Conex containers for storage on property
 

Anyone here use a conex box for storage? I am thinking of putting one on my small 1.3 acre homestead.

Looks like a good heavy duty container I can use as a shed and for food storage.

What do yall think. I can get a 20' for $2000 with a fresh coat of green paint. Should blend in pretty good and not be an eye sore.

hahahaha....I'm sure the bitch that was whinning about my washer in the front yard will love this.... hahahahah

http://www.falconstorage.com/user_files/20-box.jpg

Re: Conex containers for storage on property
 

just put a fake roof on it and then it becomes a garden shed.

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A roof would keep it cooler, but I got other fish to fry once I ge this...mainly solar panel/ generator rig.

This should offer ample storage.:565:

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Sweet! Should piss off the neighbors REAL good! :biggrin:

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2000 would probably build a decent 8x20 shed. And would not be nearly as hot (or portable)

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I don't think heat will be an issue once I install a roof vent. I aint got time to build a shed, and all the ready made ones arent solid like this.

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Looks like you already have your answer.


Better put int a powered roof vent. And consider painting the top with a white elastomeric roof sealer. Home depot and lowes sell it, 40 bucks would do it.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...-30&lpage=none

Re: Conex containers for storage on property
 

lotta steel for the $. i'm waiting for them to come down; or consider a semi trailer,cheap as well. stack a layer of pallets on top, attach w/ some clips; & then some tin on them, & u've got your cooling roof. or just put that washer or other heavy objects to use to hold the pallets & tin down.

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Re: Conex containers for storage on property
 

The best set up I have seen on a farm was two Conex boxes set up about 20feet appart, and a set of industrial trusses between them covered with corriguated(sp) metal so you had a covered area between the boxes for working shoing horses tractors and what not.

Be sure to put the box up on RR ties to prevent the bottom from rusting and allow the doors to open when the box starts to settle into the ground.

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You sure ain't no hillbilly! Ya use old tires to hold the roof tin down!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Some folks even shoot some holes in them tires to keep the skeeters down.

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Used a lot of them, over time.

Their biggest drawback is they sweat like a bastard with temp changes.

And they do leak, don't let anyone tell you different.

As Ima said mice love 'em.

I should own shares in Wet 'n Dry Blackjack.

You basically end up putting a forty dollar saddle on a ten dollar horse.

Framing up a conventional insulated storage shed will put you miles ahead

In the long run, especially as the stuff you put

In it won't get ruined.

scyth

Re: Conex containers for storage on property
 

well maybe.
actually the washer was kinda for the neighbors, but the tires would kinda set the whole thing off art wise!

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I've purchased 6 shipping containers over the last 12 years, my current barn consists of 2 twenty-footers with a 12 foot breezeway in between, a steep metal framed roof with a large useable loft. The only downside to this design is remembering what is in which container or you do a lot of walking.
It's nice to open a door after you've been gone awhile and not find any mice or cobwebs. Very difficult for low-lifes to open up unless they are planners.
Without a roof they are very hot in the summer. I wouldn't put a vent in one, then you have vermin and cobwebs. If you're in the south you could get some sheetmetal and screw it on flat with 2 feet of overhang on each side, that would cool it down considerably.

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I own a couple of these..

Love em

mine have hidden vents in the sidewall ribs at the top

never had any leak issues/ i slightly tilt them twards the door just in case

nice solid wood floor

mine arnt super hot in the summer but they seemed to have been painted with some form of elastomeric coating that seems to insulate and reflect heat

set them up off the ground...wana be able to open the doors in the winter

we also toss straps over the top and tie them down incase of high winds even though the 20ftrs are about 5000# empty

we have to pay 2200-2500 here for them delivered

40ftrs dont cost much more than a 20ftr

after reading this thread i think i will consider buying a couple of 40ftrs and roofing between them sounds like a great idea......any pictures....LOL(i can visualize the tin and tire construction method)LOL Hoarder care to share a pic of your setup??

Re: Conex containers for storage on property
 

I'm in the process of building a small off-grid compound with two 20' steel containers, 1 as the primary living quarters (shower, compost toilet, kitchen, bed) the other as extra living space art studio guest house. We have finished building the roof over the primary unit. Which is used to collect rain water. The other container we haven't built a roof on yet, and for now the solar panels have the space up top to themselves. Eventually we'd like to build a "green roof" and grow plants up there.

As far as them leaking, this was one of the wettest summers I've seen around these parts (192 sq/ft of roof catchment space was netting us 55+ gallons of water a day) and both were dry as a bone inside. Still painting the one to seal up the wood siding on the roof and help deter rust on the steel. Both containers are sitting on 2-3 courses of cement block to level them on the site and keep them off the wet ground.

The roof panels themselves are corrugated semi transparent poly carbonate which will provide some passive solar gain this winter and are surprisingly durable despite their thin design.

I don't plan on staying where they are currently. So when the time comes they'll be loaded onto a trailer and hauled off to their new home (preferably somewhere warmer). They'll arrive, unloaded in minutes and will be an instant turn-key self sufficient living solution.:coolbeer:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_19-C5E-07V...0/DSC06054.JPG

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I've got one (40 foot), Won't be needing it any more in a few months, too bad the USPS charges are high or I'd sell it to you. :bear_tongue:

Used the normal small vents at each corner it comes with. Get the roof inside sprayed with hard plastic insulation foam, keeps the top from condensing and sweating and dripping water down on your stuff. Roll out plastic on the ground below it, most have wood bottoms and you do not want it absorbing moisture from the ground. Coat the top with aluminum roof tar. Use an old window screen with a drip tray below it and spread sidewalk salt (Calcium chloride) over it as inexpensive desiccant. Get a padlock lock box welded to the doors.

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I think I'm going to get one and put a roof on it like some of you guys did. It will be a heavy duty shed!

Or like the other guy said, I could frame and build a shed that would be insulated. I'm torn on what to do....

hmmmmmm.....

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My biggest problem with a "conventional" stick frame shed is its poor mobility and durability. Sure it may be more aesthetically pleasing to some people, but having the option to load it up on a trailer, truck, train, plane, helicopter or boat and deliver it anywhere in the world kind of seals the deal for me.

I'm consulting for a friend who wishes to convert a 20 footer to be sort of a day-time nursery for their child once their born this spring. They plan on buying a house soon and don't want to put money into renovating one of the bedrooms in their current dwelling only to leave it all behind and start anew somewhere else. This way they bring this "play-house/extra living space" with them when they move. It'll be self powered so no need to worry about tying it in with another building system etc. And I think it will be a positive influence on the child to be exposed to ideas like turning sunlight into electricity or catching and purifying rainwater.

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I have one at my BO place, it was waterproof enough to be towed almost a mile with a 70hp ski boat (took hours!) and did not sink. Glued (no-nails stuff) on some wooden clapboard, after giving the whole thing a coat of bitumen paint. Put up a fake pitched roof, more storage up there for weatherproof stuff. Now it just looks like a big, weathered shed. I welded the front doors closed, it's accessed from the back now - but the front doors look real. Good luck breaking those open.
No solar panels on the roof, just a solar powered attic fan, with the fan inside and one small panel outside to drive it.
I love them and may buy another - $600 where I live because that's their scrap price, these days they are useless due to the lack of ships carrying them, due to the lack of international trade!

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I appreciate the feedback. Looks like I'm going to go conex.

I really like what the guy has done with his project up above there...very nice!

I favor the conex because I figure I can get yrs of use out of it with no issues. I figure I'll set it up on a few railroad ties.

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expatriate.............great post and link info.......thank you

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The pirate flag on top really is the ultimate proverbial cherry... love it

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yah expatriates post was inspirational. Check his website out!:RockOn:

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Awesome thread.... Thanks everyone.

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Don't know if these fall into the same catagory as containers, but I was going over this site and found these.
http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...4#ItemManifest

http://www.govliquidation.com/aucimg...4/16123666.jpg

Cheap!

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Better yet check this out!

http://www.govliquidation.com/aucimg...8/17397962.jpg

Current bid $170.00 21 hours left....

http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...1#ItemManifest

Re: Conex containers for storage on property
 

Glad people dig the Compound (The Jolly Roger was one of the first things we set up, naturally!). After I bought the first container, it was quickly apparent that extra space for tools and materials would be necessary while we worked in and around the main Box. For a few days we shopped around for "sheds" thinking that'd be the easiest solution. But for the cost of an 8'x10' shed was the same as an 8'x20' steel container! So we've had two ever since.

My feeling is that you may just start out needing "shed" space or extra storage on your property, but later converting the container for more sophisticated domestic living space/guest house whatever, and still maintain its portability and durability. They're really one of the most fundamentally underrated and under appreciated inventions of the 20th Century!

I think all GIM'rs should have one stashed somewhere ready to go loaded with preps!

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shippin...r_architecture

check out the links they provide at the bottom the page... lotso links

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You would think, but I have run them over truck scales before and they come in around 2000-3000. They just look heavy. You can deliver them on an 18ft rollback. (24ft is safer) Just find a tow truck driver that has the balls to do it and pay him something like $100 for the effort. The companies selling them try to rip you off on delivery fees.

I had two that I picked up as scrap. I bought them for about $600 and sold them for $3600. Nice. I will get more again. They are great. I did like roof coating and a spinning roof vent to cool them down.

Watch out for bees hiving under them. I even kicked them out before moving one and they found it miles away later on.

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You can probably build a root cellar for far less. The root cellar is easier to hide, can be used as a tornado shelter and doesn't have as high heating/cooling costs as the steel container.

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I've heard of them stacked up six high, hundreds of them on the west coast. You could probably get them in San Francisco for $500 easy. Shipping is expensive and a 20 footer is $2400 in Western Montana.

I know a guy who buys and sells them as a living, not much overhead. It's a good business idea.

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i'm in the midwest near a metro area. when i drive by a storage/shipping area they are up to 4 or so high, & never seen this before.i think they'll come down everywhere eventually. hope we have diesel to move them when they do.

semi-trailer's are filling areas too. i was at a guy's shop he has 1/2 a dozen w/ shelves on each side w/ crates of parts, etc. made good storage.

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There are two things that keep the price from falling that I know of. One is the price of steel and the other is export value. Since we don't export much compared to other countries, we end up with piles of containers. There are no piles of containers in Japan, Thailand, China, etc. Just here. But as the value of containers drop, it becomes feasable to send them back across the Pacific loaded with COTTON. At least it pays for the cotton and the shipping back to China which is cheaper than building a new box in China.

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These work great, are thick walled alluminum or steel and can be joined together.

most will come with wiring, electrical outlets, modular shelving, and overhead lighting fixtures.

http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...&convertTo=USD

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This is a great example of one that is expandable.

http://www.govliquidation.com/auctio...&convertTo=USD

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I bought one 20' steel box in May paid $1545 delivered @ $3 per mile (Container w/o shipping was $1295 via ebay) Then about two months later bought #2, another 20' for $1527 from the same guy. They delivered them on a cool trailer that tilted up and winched the containers down at an angle, no forklift or crane needed. First one was towed by a decent sized turbo-diesel rig, the second one by a F250 or some such standard pick-up. He was cool enough to bring it right up to the spot I wanted which was about 1/3 of a mile on a dirt road. We set the first one down on two 8' 4x4's thinking that would make it easier to maneuver later. But for #2 it just sat on the ground until my brother in law showed up with his tractor and chain, he had no trouble dragging it around.

I agree with killer2021 that a root cellar would be a cheaper and simpler below-ground solution for storing food and preps like that. I want to avoid doing anything to these containers that compromises their portability. It is one of the biggest natural advantages they have over any other free standing structure second only to their durability!

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And while on the subject of portability. I designed and built the roof which sits on top of the one container so that it can be dismantled and broken down into several main pieces when the time comes to ship out.

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This building cost $168,000 to build (not counting the furniture etc. that comes with it) and it was built to commercial specs, i.e. fire-rated doors, overdone electrical, wired for phones, suspended ceiling, etc., and it sold for $540. Of course the rub is that it has to be prepped for transport and transported out of the wilderness in Washington state before snowfall. We were going to bid on it, but the first estimate we got to transport it south was $15k so we passed. Someone got a smokin' deal.

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$168K to build? Are the walls made from pure gold or something?

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Got a 24' by 24' pole barn for $1 from the State of Michigan. Was part of a property bought for a game area expansion. Stipulation was that the site must be cleared in 2 weeks. Did It! Pieced it out and hauled it all away with a F150 with a topper. Took about a month to put it all back together ten miles away. Still standing nicely 15 years later.

ICH! township upped my property valuation 8K$ for that barn

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I just bought another 2 at auction! Hopefully the Army will be kind enough to deliver them as an exercise, in return for beer - bring on the Sikaflax sealant!
One is all insulated and panelled on the inside with 4 bunks, the other is bare. All I need is to get them 40 miles to the lake and we are done!

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No, just your standard govt. specification construction. They got unlimited funds ya know.

It is pretty well built from what you can see in the 18 photos - very sound building.

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Ain't much more than a 24' by 30' by the picture. Wonder if I am still strong enough to tear it down and haul it away in two weeks?:yippee: