Container Reloading room ?

[shooterg]

Anybody done it ? I'm seriously considering buying a container, adding a metal side door, and moving a lot of reloading/casting stuff into it. Losing "my room" to make room for the one and only grandboy and this looks like a quick way to do it. 20' x 8' x 8' can hold a lot if organized( I hope !).

I could paint it to look like a .50 cal. can !

[waynem34]

Heck yeah bury that sucker. May have to roof it either way.Would like to have one of the conex type containers.Cut some vents in it and add ac and heat.You could use TPO for the roof which is heat welded and mechanicly fastened.OR use side wall vents and no roof penatrations.Either way sound like a good idea I say do it.

[Artful]

You mean like these?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tedB6BixKH4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNW7ZWkJwE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyxk8yeI-ig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvJJfmyV_ms

http://www.jetsongreen.com/2010/02/ten-things-consider-shipping-container-projects.html

http://toolmonger.com/2007/10/18/shipping-containers-your-next-workshop/
http://toolmonger.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/seabox.jpg

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100411
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/Tinysd/Tinysd2/rrshop1.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyqgXz_62Ng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9smJ16-828
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6KlLqlUy9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-xPIgRLuBE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcAegcP2mwE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za07kp8HtF0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOU8c12Gecw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M449-MKYze8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy19ClEKacI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr_4q6goysI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RGdpQRJm98
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP-mGymMeRY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZERV8QgPfkc

wouldn't bury one
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/specials/weirdflorida/blog/mug_container.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZLKUasnso

[cbrick]

shooterg, I've got an 8x22 trailer as my loading room and you would not believe how fast it gets very crowded, I highly recommend one larger than 8x20. I guarantee you'll not regret it.

Rick

[TXGunNut]

shooterg, I've got an 8x22 trailer as my loading room and you would not believe how fast it gets very crowded, I highly recommend one larger than 8x20. I guarantee you'll not regret it.

Rick


Yes! Around here a 40' container only costs a little more than a 20' one. I use one for storage, have a nice aisle down the middle and plenty of room along each wall to pile the boxes and furniture.

[dakotashooter2]

Keep in mind that it is all steel and could get very hot in the summer. One could add AC for when you are working in there but it may not be a good place for long term storage of powder and primers unless it is temperature controlled. I have a steel quonset on the farm and it gets unbearably hot in the summer.

[gmsharps]

If you put the rubbery roof coat on top it will drop the temp inside about 10 degrees in the summer. You can build out a container by using 2x2's as studs and adding the insulation and put a window AC in it and it works pretty well.

gmsharps

[Mk42gunner]

Definitely need insulation, heating and A/C; and will probably need waterproofing eventually. I was inside a lot of them when I was in the Navy, they get very small very quickly once you start trying to store things and work inside them.

Depending on cost, they could be better than trying to build and use a storage shed.

Robert

[NavyVet1959]

The 40 ft ones are only slightly more expensive than the 20 ft ones, so I would go with one of them instead. If you need even more room, stack another one or two on top (they're designed to do that anyway). To cut down the heat in them, build a separate roof structure that does not rest on the containers so that it provides shade and there is plenty of airflow between the roof and the container. Make the roof high enough that you can walk on the container and not bump your head on the roof joists. Having to crawl around between a ceiling and roof sucks and if you can spend a little bit more money and prevent that now, it's worth it in my opinion.

[cbrick]

Truisms of metal boxes, in the summer sun is that they are NOT metal boxes, they are ovens. If in a cold climate they are nearly impossible to heat in winter.

If it's to be useable for most of the year insulation isn't a nicety, it's mandatory.

Rick

[bear67]

As a general contractor I have built metal building from to 240 to 80K square feet and I can build a metal building on a slab for what I can get a container delivered. Also you need the tools and skills to cut walk doors in side and weld in a frame. I have helped others with this project and by the time we put in split 2x6 wall studs and ceiling joists, sprayed with spray foam insulation and lined with OSB, he had bunch of time and money in the structure. I used 40' van trailers for storage for years because I bought 10 of them cheap from a construction company. Used them for storage on jobs, at the farm and as temporary tool rooms. I considered them temporary. Now if I could get them free or cheap, that would be another story. I have some 10' round explosive storage buildings that I store fuel, chain saws ect in that are great, but they were cheap in an auction. They weigh about 3000 lbs each, so not easy to move.

I wish you luck in your shop planning and construction.

[jmort]

I have owned three 20' containers. Two I built a barn around as bookends. Once covered they stay cool enough. I currently have one baking in the sun. Many here put mechanical turbine fans on their containers, that helps. I plan on building an 8' x 12' shop with insulation and windows with a security door. Budget is around $800. Containers were about $2k. One nice thing about containers is that they are bug and rodent proof. They can be insulated. I know a guy who finished the interior of two of them and rents them out as studio apartments. Years ago when I first moved out into the country I bought a metal shed which turned into rodent housing. Cut it into pieces with a Sawzall and sold it for scrap.

[Duckiller]

If they are cheap enough two 40' container place 8-10 ' apart with a roof over everything make a very nice shop. Friend who moved to Colorado built his shop that way. An alternate is to listen to bear67. A local contractor may be able to make you a better shop with a concrete floor higher ceiling and insulation.

[waynem34]

Check local codes if you live in town? My little city gone crazy.Pop 43,055.