Anybody here put doors and windows in one? I now have one and want a regular door, and maybe a window. At some point I will need air condition put in. Do you find a door with a steel frame and just weld it in a cut hole, or do you cut the hole, frame it with angle iron and put a regular door/window in place. Seems either would work, and a regular door would be easier to find, and maybe cheaper. I have a small wire welder, but am not real good, but have a neighbor and also a Brother-in-law that makes their living welding. All help appreciated. miles

Miles,

I had the place where I bought mine put in door and window. I just didn't have the capability to do it. Glad I took this advise from another campfire member. He mentioned that without proper protective gear, there may be some less than desirable contents in any dust created from cutting and welding. So be careful

But to answer your question , yup. Metal frame door is what they used on mine. Cut a hole in it and inserted door and windows. They did weld in iron to frame out areas a bit before installation. I'm happy. I'd never got it done on my own

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For your review. I know you been inside. But just fyi

Btw! New addition to the shop!

Looking good. What ya going to make? miles

Miles, did you look closely at the last pic Bob posted?

Plywood on part of the wall and OSB on part! The leg on that work bench is straight, just not straight up-and-down! Also note that Bob is saving money on paint.

I just hope when I get to see your container, you haven't copied Bob's example of fine workmanship!!!


(I wish I had a container and a place to put it-- )

Miles,

Hell I dunno what I'm gonna make , but I got it for free!

Randy,

I absolutely HATE painting with a passion!!!! Still confused over work bench leg????

The plywood part of shop is the actual shop. OSB section is for storage. Did t see no need for plywood in the storage section.

"He is mad, but there is method in it!!!"

Just kidding Bob!

(And I still wish I had one and a place to put it)

I know you were Randy!!!! LOL!

Unfortunately I had my glasses on crooked the day I built that grinder bench!

LOL!

Free lathe... that's about as good as it gets!

Miles,

I used to make offices and tool cribs out of them, complete with AC, windows, ceilings and tile floors. Used metal studs.

The guys at deer lease build a wall a couple of feet inside the front doors. They have a door and the AC in the new interior wall. That way its very secure plus you don't have to do any metal cutting. They have a bucket to catch AC water. One guy has a really long one. He has wall backed in enough to have room for jeep. Still plenty for living quarters. Window-door make it easy for break ins.

What's it cost to buy one of those, if you don't mind me asking, guys?

tag

Looking around on the net, I think it will depend on where you live, a lot. I got mine for $3000, delivered. They go here from around $2500 to $3200 depending on the condition. This one belonged to a friend and I went and looked, saw that it was in very good shape and bought it. He delivered it. He had been storing feed in it on a place that He had rented. Rented a new place that had barns and sheds. On mine, 1 of the big doors open easy and the other a little harder. Might just need oiling, but using it a lot, a regular door would be nice. I am going to insulate but have not decided my method just yet. Fiberglass bats might be just as good as there will be no air flow. Also thinking that I could tack some small pieces of angle and put 2"x2" studs pretty easy to put light plywood or cheap paneling. I have a small wire welder that should work for that. It will be a slow progress and doing a lot of thinking right now. Break ins are not a problem where I live, at the present. First thing I need is electric in there. Right now using an extension cord. I have electric close. miles

What Miles said.

Paladin, I framed inside of mine with steel studs too! Great getaway place for me. Work bench, reloading bench, cleaning bench, and cool in the summer!!! Gonna move spare refrigerator out soon.

Mine came with a fridge. Supposed to work, everything but the icemaker. I have not plugged it in yet to see. miles

had a buddy buy a 40' long one....

$3200 delivered to a rather out of the way location..

purty cheap instant dry storage....critter proof.......

got my wheels turning for one now on the farm...

I found a small one in the woods where i hunt, it had been used for a bear blind / hunting shack by a local outfitter. Land owner made him remove it at the end of the season.. Nice set up...

I want to bury one in the back yard and use it for an indoor pistol range. Put a bullet trap in one end along with a vent fan to pull any smoke or dust down range. Buried would make it pretty sound proof and take care of insulating for cold in the winter. Maybe a concrete vestibule where the stairs would come down to it. Maybe section off half of it down the length and use one side for storage..... Maybe......

The side walls are designed for vertical loads only. Your fill dirt will collapse them. Fellow here was going to make a storm shelter, underground bunker, it didn't work.

wouldn't they sweat like hell in hot weather with a air conditioner in them.

Bummer! I'd have to put it in a concrete trough then. Too much expense for what I'd get out of it.

Mine doesn't.

I make 15,000 volt reactive load banks with them and sell them:

Biggest deal would be to corrosion proof them first so it wouldn't rust away. Compacting the dirt in lifts will minimize the lateral force - so long as you are careful when compacting so you don't apply too much force to buckle the sides during the process. Backfilling in lifts would allow you to brace the insides as you come up so that by the time the thing was covered you could remove the braces and have no further lateral force. Sort of like removing forms from concrete.

If you dig the hole just large enough to fit the container in and drop it straight in, there won't be much lateral forces against the sides when back filled. Digging a hole large enough that you could back a dump truck up and unload will collapse the walls before you get started. Undisturbed soil has minimal lateral force. Dig a 2' wide trench in undisturbed soil and it will stay open, depending on the depth, before the weight of the surrounding soil will collapse the trench - but don't get in it without shoring. So, much depends on the soil conditions of the proposed shooting range. Crappy soil demands good backfill material.

Weight per cubic unit is relative mainly to what the material is sitting on regarding solids. A 3000 lb block of concrete puts the weight straight down. A 3000 lb cubic unit of water has more lateral force due to water being fluid so more side load, i.e., hydrostatic pressure. Dirt, not so much lateral as down. Compacted soil/dirt, even less, hence the compaction of backfill material in lifts minimizing lateral force. Just use a good backfill material that can achieve 95% or better compaction and you should be good. The best way would be to use flowable fill in lifts, but you're getting into costs again.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

I made them for ICM, a rental company out of SLC. We drywalled and textured the walls, put in suspended ceilings, wired for lights and receptacles, bulkhead wall with a man door to separate the office from the tool crib/lunch room for the hands, etc.

Miles, We used metal (steel of course) door frames so they could be welded, but if you frame with studs any frame would work. The windows were metal frames and the opening cut just to accept the window, caulked, and screwed to the side, framed the inside with the metal studs and drywall.

Finishing the inside obviously costs more, but makes for a better shop. Right kaywoodie?

A company I worked for back in the 90s modified two of them for Westinghouse. They were to be put on Navy ships to service torpedoes. We cut large doors in the sides and made "docking collars" so you could go from one to the other when they were sitting side by side. We put castors on the corners so they could be rolled around and leveled. We polished the teak or mahogany floors, and put carpeted panels on the walls. Butcher block topped work benches, and a microwave area and sink in one of them. We put a rail for an overhead hoist in the other one. Tool lockers etc. Wired and plumbed of course with a nice epoxy paint on the outside. They were real nice when we got done.

Dang SRM, I should say they were nice.

I put four, forty footers together to make a training room/office for Micron (actually ICM) when they were building the facility south of SLC. The two in the middle were fabbed without sides (ICM had a guy building 'Mobil Minis, and I would finish the insides per customer request), only roof supports, so there was a large room in the center. Leveled, squared, and plumbed, then stitch welded, sealed the seams with 6" strips of fabric with latex sealant, then finished the inside.

I also put two 40 footers about 30 or 40 feet apart (don't recall now) poured a concrete floor and put trusses up and walled the back to make a shop so ICM had a place to service equipment.

A lot can be done with sea cans.

One of the Prepper shows on History channel or A&E or something showed a guy down in Texas who was building a compound out of containers. They wanted to test them to see if they were bullet proof. So they shot the reinforced corner with a 22lr. Yep bullet proof.......

Asides from that stupidity it was a pretty nice compound.

How did you fasten the studs? Bolts, screws or weld them? Never messed with metal studs. miles

What NEMA rating is that enclosure?

Miles,

I never had either just cut out tabs on the end of the studs with aircraft nippers and bent them out and screwed em together with the self threading screws they make for them. Got it all a Lowes.

Self-tapping pan head screws is what the pros use.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to/g172/shipping-container-homes-460309/?slide=1

Miles I just sent you a butt load of photos by email. Gimme aholler of you need anyting else!

Miles,

We welded the studs to the container and used the self tappers mentioned to screw anything else to the studs, and to screw the studs together for door frames, etc. We used a metal blade to cut the studs in a Skil saw IIRC.

Sir, it will classify as NEMA 3R.

There's a bar in Orange Beach AL called The Gulf that's built out of shipping containers. That's the best use of them I've seen yet!

I had a great flounder sandwich there too.

Seems pretty straight forward. miles

Got them. think that I can handle that. miles

Bob, looking at the pictures that you sent. What is that behind the studs, insulation or a vapor barrier? I could see where insulation behind the metal studs would be cool, but might present problems putting them up. miles

I've got an idea I have been mulling for awhile, but I don't know if it is practical or if it would cause problems. My shipping container is an ugly orange and doesn't fit in well with the estate (yea right) decor. I've been wanting to insulate it heavily, but don't want to give up the interior space. My thought is to weld 4" C purling to the outside, spray it with foam insulation between the purling and cover it with pro panel. Of course some sort of paneling roof as well. Maybe finish up inside with some thin insulation and paneling.

Anybody seen this done? What kind of problems might i encounter with moisture, sweating, etc.. I've got a good heating/cooling unit to attach to the end of it.

Just R13 insulation. Wasn't any problem to put in. Did it all myself. It kinds friction fit in between studs. The duct tape did help it stay in place where it wanted to fall out.

Ok, makes sense. It looked like it was behind the studs. miles