Should you Buy a Shipping Container or Build Something Yourself?
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- Опубліковано 23 гру 2023
- Is this the best money you can spend to expand storage? Let's look at the pros and cons.
#conex #shippingcontainer #storage #container #shopstorage #buildorbuy #cargocontainer
I got my container from More Space Containers LLC out of Detroit (not a sponsor)
(248)525-4994
if you're outside of the Detroit Metro area you can try UsedConex (not a sponsor)
usedconex.com/
/ halffastgarage
thehalffastgarage@gmail.com
Want to Send Stuff to Half Fast Garage?
P.O Box 480222
New Haven MI, 48048-0222 - Авто та транспорт
You can and many do incorporate containers into their builds. Since I was bored enough to type the following for another thread I'll crosspost it here too. (Apologies for any typos. I am not an English major):
I love my container shops and ride-thru motorcycle garage because I take advantage of their rugged weatherproof shells, easily climate-controlled interiors, machinery ready floors, internal tiedown loops (for rigging cargo but perfect for hanging heavy duty shelves that keep storage overhead and off the floor and for hanging mounting hardware for electric cable and pneumatic hose), and exceptional ease of modification using tools and equipment I bought them to protect.
I have four 40' High Cubes and a 20' standard height box. I've used them for over a decade as welding equipment and machine shop space (two 40' HCs welded side by side with an internal doorway between and an added personnel door on one "blank" end), a ride-through motorcycle garage and shop (climate control in sea can is easy with one common home dehumidifier ((VENTED OUTDOORS to avoid puddles)) even in the humid rainy southeast and a key reason I chose containers) from one one-trip HC with doors on both ends, and the most recent one-trip HC with doors on both ends not specifically assigned.
Study military and industrial containers for shop tips. I fabbed very heavy duty hanging shelves from angle that hook to the ceiling tiedown loops. Easy way is torch bend those from round bar and i bend extra ceiling loops to weld as I go. All wiring is jobsite style heavy duty cable (SOOW or conventional extension cord) kept off the floor by hanging from wall-side custom mounts hung from or welded to the shelves (which remain easily removable). I use High Cubes because the extra height is critical to storage space. Fabbing your own hanging shelves is affordable and you get much more rugged units than otherwise. I sometimes hang motorcycles (including Harley big twins) from my shelves for full access no lift can match (by 2" cargo straps).
All my shops are set up for rapid reconfig and easy modification as I get more equipment. Containers are ideal for this as is my Steelmaster A-20 steel building used in conjunction with my boxes (but not joined to them). While basic wiring is done in conduit I run easily relocated electrical cables and pneumatic hose jobsite style for most electric and pneumatic use. My compressors and rotary phase converter live on individual castered chassis in the Steelmaster and feed my containers via simple cheap "bulkhead" pneumatic fittings from Amazon (a step drill bit makes most holes I need).
I put Dinse welder front panel fittings through one container wall so I can connect cables without having to open the end doors. (If I ran big amps Tweco fittings of course work too.) Welding outside is easy since I just ground to the shell then pull the hot lead up with a rope. I weld upward-facing hunks of channel to the container roof ends that make it impossible for a ladder to slip or fall. (They catch one rung but I maintain some load on the ladder base too.) I fabbed extremely simple jib cranes because I'm an old cripple who can't tote buckets up ladders or manually raise them by rope alone. Picture a T made of pipe slipped over a vertical rod (hunk of axle) welded to a corner fitting. That holds a cheap hand-cranked boat winch. I swing out the jib, lower the rope, hook to the coating bucket bail then crank winch and lift coating buckets (or my suitcase feeder) easily. Over the years I scored steel industrial stairs I'll add before I'm too gimped to climb ladders. Damaged gearheads can have an easy life using our skills to prepare. Shot stools inside make using my overhead shelving convenient. They'll hold well in excess of what I can manually lift but I'm not hardcore enough for centered rail gantrys like some oil patch boxed shops use. Scoring cheap beams might change that.
Buy the best box you can manage for anything important because WWT (Wind and Water Tight) cheapies almost always have defects which will make you sorry you didn't cough up enough for a "one trip" grade, especially bad end door gaskets and corrosion (yes, Corten rusts). The climate control is perfect for my vintage motorcycles and machine shop. Containers are far tougher than most shops and are typhoon rated for use at sea. They're ideal for quickly deploying an instant shop space. I had my new electrical service placed before building my shop which let me immediately weld my machine shop boxes to their steel beam foundation (collect heavy steel even if you don't need it at the moment, I had some beams for years later used on my shops).
Beams are convenient to raise and align joined boxes so I jacked and blocked one, welded the corner fittings then jacked and winched the second atop the beams into place and welded those corner fittings. The roof joint gap got a 2" wide strip of 1/8" thick sheet (I had half a 4x8 sheared lengthwise). I used .035" and .045" FCAW to weld the entire roof gap strip. Vertical joints got either 3M 5200 (expensive thru-hull boat sealant and great stuff) or Dow U-418HV urethane (doesn't slump like 418 "non HV" or 3M 5200). Railroad ties are fine for indivdual boxes but KEEP THEM OFF THE GROUND by at least ten inches so they can vent underneath. Do not lay them flush on the ground outdoors.
Best container size is the 40' High Cube (or longer if you can score one) for the internal height. I'm 6'2" so my shelves are slightly higher. Shelves or not the extra interior height is a major benefit over the confining standard height boxes. Best grade is "one trip" but buyers on a budget will settle for WWT so I'll cover how to sort them. If you can afford doors on both ends that's extremely handy but if not best make a simple angle frame and put a person door in the blank end so you have the additional exit and flow-through airflow when the container is placed with respect to the prevailing wind.
Gearheads with more limited resources can get good use out of WWT (Wind and Water Tight) beat up boxes condemned for maritime use. My first two were WWT so I had to fix them. Stand inside and have a (trusted!) friend close and latch the doors on a bright day or with a bright worklight outside shining in. Any light leakage with indicates major end door gasket leakage. The main issue is keeping rain from entering through the top of damaged end door gaskets. I tack welded some angle (only because I didn't have flat bar)between the corner fittings over the end doors at a slight slope so water runs off. Then I sealed the whole gap between the cover strip and container so no water runs straight down above the gasket.
I grind off roof etc rust and coat with Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer. I then use Sherwin-Williams industrial roof coating which IS NOT THE HORRIBLE CHAIN STORE white rubber coating. The cheap coating is much worse than nothing because water passes through it then corrodes the base metal. Of course AFTER I was half done I found out serious roofing contractors don't use it and make buckets of money from those who do. On containers the chain store latex coatings are not fun to remove. I spent many hours with a 9" grinder driving a knotted cup brush descabbing my WWT boxes. Don't be me. Buy quality coatings because it's better to pay once and cry once.
If I wanted more open space I'd buy a container cover style building then run one 40' HC down the side. Not only is that a fast way to get stronger walls than plain sheet Galvalume-coated steel but your shop gains side rooms like old aircraft hangars had for isolated work/office space. They make perfect toolrooms with the addition of a dehumidifier (which don't draw enough juice to matter to me). That's why they're so popular with farm and industry.
That's great info! It's hard to beat these containers for the price. The one-trip was out of my price range but this WWT seems to be in decent shape. It would be cool to get another and make something cool. 👍🏼
We have over 6 of these at our club located in the Northeast. Additional suggestions are to get the container off the gravel. Get 6x6 and get it up off the gravel so it is not going to have moisture. The floors are wood so they can rot. Check the top of the box and make sure there is no rust from shipping damage; it will last almost forever. Get a cheap set of solar lights and panels and batteries in it so you have some lights. Agree on the venting. We do not use any heat in ours but do need to get lighting. Buy two of the same length and get a cover that spans between the two Conex and put your equipment under the cover.
Sounds good. I don't think I know anyone with equipment but enough to lift the container to put anything under it but I'll look around. 👍🏼
In the building vs shipping container debate, the biggest advantage to a shipping container (in my opinion) is the savings in property taxes. These days with the ridiculous price of concrete, don't understate the value of having a smooth dry floor included with the shipping container.
I humbly suggest a few small changes. First, add more ventilation. Plastic vents like the one you have are available for about $5 each online (maybe more after COVID-19 pricing) and they're easy to install. I recommend having them at the top and bottom for a drafting effect. Better still if you purchase a solar-powered vent for more airflow. I recommend more ventilation on the back side because the side with the doors cools much faster when opened.
I haven't witnessed it, but I have heard of a phenomenon where trapped moisture effectively "rains" on the contents inside your container every 24 hours when the steamy air condensates on the roof and drips in the evening when it cools down. The next day the process repeats and everything you own will become rusty. It won't happen in every climate but it's something to consider.
Lastly, I have found the hooks on the inside edges to be incredibly useful for hanging LED string lights with a few zip ties. I originally used the cheap string lights but I have been very satisfied using construction-site grade string lights. A 50 foot string of LED Construction lights is very economical.
Those are excellent ideas. I'll look into adding some venting and lighting. I appreciate the input. Merry Christmas
In the town where I live we have to get a permit for any structure over 120 sq. ft. The cost of the permit is based on the cost of the building being built. And we can only 'cover' 30% of the sq. footage of our property. And of course your property taxes are based on the sales price of comparable properties in your area. And we get re-assessed every 8-10 years. I've got a 10x12 shed and a 6x8 shed on my property. Friend of mine has 2 shipping containers on his property that's just outside of town limits. And he loves them. Stores 3 cars, a PWC, an 18' boat and all sorts of stuff. He also picked up some roof trusses on clearance at a building centre. He spanned the 2 containers and a 12 foot space between them. He also got the roof sheathing and shingles on clearance too. He's gonna pour a pad between the 2 containers next summer.
Looks like you're gonna get a lot of good use out of the shipping container. Look forward to more. Hope you had a Merry Christmas. Have a Happy New Years. Be safe and stay more.
Thankfully I live in the "country" and they don't really care what we have, for the most part. Id really like to do what your friend did, but I have to keep costs down since I spent so much upgrading the shop and installing the lift. 👍🏼 Merry Christmas
Very nice!
Thanks, bud 👍🏼👍🏼
I got mine from Wuwi Shipping Container. Im from Arizona and I got it for a very pretty good deal and even paid it upon delivery.
Wow, paid on delivery is pretty nice. These are such great storage options. Arizona looks amazing. I've always wanted to go and see Meteor Crater and some of the other parks.
Last fall I got one of these, a few points to mention: The floor is not wood on steel plate, it's treated wood on an open steel frame. With a empty container your tractor will likely move it, using logs for rollers I moved my 40' x 9' into place with my 60hp Fiat 640DT. I leveled mine and used PT 6x6"x 8' posts front and back, they do swing easy and work proper, last bit closing is hard but no crowbar needed. You will have issues with condensation, hot sunny day and mine was like a sauna. I cut a hole and put in a 12" whirlybird type vent in the back corner and plan to cut in two DIY rodent proof side vents soon. With the whirlybird I worried about water getting past it, so I have a cat litter pan under it just in case, but no leaks so far. Ontario, so climate about the same.
Thanks for all of the good info. I'll have to ask a different neighbor to move this because my little 32hp tractor won't even budge it. As for the doors... I don't know. I'll have to get it leveled somehow. It gets better when I lube the hinges, but they're a little rusty. It was the cheapest container they offered.
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas ⛄
We're startng to lean into shipping containers more in commercial architecture for some solutions for our clients because yea, you just can't build anything that size for that price.
It's way cooler than I thought it would be. I can totally see what you're saying. I'm sure there are tons of interesting options. Thanks for watching 👍🏼👍🏼
Repurposing one-trip grade containers is fairly easy, but the way China built emergency COVID space caught my eye. They fabbed container-sized modules using existing factory lines rather than discarding extraneous parts of surplus containers. With all the parts being easily available you could sub out module builds offsite and out of the way. Modules need not incorporate standard container bottoms which are optimized for freight not construction.
Also in Detroit and in the market for one, where did you get it from?
I bought mine through a broker, but you can buy directly from the people who actually sell them and delivered mine. More Space Containers LLC 810.956.5084
I'm not affiliated with them in any way. Just passing along the info. 👍🏼
It you can I would get more of them I have been looking for one in Wyoming the price is over 6000 thousand dollars
More isn't in the budget right now, unfortunately. They were big money like that before which is why I waited to get one.