Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Shipping containers

Any advice, like do they need a slab? We need more storage, and they look like the best option. Any negatives?

We have had one up at our place for 5 or 6 years now. You don't need a slab just a level place to put them. The only problem that we have had is that it will "sweat". You can see water beading up on the ceiling but we haven't had any problems with stuff rusting.

No experience with them myself. I would think condensation might be an issue.

I would check with local building codes before you spend the money and time...Several surrounding communities to me do not even allow them and we are rural...I understand all states are different, just hate to see someone run into a problems that might cost them money...Some of the ones that do also require a building permit or special permit for usage...

We use dozens to store material and tools in on jobsites. Never had any issues with condensation but I could see it being a possability. Where we rent from they have some locks that are special made and they do work better to cut down on the break in's.

We're ok on the permits, but that's good advice. The farm's in a rural community, and it's kind of a run what you brung system. That can obviously be good or bad. Several neighbors already have them.

We'll probably run electricity to it for lights, so I wonder if exhaust fans would help with the condensation?

They can be supported at the four corners if you want it up off the ground a little.

You can exhaust out the sides - vents low on one side and high on the other, but most are made air tight if you want to keep humidity out. Find a shady area for it and that will keep it from becoming an easy-bake oven and will help with condensation if it's an issue.

If you're just looking for storage, find one with the welded cover over the lock area - it prevents bolt cutters from accessing the lock and makes a pretty secure door.

A string of lights and a couple of receptacles down one side makes it even more versatile.

They are built like tanks and were made to take weather and abuse, but there are many on the market that are in bad shape - plywood on floor can be torn up, can have lots of rust, and leaks...be picky and get one in good shape.

They used to be cheap, price here averages $3 - $3,500 for a good one.

Another option is to get two, set them apart 10 - 20' and get 10 pre-engineered wood trusses to cover both the containers and the space in between. It keeps the weather off the top of the container and gives you covered 'garage' space in between.

There are unlimited things you can do with them. I was going to use 8 and make a cabin, but the cost to purchase a good one now made that not really feasible.

Al, I haven't set one up as storage (yet), but have unloaded thousands of them over the years. Very durable. But absorbs heat like crazy. Floors are wood and generally very tough.

If if were me, I would pour some concrete pads that elevated the container about 6 inches or so.

Yellow Jacket's idea about building a roof over a couple of containers is a pretty good idea. If you wanted to get real fancy a concrete pad or gravel between 2 containers would be pretty neat.

Since these things are ugly as sin I would consider planting some shrubs that would cover these things up.

My 2 cents worth of opinion.

Thanks guys, the suggestions sound great. I'll probably set it behind the back building so it's not viewable from the road. Seeing tons of them around here, so I thought it may be time to pull the trigger.

Guess it's time to start shopping.

Al...we bought smaller shipping type containers in the last year.

They have rollup metal doors.
They have pretty nice brushed steel floors.

A guy out near DFW has them for about $2K. The guy delivered them. They are pretty nice looking, but not as big and not as secure as the big freight/railroad type shipping containers.

The picture below is of two containers side by side. They are actually bigger than the picture makes them look. We fit two ATV 4wheelers back to back in one with room to spare.

We have ours on a gravel bed. We are about to add vents to the upper corners.

You can check them out in the next ten days if ya stop by.

Will do, thanks.

I have always been curious as to why these containers are for sale. Are they not useable anymore for their intended purpose, like rust holes, etc?

fish n chips...ours which are smaller were owned by some freight forwarder at DFW Airport that went out of business and the guy got them for dime on the dollar.

F&C The reason we have so many here is because we import way more than we export. Its that simple. It is cheeper to sell them than it is to ship them back to China empty.

A few years ago China was shipping more containers over here than what could be returned back to China empty. This created an extremely large surplus of one-way containers here in the US. I have seen entire container ships in Long Beach dedicated to Wal-Mart. Today there are fewer of the one time use containers and you probably will see more containers that are near the end of their useful life for shipping.

At one time I have seen these thing for less than a $1000. Now in the DFW area you should be able to find them for $2 to $2.5k, not counting transportation cost. If our economy picks up again then prices could drop.

There are two sizes: 20 foot and 40 foot. Interior sizes should be 7'10" tall and 7'9" wide. Overall interior length is about 8" less than exterior.

Just my 2 cents worth of opinion.

I picked one up a few years back, $800. I leveled it on some railroad ties and us it for wood storage. It does condense inside but for what I need it works well.

Bryan

I have a 20 footer I bought locally several years for $500 delivered. It even came loaded with good heavy duty shelving - loaded with crap.

They dropped it in my driveway. I pulled it into place with my tractor (full of a few tons of crap) by rolling it on several 8' round fence posts. I used a hydraulic floor jack to lift the corners, under which I placed concrete blocks.

I've never had a problem with it sweating. It is really solid and secure. It was one heck of a lot better than any comparable size shed kit.

Fireishot,my dad looked into getting one or two when we lost a old outbuilding but we decided not to.He ended up getting a A frame carport that is around 20x40 for quite a bit less then 2 containers.They came and installed it on a existing slab in a day and later on we sheathed it and added 2 garage doors.I was skeptical about how it'd hold up but it has been through 2 hurricanes (it was just a open carport for Irene)and many nor'easter storms since.

Here is the website for the place http://tntcarports.com/index.html They have tons of options but for us the basic car port and enclosing it ourselves was the best bang for the buck.Since you're shopping cant hurt to have a look.

Robert...we got one of those too & we are pretty impressed with it.

If we had it to do over again we would go slightly larger because it doesn't add much to the cost.

I think it was about $2500 for the bldg, delivered and installed.





Winslows Storage Buildings - (Emory, Wills Point, Sulphur Springs, Athens)

Zep,I think he paid $3,500 installed,it could have been a little cheaper but he went with a odd size to maximize use of the existing concrete pad.I also doubt he spent over $1000 to enclose it,doors windows etc,but we reused as much from the old building as we could.All in all when I told a friend what he spent vs his new pole barn he was almost sick to his stomach

Wow, more options for the money than I had originally thought. So, I guess I'll spend more time shopping.

Thanks again guys for all the advice.

FIH,I'll snap a few pics and get some more details tomorrow when I head over there and post them.

Going to start looking at these today. Since the 4 wheelers got stolen, I have found that hiding them in the woods isn't the answer. I need steel. Nor do I want to haul them back and forth since I would have to rent a storage place for the trailer.

BTW, bought a new Honda 420 that I don't like as much as the old Yamaha's. It just isn't much of a farm machine. But, since I paid cash, it had better learn.

Dave, when you get it, I'd suggest you go to a self-storage facility and buy one of their locks. I have several like this:



I just hope I never lose the keys for mine. I don't know how they cut the things off of abandoned storage buildings. When on a tight hasp, like a storage container, it would be about near impossible to use bolt cutters or a sawzall on one these things.

Ken, I have a couple of those and will probably use one.