Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
9 min of reading 
0 comments 
Eva and Rodrigo transformed a shipping container into a modern house in Cantabria, northern Spain, in a completely autonomous project. The construction involved a second floor raised with steel tubes, a facade with a Plecoterm fiberglass system, an L-shaped terrace of 20 square meters, and a 150-kilogram front panoramic window.
The combination of creativity, patience, and willpower can take many people far, but it rarely reaches the level of this residential project documented in northern Spain. A couple with no prior construction experience transformed an industrial shipping container into a modern two-story house, installed on their own land in the Cantabria region, an area with a cold and humid climate in northern Spain.
The journey was recorded on video by the couple themselves and shows the step-by-step process from the arrival of the metal structure to the final result ready for interior finishes. The work involved welding steel tubes, building a second floor on the original base, installing a technical fiberglass facade, and a 150-kilogram front panoramic window that required the entire family to hoist it to the final structure during assembly.
Cantabria, the climate, and the container option
The region chosen for the project is in northern Spain, on the Cantabrian Sea coast. Cantabria is known for its green landscapes, humid climate, and harsh winters, characteristics that directly influence any construction work carried out in the area and require specific solutions for waterproofing, thermal insulation, and protection against constant rain.
-
Underground wall construction to contain the advance of the sea is already over 50% complete in Balneário Camboriú, in the Barra Sul region, while the reurbanization of the waterfront is progressing faster than expected with 1,820 new trees and 12 playgrounds planned for Praia Central.
-
A 38 m² prefabricated house for Airbnb was announced for R$ 57,990, with 25 m² of deck and pergola already planned: the project includes a bedroom, open-plan kitchen, and bathroom in a compact model.
-
With 26 m², a bedroom, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and even a closet in the same module, this modular house arrives whole on a truck, can be installed on the foundation, and is ready in a few days.
-
While diesel ferries still cross São Paulo with millions of cars, the government is preparing electric ferries for 14 crossings, with modernized terminals, new vessels, and a promise to reduce emissions before passengers notice the silent shift in the daily queues.
The region’s climate explains a good part of the technical choices adopted during the project. The concern with waterproofing and protection against humidity was central in practically all stages of construction, from the foundation base to the final finishes applied to the structure’s facade.
For Eva and Rodrigo, starting with a shipping container brought clear advantages in terms of timeline and initial cost. The metal structure offers a solid, ready-made base, without the need to build walls from scratch, and also allows for future mobility should it be necessary to transport the residence to another plot of land at some point.
The decision also involved changing locations during the process. After starting work on an initial plot, the couple decided to move to a more suitable location, a choice that paid off to ensure a permanent home in a region with climatic characteristics that better matched the type of project designed for the modular structure.
How the couple safely cut the container wall
One of the most delicate stages of any container adaptation for residential use is cutting the original metal wall. This procedure requires millimeter precision, as any deviation compromises the entire structure of the piece and generates the need for additional reinforcements during the work.
The couple used specific saws for heavy metal during the operation. Each cut was carefully measured and checked twice before execution, with maximum attention to keeping the line perfectly straight throughout the process of removing the original panel of the industrial shipping container.
The removal of the entire wall was necessary to open the space for the large front glass door of the residence. After removal, the structure needed to be reinforced with steel tubes welded to the raw edges, a sequence that restores the strength lost with the opening and prepares the metal shell to receive future construction components.
This type of intervention requires significant structural knowledge, even when done by amateurs like the Spanish couple. Without adequate reinforcement, the container can lose stability and generate serious long-term deformations, which is why any similar project carried out in other regions needs to be technically evaluated before execution by amateurs without structural engineering training.
The modular foundation and the option for mobility
Before receiving the container on the new plot, the couple prepared the residence’s support base. The choice was for a modular system instead of a fixed concrete slab, a decision that combines robustness with the flexibility needed for a possible change of location in the future.
The foundation uses individual footings distributed across the land. These pieces were placed directly on the ground, carefully leveled to ensure stability, a format that eliminates heavy concreting work and keeps open the possibility of removing or repositioning the house at another time.
This type of base is considered cheaper and faster than traditional foundations. In return, it requires careful selection of the terrain and constant attention to soil behavior over the years, as changes in humidity or natural displacements can compromise the original leveling over time.
The combination of a modular foundation and a container keeps the house ready for future adaptations. Should the couple need or want to expand the residence or move it to another plot, the process becomes much simpler than with traditional masonry construction, a characteristic that has made this model increasingly popular among those seeking flexible housing solutions in different countries around the world.
The Plecoterm facade and protection against humidity
To protect the container from the harsh climate of Cantabria, the couple opted for a technical solution called Plecoterm Integra. The system combines dry construction speed with the durability of the final mortar applied to the exterior finish of the residence.
The internal structure of the facade begins with metal rails and pins. These elements create a grid that remains separate from the steel container, an essential opening to allow the metal to breathe and expand according to seasonal changes common in the northern Spanish region.
Next, a specialized waterproof membrane is installed from bottom to top, repelling water that might reach the inner part of the facade. This material is fixed with polymeric adhesive, creating a continuous seal between the original container and the new skin applied around the entire structure.
The final layer consists of fiberglass-reinforced panels, fastened with special screws to the prefabricated structure. This three-layer assembly offers resistance to both rain and thermal variations, an essential requirement in a region where winter is often long and quite humid for much of the year.
The second floor built with steel tubes
To maximize the available space, the couple decided to build a second floor on top of the original structure. This chapter of the project was one of the most ambitious and required extra care with structural calculations, even without the participation of professional engineers during execution.
The skeleton of the upper floor uses reinforced steel tubes measuring 50 by 50 millimeters. The structure is 3.88 meters long and was welded directly onto the container’s original beams, forming a solid skeleton capable of receiving roof panels and electrical installations in the future.
The total height of the house, however, was limited to 4.5 meters by the decision to maintain the residence’s transportability. This restriction leaves the upper floor with an internal height of about 1.2 meters in some areas, a strategic compromise between living space and the future possibility of road transport if needed in the long term.
The process involved welding under difficult conditions. The Spanish wind forced the couple to alternate between MIG welding and arc welding at different times, with fine adjustments to achieve perfect weld beads at each joint, a step that requires significant technical knowledge even for those undertaking DIY tasks in personal projects.
The 150-kilo panoramic window and the redone roof
Another highlight of the project is the panoramic front window installed after the removal of the container’s heavy original doors. The assembly is 3 meters wide, 2.1 meters high, and weighs about 150 kilos, a configuration that made installation by just two people impossible.
The solution came with family mobilization. The couple needed help from the entire family to hoist the structure onto the previously prepared steel frame, a collective effort that illustrates the collaborative nature of many home DIY projects in rural Spanish regions.
The window also marked one of the longest deadlines of the construction. The component took about two years to be ready and arrive at the site, a wait attributed to the custom manufacturing of the specific dimensions foreseen in the couple’s original design during initial planning.
The original roof also had to be removed to create the double-height ceiling desired by the family. Cutting discs were used to cut through the container’s 8-millimeter steel structure, a risky process that culminated in the old roof falling and the release of a completely new space, flooded with natural light after the opening.
The 20-square-meter L-shaped terrace
To create a transition between the container and the garden, the couple built an L-shaped outdoor terrace with a total area of 20 square meters. The project began on the ground, with trench excavation and the laying of concrete blocks that form the solid and level base of the entire structure.
The flooring engineering prioritized durability against humidity. Each wooden beam was individually wrapped in high-resistance plastic to prevent rot caused by direct contact with rainwater, a cheap solution that promises to extend the terrace’s lifespan for decades, as the couple states in the released video.
The final surface was made with Dioco composite boards, a material that mimics the texture of natural wood without requiring constant maintenance over the years. The boards were fixed with a hidden system of stainless steel clips that slide into the grooves of the boards, resulting in no visible screws on the surface and a clean, professional look after assembly.
According to the couple’s statement, the entire terrace cost about 2,000 euros, a value that amounts to approximately 100 euros per square meter in the final measurements. The figure, however, comes from the builders themselves and has not been externally audited, and costs can vary significantly in other regions of the world depending on the local price of materials and the labor involved in the project.
Months of waiting and slow, meticulous work
Despite being eye-catching, the project was far from being completed in the short term. The documented video itself shows processes that extended over several months, requiring constant patience and adaptation from the couple to the climate and the availability of specific materials from the region.
The custom main entrance gates are a clear example of this. The chestnut trees used in their manufacture were felled in winter, cut squarely, and left to dry for months before they could be worked with a planer and router to become suitable boards for the final finish desired by the Spanish couple.
The facade mortar also dictated its own pace for the schedule. Each layer needed dry days to cure properly, and storms forced the couple to interrupt the work for long periods, redirecting their focus to other parts of the construction while waiting for the weather to improve to resume the stages most sensitive to environmental humidity.
Therefore, any Brazilian reader interested in replicating the project should understand that it is a long journey, not a quick build. Reproducing the video as a tutorial without considering the structural knowledge involved can lead to serious problems, and it is always ideal to consult qualified professionals before starting any heavy intervention on a metal structure of the maritime container type for permanent residential use.
And you, would you take on the challenge of transforming a maritime container into a modern home on your own, with steel pipe welding, a technical fiberglass facade, and a 150-kilo panoramic window to be installed with the help of your family?
Tell us in the comments if you would trust a project of this magnitude without the participation of a certified engineer or architect, if you believe the model applied by the Spanish couple would work in the Brazilian climate, and which part of the project impressed you the most. The discussion helps understand the extent of courage of those who bet on extreme DIY to achieve the dream of homeownership in the modern industrial style so valued in recent years by contemporary visual culture.
Be the first to react!