I am looking at putting something in on my folks land. Basically it would be a place to store a lot of my gear while I'm out of the country but I want it to serve as shelter too if need be. basically something I can put shelving in as well as two cots and that hopefully I could run power to via a generator. What does the hive recommend? I know there were those $25K container units from wallyworld a while back. I was thinking more along the lines of steel or aluminum.

a 30 ft. conex would be a good storage/sleeping type shelter. Some small modifications you could have a man door and windows if you desired.

Hard to beat for the price.

I've been looking at this option recently myself.

Found a couple of interesting potentials here:

http://www.saf-t-box.com/image-gallery.htm#img/22'-office-stacked.jpg

Hope this helps...

made hot

A nice 20' container will run abt $3k to $4k unless you get lucky.

Install insulation foam panels or spray foam, install sliding glass doors, a Fantastic Vent in a 52" x 44" toilet/shower room, put a macerator pump with an RV tank under an RV toilet, a counter with a sink near the entrance, shelving all around between 6' 6" and the roof, etc.

Cover the insulation with sheet rock or preferably plywood.

Note that there is VERY LITTLE space in one.

Any more questions, ask.

Full disclosure, I did it.  

It's a really played out answer but...shipping container.  As others have already said, it can't be beat for price, durability and security.  Lots of cool stuff you can do with them if you look around online.

I was looking at buying a house in the country and they had two railroad box cars that they used for storage, so that may be an option. I never figured you would be able to buy them... but apparently not.

a used trailer (house) for the cheap.



You can find them all over now a days



 

I like the idea of a conex from bunking and tool storage while you work on the house.

You can buy one off of any repository list (at least in my state) for about $300-$500 plus tax, any day of the week. Figure another $300ish to have it moved and maybe a few hundred to set your own piers and your set!



Another one is just a prefabbed, delivered shed/cabin shell. You can buy them with insulated floors, just pop some 2" insul board up w/ spray foam and you have an insulted structure under $2k in a day





Speed



 

Speed, are you talking abt the Great Stuff kind of insulating foam? Will it effectively stick the pink foam board kind of insulation to metal?

Pics or other how to. This sounds like something I might do

Yes, Great Stuff, but I would not apply that directly to the interior side of a metal/wood shed's sheathing! That stuff keeps expanding for hours after you spray it; that's why you're not supposed to use it for windows, they make the white kind that doesn't expand as much for that.



No, you simply spray it along the crack between your stud and the insulation board. This is a very popular method for insulation floor joists on cabins. You just tack a few nails inside the joists, let the insul boad rest on top, then spray foam around the edges. It will hold it in place forever.



Now, a couple pointers:

If you running over 8 feet, i would put some blocks between the suds/joists occasionally, in case you get a little heavy in an area as you don't want it to push anything off center and weaken the structure.

Cut the insul board a little light to give you room to get the spray foam in.

Do not lean the insul boad directly against your exterior sheathing. That foam expands and you don't want any bulges or popped nails on seams. Place a few 8 penny nails 1/2 inch from the outside wall inside the studs sticking out so the insul boad rests against those nails and the spray foam can expand out w/o consequence.



So, if you have 16 OC studs, you'll have 14 1/2" in betwent them. Cut your insul board to 14" and place it against your nails set 1/2" from the exterior panelling, leaving a roughly 1/4 gap on either side. Spray foam the edges. If you have 2x4 wall studs and you use 2" foam, you now have a 1/2" dead air space in front and 1" behind. This is a good thing



You could probabaly use regular old 3.5" R-13 for close to the same price, but this let's you insulate quickly and without breathing in a bunch of fiberglass, plus you can make the structure damn near air tight if you're worried about any NBC





Speed

I think I did a topic on it that could be searchable.

Any specific questions?

Thanks Speed, interesting.

How would you use this technique inside a shipping container?

We are also looking something to put up on our land. I looked at a metal barn  from Bennett buildings. I look at a the barn model around 1200sq'  with concrete we are looking at around $12,000..
then frame it in around another $5,000 . A home away from home. All metal and will look normal on the place. I lived in a shipping container while over in the sand box,, no fun here. a least while something like this you have room to move around and be comfortable.

http://bennettbuildingsoforangepark.com/p7lsm_img_4/fullsize/098_98_fs.jpg

You are far better off with a conventional metal bldg to live and work in.

Hell if I know


Don't shipping containers have stud like, hat channel running down the inside? You could use those, or, if you were planning to hang drywall/paneling, you could probably just use regular old spray adhesive and let the drywall hold it back if it ever came loose...
Speed





 

Use the "image" button to make pics show up, thusly:

More please.

No, just the formed steel walls.

Than I'd just use spray adhesive. Make sure you get one that says it's safe for foam.

I just checked and I used Loctite brand last time I stuck some foam insul board up on the backs of my storeroom doors.





Speed
 

That's what I did also with aluminium tape and the large sheets retained by thin plywood with occassional 1/4 x20 bolts thru the wall.

So I found a 20' combo office and storage container. Mobile mini of someone can put a link up for it. ( damn smartphone )
They have an office in Denver as well as southwest mobile storage. I'm gonna look there on a day off. The ones at my job site are all beaten up but they shoul suite my needs.

FYI they recommend a 13WK generator to run the AC/Heat.

Will look into that. Need one anyways

13KW seems like way too much if the container is decently insulated.

That would cost so much over a few years it might make sense to go with a small well insulated conventional bldg or even a mobile home type of structure.

There's a lot of drawbacks to shipping containers. Their portability and near instant placement offsets that. Their viability is HUGELY dependent on the application, local regulations, security, and wx condx.

I did the math and you can go smaller if you only run the AC/heat.  The 13kw is based on every curcuit running at once.  There rental agreement holds the renter responsible if there is damage.

I think I want a half circle metal storage building.  Anyone have costs?

Do you mean Quonset. They are great in a lot of applications.

Yes.  I found a website with several models and requested pricing.  They claim they can withstand a hurricane.  The larger units appear to be big enough to construct a loft.

I bought a 20 foot container from Mobil Mini. It cost me $2700 delivered back in 2010.  

These containers are notorious for condensation despite the vents at each corner along the roofline. I have had a constant battle with rusted metal items within the container.  Until I had my shop built I (foolishly) had to store a gun safe with most of my guns inside the container. I labored under the delusion that these containers were the answer to all my storage problems, after all, during my 30 years in the military I had seen them used to ship military gear around the world and to store them during operations. I had never had a supply sergeant ever raise condensation and its degradation of equipment as an issue. However, I found out first hand this was a huge problem.

I have out of necessity removed everything out of the container that would rust and ensure that all paper and cloth items are stored in plastic boxes. This seems to mitigate the problem.

Also, ammo stored in military cans with dessicant inside seem unaffected by condensation. However, guns in a safe had extensive surface rust and mildew on plastic and wood components. I did add the "gun socks" as a cover for all guns towards the end of my need to store in the container and those were near miraculous in stopping or slowing rust etc.

Research on the internet indicates that adding interior insulation will stop the condensation problem, but isn't something I have tried. There are also some large dessicant/moisture absorbers that are advertised primarily to control moisture during transoceanic crossings of cargo ships. I haven't tried these either.

I primarily use mine now for storage of targets, wood, and irrigation equipment for our small farm. I have been revisiting the container as a dry storage possibility for hay for horses. However, the condensation problem has to be beaten first. I am thinking about trying insulation as an alternative to building a pole barn just for hay.

Containers are basically big steel LEGOs if you have cutting and welding gear, you can do anything with them. If you find the 8' width too limiting, just weld two together side by side and cut out the walls in between. Use some of that material to cover the roof seam, perhaps make an awning over a side door or window you add, etc. As for the interior, my recommendation is to frame walls and ceiling with steel studs, holding them off of the container walls by 1". Attach 1/2" foild faces insul board to the outside of the studs facing the container walls and you get an air gap and radiant barrier which works wonders, as well as allowing any condensation to drail down. Put regular fiberglass batts in the stud cavities and finish the interior with FRP panels (best) or tileboard (cheaper). Use high cube 9' containers if you can so you loose less ceiling height. Regular commercial type steel framed doors are easy to weld into the sides so you don't have to deal with the heavy end doors all the time. Windows are easy to add as well. If you don't have the equipment to do the modifications yourself, most of the companies selling containers can do them for you. A key benefit of containers over other structures is the fact that they only need to be supported on the four corners, and a stack of solid concrete blocks will work just fine.

A girl I knew from highschool built a small apartment out of a 40ft container. She welded a little bay window type thing on the side for an additional seating area/sleeping area and give the inside some dimension. She also made a patio porch with sliding glass doors. She decorated the inside to look like something out of an Ikea catalog, it was really nice. It was small, but it wasn't an objectional place to live. Reading her stuff on Facebook, she didn't use any interior insulation, this is what she used.



Keep in mind this was in Houston, TX, but it might help with condensation issues.

Here's a picture:



Does this look like roughing it?

I spoke to sales person.  One of these 30 x 40 would start at approximately $27K.






Something like this would be nice:

I've also looked at pre-fab housing too - manufactured homes, etc.

I would prefer a "barndominium":