00:01It's taken just a few days to put up the house this Bangladeshi family ordered for themselves.
00:08They bought it here, at a huge display home centre cum construction site.
00:15Here in the south of the country, they build houses that can be assembled and dismantled in a single day.
00:22Mobile prefab homes.
00:28I've been building modular homes for 26 years. I learned the craft at the Katpati timber market.
00:36At first I was a regular carpenter, now I'm head carpenter.
00:40A small to medium-sized house takes 7 to 10 days to build.
00:44A big house takes us around a month. It requires a team of 4 or 5 carpenters.
00:54The houses are especially popular here, on the south coast.
00:58Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather, with rivers often bursting their banks.
01:04So many people prefer prefab houses, which allow them to uproot quickly.
01:10It's much easier than concrete houses, as those can't be relocated.
01:15If my house somehow falls on neighbouring land, I can move it, and if the design of the house becomes
01:20old-fashioned, it can be replaced.
01:23The houses cost between 3,000 and 20,000 euros, depending on size and quality.
01:30That makes them cheaper than brick houses, and they've created a whole local industry.
01:36Nearly 25 dealers now operate here.
01:39Mohammed took over his father's business.
01:42He delivers 8 to 10 houses per month.
01:49The demand for these houses has increased massively compared to the old days.
01:54Before, people had no idea of this sort of house.
01:57After we made online videos, people across Bangladesh got to know about our ready-made homes.
02:05It's not just heavy rainfall and flooding that drive demand for wooden prefab houses like these.
02:13Many Bangladeshis working abroad order them.
02:17That means thousands of potential customers.
02:24Most of our buyers are online customers.
02:27They're Bangladeshis who live abroad.
02:30People who buy these houses abroad don't have someone dependable back home who can look after the construction of a
02:36house like this for a month and more.
02:39So they come to us, and we install the house at their designated location within two to three days.
02:48This woman's husband is one of those who lives abroad.
02:51He sent her to choose a house, and she has very specific ideas about what she wants.
03:00Here there'll be a bedroom.
03:02There'll be another bedroom on the other side.
03:07And this part will be decorated with a sofa and other furniture to be used as a drawing room.
03:13On one side there'll be a bathroom, washroom and kitchen.
03:20She's chosen a simple house for $4,000.
03:24The dealer has been able to steadily expand his business.
03:28While his father used only wood from Bangladesh, he now also orders it from Malaysia or Nigeria.
03:36The main attraction of our traditional house is this veranda.
03:41Craftsmen from other parts of Bangladesh can't build houses with this veranda.
03:46Only craftsmen from here can.
03:49This ceiling protects residents from the summer heat.
03:52People can sit here and enjoy tea or coffee.
03:55To keep the railings strong, we always use ironwood.
03:58This Nigerian ironwood doesn't decay.
04:01It's guaranteed for 70 or 80 years.
04:06The craftsmen also deliver the houses themselves,
04:10sometimes driving hundreds of kilometers across the country.
04:15Within a single day, the house is almost completely rebuilt.
04:20And the family is delighted.
04:25And the family is delighted.
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