20Ft Shipping Container to Machine Shop Conversion

I have a buddy who put a bunch of machine tools into a container sitting on wooden beams on dirt. As it rained over the winter (Western Washington) the container started sinking! Beware ..

If the zinc works as a sacrificial anode, be aware you may have to replace it periodically. I spent a lot of time in the shipyards welding on replacement zincs to the sides of oceangoing ships ..

GWE

Hope you are not being suckered by the "liquid siding" baloney.

The "ceramic" is just fumed silica.

The product is just thickened paint.

The insulation claims are bogus.

Couldn't tell you on the anode stuff, but as far as leveling goes, I have a 40' container that I leveled with stacks of 4" x 8" x 16" solid concrete blocks at the four corners. Just a single stack at each corner, of varying height since it's on uneven terrain. It's been in place on the rocky CT soil for about 5 years with no issues.

Pete C.

single or quad block stacks? that sounds promising for what i'm thinking of I know that it will be impossible to keep them perfectly level in canadina soil due to frost heaving and as soon as one corner thaws first it will settle that way at least slightly but thats expected hazards

There's a lot to be said for using blocks to support a building... Look at the 300 year old plantations down in southern Louisiana near New Orleans... They were built with bricks supporting the beams of the house and they are still standing... As the ground sinks, the house just gets jacked up a bit and new bricks added to the top... The houses from the 1960s and such that figured that all you needed for a foundation was a big slab of concrete have slowly sunken over the years, sometimes so unevenly that the ridge line of the roof had a very noticeable V shape in it as if its back had been broken... I saw houses over there where the garage was 18" higher than the driveway because people had kept pumping sand underneath the house to keep it level, but had never bothered with their driveway...

Sonotubes at each corner, about 6-8" above grade, laser leveled. Th' depth you'll need to drill down will depend on your location. I'd suggest 3' at least. A rental, two man auger, will prolly work fine.

Ask th' company you bought it from to send you four locking cones. That's what is used to stack cans on top of each other. They go inside each corner. Place those in th' concrete before it sets up.

I laid a four of layers of poly underneath th' can before placement. In hindsight, concrete would've been better, but it did keep th' weeds from growing up through th' floor... albeit I had to replace th' poly every few years.

I used 2"x2"s to frame up th' interior walls and ceiling. It's a high cube (8' 6" interior height) which I dropped to 7' 6". That left almost a foot of room above th' ceiling for insulation and ventilation. It also allowed for solid insulation (R-11) and wiring in th' walls.

I also cut out four windows, two skylights and a 3' man door. Used some older mobile home windows (with screens) and door. 1/2" plywood painted white was screwed to th' framing. I could hang whatever s*it I wanted on th' walls/ceiling.

Gotta thermostatically controlled 220V electric baseboard heater, window A/C unit and three roof vents. Had a dehumidifier in it for a while, but didn't really need it. Ran 100 amp service to it from th' transformer.

Couldn't hurt anything. If you can put a roof over it that'd be better. If you wanna go th' extra mile, slather a coat of truck bed liner paint on th' exterior... that s*it is tougher n' nails.

Oh, and it's better to have a man door and leave th' stock doors locked as much as possible. Those door seals are replaceable, but it's kind of a pain in th' ass.

Keep it off th' ground, ventilated, heat/A/C as needed and water tight and you'll be happy with it for a long time.

Snarl

Just a single stack at each corner i.e. a 8" x 16" pad. If I had to stack very high I'd go with a criss-crossed quad just for stability. I think the highest point is 4 blocks high (16") and the lowest is two blocks (8"). I'm pretty sure the airspace under the container helps with moisture control.

Pete C.

Alter it to make sure you don't get locked inside.

My plan is to cut two windows and a regular door. Let alone the fact that i'll have the tools to bust me out of my own prison if i do get caught.

I guess no one KNOWS about my anode idea?

Good idea if you're going to be in there a lot, and there are other people in the house who might get security conscious on you - without checking if anyone's inside before they lock it up and go in the house.

A steel-framed steel-skinned exterior door cut and welded into the opposite end of the container as a "Back Door" would be perfect. Make a header and jamb out of 4-1/2" square/rect tubing.

-->--

I'm a fan of doors that dont need keys to let you out i will be installing a side door

If you carefully cut out th' windows and door panels re-use them as hinged exterior shutters and a door panel that's also lockable. Piano style hinges and whatever style of padlock, etc., will give you an extra level of security and from a distance retains th' look of a normal can.

Snarl

If you support the corners of the container on concrete posts as suggested, then the entire container will be in free air, so you cap prevent corrosion with paint or some thicker coating.

A cheap way to prevent weeds from being much of an issue under the container is scrap wall to wall carpet. When you level the dirt, lay out old newspapers and then roll the carpet over the paper. A layer of sand on top and you should have nipped the weed problem in the bud to a great degree.

Another good idea would be to rig a tin roof over the container to slough off the snow load. This is nice in the summer also as it reduces the amount of heat the box soaks up.

I know i need to break direct contact between the box and the sun. I'm hoping i can do it in a way that disturbs the size and handling as little as possible

i know it likely will never be stacked againbut i think leaving the corner points open might be good once i see how they deliver it so it can be picked up later in the same manner

Most likely it'll be loaded on th' trailer with a forklift, perhaps a crane, but I doubt it. When it's delivered, th' trailer will prolly be a tilt bed and they'll just slide it off *about* where you want it. There's no way they're gonna land it exactly on your raised sonocones with a tilt bed. You'll need to rent a forklift with 8' long forks for that. You do know that those cans have pick slots for a forklift, right?

A roof over only needs to have enough clearance to allow a forklift to pick it off th' concrete/locking cones... about 6". I'd go a couple of feet with 2' overhangs all around just for th' better airflow. Gives ya room for storing crap on top too.

Snarl

They *may* use a crane in your location, but I had a 20' container moved on a roll back car carrier. One fellow passed it up because it wouldn't fit "between the rails" on his roll back. Another fellow with only about a 3/4 ton rig (? one ton) pulled it up inside one rail and slid it across the top of the other rail. His wheelbase and body were so short that he barely got half of it across the rear wheels and the front end of the truck was riding fairly lightly on the road. He only had about

He slide it off as I slide some landscaping cross ties under it. The cross ties are around the perimeter of the box. It still has not been leveled, etc. but it's sitting approximately where it will be used. (Since we had to dig it up from the dirt that had washed against it I wanted to eliminate that problem this time.) I picked up a very heavy duty "farm jack" with about a 4 foot lift and that's what I plan to use to lift the corners enough to shim it up right - along with straightening some of the cross ties and tapping them over into a bit better alignment. Tare on that one was just under 4800# and it was empty. [This jack was only about $30 US at Tractor Supply, but Harbor Freight and many other places have them.]

You mentioned being able to lift it with the tools in it. Yes, THEN you'd want to be sure to use a crane. I'm considering assembling a metal carport over this one, with one end extending over the door opening a bit for entry in bad weather. It's one I took down from another site and it only has 5' legs on it. I think I'll have to get some longer leg pieces to get it up high enough - probably 7'-8' legs. Even though you usually anchor the carports pretty well it still would be movable. Just remove the anchors from the carport and slide it forward or backward from over the container when you get ready to move it.

One last thing. When "extended" legs are used the frames usually require a bit of bracing so you may want to run a couple of braces from the container to the carport on each side to help strengthen the frame. These are usually braced at the top corners and perhaps the roof peak because they are free standing. It's for wind loading. With the big box sitting there you have many other options.

Why? A crane has advantages for certain applications, but pickin' up cans like this ain't one of 'em. Costs a hell of a lot less to rent a forklift than a crane!

Snarl

According to Al Patrick :

Why not mount the carport to the hard points on the top of the corners? That way, it could simply be lifted off prior to moving it again.

Enjoy, DoN.

Hello Brent:

I'm not familiar with the specific product of which you speak... but find it highly unlikely that a paint product of any sort would provide R19 insulating capability.

The actual insulation in most "insulation" is air or another gas. The fiberglass, styrofoam, etc. is there to hold the air still. Styrofoam and urethane are more effective, inch per inch, than fiberglass batting because the air pockets in styrofoam are sealed from one another. A layer of material the thickness of paint is unlikely to hold enough air to be effective insulation.

Only if the container is completely submerged in water, or buried in the earth. Anodic protection works when the entire surface being protected is acting as the cathode. That can only happen if the atoms of iron at the surface are immersed in the electrolyte.

Best -- Terry