What’s the Galvanized Square Steel meme all about?

The Galvanized Square Steel meme is a part of the “Unhinged Home Design” trend on TikTok that makes absurd parodies of remodel videos. This genre contains a number of running gags that poke fun at common tropes within the serious videos they’re mocking, with one of the most prevalent being about this particular type of steel.

The gag became so popular that TikTok users began to make videos referencing galvanized steel without creating digital representation of an entire space getting a remodel. The increasingly abstract meme has people claiming emotional stress or physical harm as a result of the material.

What is Galvanized Square Steel and how is it a meme?

Galvanized steel is any steel material coated in zinc to increase its durability by preventing corrosion and rusting. Engineers and designers often favor this material due to its affordability and long-lasting reputation, and because it’s ready to go upon delivery without requiring any additional preparation.

There does not seem to be any specific reason why the square shape is part of the Galvanized Square Steel meme other than to perhaps add another layer of absurdity.

@designer_bob ????#bathroomdesign #bedroomdesign #designer_bob #fypシ #foryoupage #roomdesign ♬ Summer Fashion - FASSounds

The meme videos appear to imitate those popularized by user @designer_bob, who creates digital representations of how one can remodel rooms in order to maximize space. Bob’s videos started out serious, but over time became a little strange, allegedly to incorporate some humor.

Around late 2023 and early 2024, parody accounts began to pop up that took these oddities to the extreme, incorporating strange and exaggerated storylines about troubled families and coming up with bizarre home designs.

Galvanized Square Steel meme origins

TikToker @designer_bob created his account and began posting videos in April 2022. The parody account @homedesign369 appeared in November 2023, and similar pages soon followed.

@homedesign369 Small bedroom design for 3 kids #decor #decorations #housedesignideas #housedesign #interior #interiordesign #interior #interiordesign #longervideos ♬ Way Back Home (DJ热播版) - 南辰Music

On December 4, the joke account posted one of the earliest entries within the Unhinged Home Design meme to mention galvanized steel. It also mentioned similar running gags in this genre including "eco-friendly" items and screws borrowed from an aunt.

The video features a computerized voice reading from a script that sounds like someone put it through Google Translate and includes a story about triplets, a sexist dad, and an angry mother.

Many of the videos from this account feature a character named "Little John" who needs to expand his ridiculously tiny apartments. This gag appears to stem from the worsening housing crisis in the U.S. and other nations that resulted in the construction of micro-apartments and similar human rights violations.

Meme transformation and spread

As these strange parody videos appealed to the increasingly bizarre humor of young TikTok users who will probably never be able to afford a home they can redesign, they began to make related videos referencing the running gags about specific materials. Eventually, the meme spread to Reddit and other social media platforms.

Through May 2024 and into summer, TikTokers would record themselves pretending to cry over a lack of galvanized square steel and eco-friendly wood veneers, or claimed that a loved one had died due to their absence. Others imitated their landlords' reactions to seeing them with these materials.

Over on Reddit and Twitter, text posts appeared offering new stories featuring galvanized square steel as meme interest peaked.

Galvanized Square Steel meme examples

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• ‘I’m such a lucky boy’: This Michael Shannon TikTok meme is suddenly everywhere

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