings, what the footings are pier spread.

Speaker C:

Sometimes with pier footings, they're going to want a soils report.

Speaker C:

You know, it's another, another couple grand.

Speaker C:

But spread footings you can get away with the soils report.

Speaker C:

So all these little things factor in.

Speaker C:

The city was requiring grading and drainage on residential R16.

Speaker C:

Finally, that, that went away.

Speaker C:

That's another $2,000.

Speaker C:

So completely there's no way people could build, you know, everyone, like, I'm in Coronado, you're already R16.

Speaker C:

We were just talking about the housing market.

Speaker C:

You know, back in the day it was $160,000.

Speaker C:

150, 200.

Speaker C:

Now it's up to minimum $400,000 for something that you have to stick another 200,000 in.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

So with all of it, it's about life, safety with the city.

Speaker C:

So structural engineer, definitely.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So the things that you need, you, I, I don't think they understand what they mean.

Speaker A:

You can, you can't just put it on the property and, and build, build it and not expect somebody to come by and, and notice, oh, you got an extra structure on your property.

Speaker A:

You know, not to mention, if you don't do it the right way, you, you know, it's.

Speaker A:

What you have on the property is not going to match the tax records in the city.

Speaker A:

And if you try and sell it and you leave it on the property, now you've got a problem because somebody's going to pick that up in the course of doing a sale.

Speaker C:

Right.

Speaker C:

The aerials, the city pulls them all the way back.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

So, but then you have energy calcs too, depending on the square footage you get.

Speaker C:

Manufacturing, I mean, you, you're going to have your mechanical loads.

Speaker C:

All of these have to be figured out, submitted to the city, reviewed, and then you're good to go.

Speaker C:

You can build it.

Speaker C:

What's nice about, though, with the manufacturing license, if I already submitted drawings to the state and I have approved drawings based on a specific ADU that I designed, I can build those all day long.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker C:

So then that saves the $10,000 you're paying for a design and now we're just going to take it through the city and go, here's the foundation system.

Speaker C:

Here it is.

Speaker C:

And you do the site drawings, the utility plan showing that you're connecting to the site.

Speaker C:

I'm saying the city, but it could be any municipality in Arizona that it's going to go to.

Speaker C:

So if it's county, it goes there and that's what brings the price down.

Speaker C:

Where it's affordable.

Speaker A:

Yeah, I mean having that.

Speaker A:

If you build multi, multi units of the same kind, then it's just a question of really like you say, the site plan, utility plan.

Speaker A:

Because every piece of property is different but, but the container will be the same.

Speaker C:

Correct.

Speaker C:

It's like everything that we buy, you know, the phones, cars, everything have their model numbers, their prototypes.

Speaker C:

And that's the same thing that we, yesterday we were looking at the containers.

Speaker C:

They all have their CSA plate, the data plate which says where it was manufactured by, who, it's got the loads on it and same thing with manufactured house.

Speaker C:

You're going to have all of that, all the codes, when it was built, who it was built by.

Speaker A:

Yeah, I mean it's.

Speaker A:

And then again that's having all that.

Speaker A:

If you have somebody go out, if you go out and purchase it, that this way it protects them, you know, because then you've got all the documentation to, to, to prove that hey, this is, this was built to code.

Speaker A:

There's nothing wrong with it.

Speaker A:

It, we've got, you know, we got it green tagged, everything's fine, you know, and it was done properly and it wasn't Mickey Mouse.

Speaker C:

Correct.

Speaker A:

And I think that's a lot of times when people, they, they try and cut corners, you know.

Speaker A:

Well, I could do without a permit.

Speaker A:

No, you can't.

Speaker A:

It's not going to work.

Speaker A:

People are going to find out, city will find out and it will come back to bite you in the long.

Speaker C:

Run again, it goes back to life safety too.

Speaker C:

One of the biggest things is you build it and you, you mess up with the wiring or anything, even your enclosure, a lot of things using wrong materials, you know, someone dies, the CO2 sensor is not there.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker C:

Fire alarm, fire detector, all of that.

Speaker A:

And that's, and that, that's one thing that you know, if, if, even if the insurance company has, has that you have it included on their property, if they find that there was a default of some kind that caused the fire in there, the insurance company is going to turn around and say, sorry Charlton, it's not going to happen.

Speaker A:

So again, there's a lot of things, you know, you can't be penny wise and dollar foolish.

Speaker A:

If you want to do this, you need to have a realistic budget to be able to go back and say, okay, well, you know, the container costs this much, but what is the other char, what are the other kind of bills?

Speaker A:

Am I going to have to be able to create this?

Speaker A:

It's like you could, you could.

Speaker A:

People say they're going to go out and buy a, build a, you know, half million dollar home.

Speaker A:

That doesn't mean that, you know, that's all you have to spend.

Speaker A:

What, what about your land?

Speaker A:

What about all the other infrastructure for you, for you to put that house on the property?

Speaker A:

Then you've got to consider it.

Speaker A:

That's why I think people sometimes when you ask them in much on a much smaller scale, like talking to them about a remodel, well, what's your budget?

Speaker A:

You know, and sometimes you get somebody who knows.

Speaker A:

Other times you get, people turn around and say, I don't know, what do you think it'll cost?

Speaker A:

You know, and I'm like, I don't know, what do you want in the house?

Speaker A:

You know, because it, I could build, I could build it in a lot of different ways depending on how much money you have.

Speaker A:

And I think that's, that's what people have to understand that it's working with a contractor or a firm like you who's building them.

Speaker A:

They, you have to know, you have to know these things to be able to go out because you don't want to be able to go start doing this work, you know, especially from a design point of view, to be able to go back and find out that they don't have enough money, you know, and you've, and again, doing plans, you've got to get paid for those plans, you know, and you know, you've got a lot of it.

Speaker A:

I'm sure you got to take money up front and before you're able to be able to give it.

Speaker A:

Because I'm sure a lot of people will probably try and take the plans if you're not careful and go shop them for the build.

Speaker A:

And then you, or you know, you, you, you're going to get lose out on your, on your, your, your plan fees in your design or you design.

Speaker C:

I mean that's, well, that's, you know, plagiarism, copyright protection.

Speaker A:

People have to understand that, you know, there is, it's not free, it's not free.

Speaker A:

I mean, your, your time and your, and your expertise and your knowledge is valuable.

Speaker A:

So you've got to be able to take care of that and make sure you got all that covered.

Speaker A:

So I don't want any of our listeners To.

Speaker A:

To, you know, have a false sense of security.

Speaker A:

If you're interested in doing this, then it would be a great idea, you know, to actually call Mike or email you, contact him, contact myself, be our email address, and we could talk to you about what you'd like to build and so that you have all the proper expectations and understanding about what.

Speaker A:

What it takes to build what you're.

Speaker A:

What you're interested in doing.

Speaker A:

And I think that's.

Speaker A:

That's going to be very important for everybody to understand.

Speaker A:

So getting into it, you know, like I said you could.

Speaker A:

It looks just like a container.

Speaker A:

Container home looks pretty much like inside of a regular home, except it's configured a little differently.

Speaker A:

It's got, you know, you don't have vaulted ceilings, unless, of course, you build something with a combination of containers and traditional building, which people have been known to do that, to expand the house, what they have.

Speaker A:

In that case, you know, you could have containers on each side and have a huge vault in the middle where you connect the roof lines.

Speaker A:

To be able to do that, you could have a.

Speaker A:

You could have a traditional build in the middle.

Speaker A:

So, again, having the right designer and being in the right person to do your architecture and your plans are so very important.

Speaker A:

But urge all of you to.

Speaker A:

To if wherever you're listening to our show, in what part of the country, reach out to someone in the industry to make sure that you know what you're doing.

Speaker A:

And just, you know, everybody has a, you know, a vision or something on their bucket list they would like to do.

Speaker A:

And if that is.

Speaker A:

If a container home is something that you'd like to do, then it's let them know, and let them know what your parameters are, and they can tell you whether it's realistic or not.

Speaker A:

And I think that's.

Speaker A:

That's important.

Speaker C:

Hey, Steve, I just want to interject, if I could.

Speaker A:

Sure.

Speaker C:

There's this book, it's called a Pattern Language, and it's by Christopher Alexander.

Speaker C:

And it's basically all the patterns from our past.

Speaker C:

Why things work, why bedrooms face east, why kitchen should face south.

Speaker C:

It's all about orientation, why you have certain balconies that should not be less than six feet, certain places like why bars work, all these.

Speaker C:

It's a great book for anybody that wants to just start studying and learn how to control or manipulate their space to make them better.

Speaker A:

Will it tell me why I don't sleep at night sometimes?

Speaker A:

Yes, but no.

Speaker A:

Give us the name of that book.

Speaker C:

Okay.

Speaker C:

It's a pattern language and it's Christopher Alexander and there's nine other.

Speaker C:

It's at all.

Speaker C:

I think there's nine authors in it.

Speaker C:

The book is.

Speaker C:

It's unbelievably.

Speaker C:

And it starts at the micro, the little things all the way to the macro.

Speaker C:

From cities, streets, blocks, you know, to a sunny balcony.

Speaker C:

That's the micro.

Speaker A:

That would be interesting just to even, you know, just to read, to be able to find out, you know, the science behind all these things.

Speaker C:

It's amazing book.

Speaker C:

And they used to.

Speaker C:

It used to be in.

Speaker C:

When I went to architecture school and they.

Speaker C:

Even though it's an older book, there's no new patterns.

Speaker C:

The patterns are still there.

Speaker C:

And it links patterns to other patterns, so everything's linked and connected.

Speaker C:

So if you wanted to do a granny flat, a teenager's realm out in the back, the connection to the main house, privacy, outdoor seating, a sunny place to sit.

Speaker C:

Why certain things, every.

Speaker C:

It's just great.

Speaker C:

I think it goes with.

Speaker C:

With this if you want to learn more.

Speaker A:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker A:

You're thinking if.

Speaker A:

If you're in the planning stage.

Speaker A:

I think that's real interesting to know.

Speaker A:

I mean, just because.

Speaker A:

Well, I mean, that's.

Speaker A:

Again, that's why I urge all people to.

Speaker A:

To be able to go back and, you know, you're thinking you're doing something.

Speaker A:

Talk to an interior designer, because they have good ideas, you know, I mean, and it's unlike some people.

Speaker A:

They think it's money wasted.

Speaker A:

It's not because it's going to give you invaluable information that maybe you won't be able to hear or even find on the Internet, because the experience of that designer or the experiences in the book will be invaluable for when you decide to start putting.

Speaker A:

Putting a plan together to get something built, right?

Speaker C:

And these are based, not off fads and trends, which I think are not really productive people.

Speaker C:

You know, containers were a trend or a fad and people got into it.

Speaker C:

I think the most important thing is to look deep within yourself and go, why do I like this?

Speaker C:

Why do I want this?

Speaker C:

You know, is it the aesthetics, right?

Speaker C:

You know, is it the new Bronco that everyone has to have?

Speaker A:

Everybody wants a new Bronco.

Speaker A:

I know, I saw it come back out.

Speaker A:

My friend who loved the old Broncos, she turned around when I said to her, the new ones came out.

Speaker A:

I'm like, so what do you think?

Speaker A:

She's like, yes, I want to get one.

Speaker A:

So.

Speaker A:

But, Mike, tell our listeners how they can contact you.

Speaker C:

You could.

Speaker C:

You could do a search for Vome 7 V O M A E Numeral 7 or carbon voodoo, which is carbon.

Speaker C:

And then V, U, D, U, which is Victor uniform, Delta uniform.

Speaker C:

Do a search on that.

Speaker C:

It'll take you to social media or websites.

Speaker C:

You can reach out to me there.

Speaker C:

My phone number's on that LinkedIn.

Speaker A:

So you pretty much everywhere.

Speaker C:

Yeah, it's.

Speaker C:

Well, I mean, I'm not like a celebrity or anything.

Speaker C:

It's easy to find now.

Speaker C:

Now that with search engines you can find anybody, right?

Speaker A:

That's true.

Speaker A:

If you dig deep.

Speaker A:

That's true.

Speaker A:

But Mike, thanks so much for being on the show and we're gonna, we're gonna stay in touch and keeping progress on the build on your, on your property and all that and especially the KAI project.

Speaker A:

Be able to do that because we want to try and connect with you, especially when that starts getting together and cover it with, you know, the media for the show as well as some video to be able to see that so people can actually see what we're talking about because it's, it's, it's so important.

Speaker A:

But.

Speaker C:

Well, thank you very much for having me.

Speaker C:

I really appreciate it.

Speaker A:

I appreciate you being here and I appreciate all our listeners for listening to Boxcar Universe.

Speaker A:

As always, we are your source for cutting edge information on remodeling container homes, container pools.

Speaker A:

But let us help design and build your traditional or container home.

Speaker A:

And don't forget, make sure you make your way out to the west side, the West Valley, and take a look at our model container pool at the Shed Gals, shed lot out there.

Speaker A:

And don't forget, in the process of doing all this type of building, let us also help you include solar, which is very important on that.

Speaker A:

Make sure you can contact me for that and we can get devise a solar system for your particular unit and your lifestyle because I think that's very important.

Speaker A:

If you want to live the sustainable lifestyle, then solo should be part of your plan.

Speaker A:

But again, you can email me at steve boxcaruniverse.com and Boxcar Universe can be heard weekly on any podcast player.

Speaker A:

And always remember, let us remodel and renovate your world.

Speaker A:

Have a great weekend.

Speaker A:

You're a great American.

Speaker C:

I love you.

Speaker E:

It.

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About the Podcast

Boxcar Universe
Boxcar Universe - brings the most comprehensive and up-to-date information about high-tech container home sustainable lifestyle living. For over 17 years, TV and radio personality Steve Deubel has been hosting the Image Home Improvement Show—always at the forefront of home improvement and home renovation projects now entering the new wave sweeping the country….Container Home Living in the “Boxcar Universe" Mel Alva joins Steve as his co-host. Mel is the owner of Alva Interiors AZ. & has over 22 years' experience in residential and commercial design. Together, they join forces and bring you the cutting edge information of Container Home & Sustainable Lifestyle Living.

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Stephen Deubel