20 Foot Shipping Container Metal Shop

I have seen several things here lately where they have been building modular homes out of the shipping containers. They were not bad. IN fact one was like 3 or 4 wide and 2 to 3 high. Not sure what they used to seal between them, or to insulate the inside with. My wife keeps thinking about One for me but the Heat and Cool is what I'm worried about (mainly cooling in south TX heat)
 
Hi Paul. I was just wondering how you are getting on with your workshop, and how you are finding the layout, workflow etc? What sort of projects have you been able to tackle in your new space? Cheers!

I have no idea how I missed this post. A year or two later and everything is still in one piece in the container. I have had to make some small adjustments - for example I needed to sure up the ceiling as the expensive building glue I used was not as good as I had hoped. The cheaper glue I purchased as a supplement to the expensive glue turned out to be much better.

The work flow has been excellent in the container and I have no complaints at all. It was well worth the hours of planning to have a good workflow. With 1 person there is enough room. With 2 people there is a bit of "musical chairs" happening but there is still ok room for small projects.

The heating solution with IR lamps has proven to be a great solution. The ambient temperature in the container never drops below 14 degrees celcius despite dropping to -25 degrees celcius on occasions over the winter.

Despite the small size, I still have not managed to fill all the storage I have available. The rotating small parts storage was a great investment and has been a huge benefit. The plasma screen arms behind the tool-boards have also worked great as I don't have to reach for tooling.

Overall, I am really pleased with the solution. I am trying to find the time to make another video to follow up on the previous 2. I just want to get the rolling bridge crane fixed before I shoot the video.

Paul.
 
I have seen several things here lately where they have been building modular homes out of the shipping containers. They were not bad. IN fact one was like 3 or 4 wide and 2 to 3 high. Not sure what they used to seal between them, or to insulate the inside with. My wife keeps thinking about One for me but the Heat and Cool is what I'm worried about (mainly cooling in south TX heat)
They are pretty easy to insulate with rigid or spray polyurethane foam, you also might be able to score a used refrigerated container that has the insulation and AC built in!
 
I have seen several things here lately where they have been building modular homes out of the shipping containers. They were not bad. IN fact one was like 3 or 4 wide and 2 to 3 high. Not sure what they used to seal between them, or to insulate the inside with. My wife keeps thinking about One for me but the Heat and Cool is what I'm worried about (mainly cooling in south TX heat)

Since the volume is quite small and the container can be well sealed, keeping it hot or cool is not a problem. If you choose to set in an additional personnel door then you can really seal the container up well with an air inlet and outlet so that you can expell the hot air when you turn on the airconditioner. The main challenge in climates like TX is the humidity and as a consequence the condensation that aqppears on machines. With the sealed container condensation is very easy to conrol. In the time I have had my container I have not seen a spec of rust despite weeks/months of rain over autumn and spring. I owe the effectiveness to the IR lamps which heat solid mass and not the air, meaning that the machines are always warmer than the ambient air eliminating the condensation risk.

With spray foam as an insulator you could get an excellent R rating that would make it a piece of cake to keep the shop constant temperature. This option was outrageously expensive in Norway so I had to opt for styrofoam panels behind the plywood panels which was extra hassle but allowed me to make a very strong wall structure that allowed me to hang heavy items like the RPC on the wall.

Paul.
 
This is kind of an old thread, but a couple things I'd add, since I helped a friend do this in a storage container not so long ago.

I second the one way only containers, by the time they are selling those containers for cheap, you can assume they are falling apart from rust, and will have a LOT of small and not so small holes show up over time.

Before anything else, rent a sprayer (if you don't have access to one) and spray a heavy coat of paint on the container, inside and out. Be safe when spraying paint inside it of course. If you had the cash and access to the stuff, I'd spray or roll on a coat of truck bed liner all over the outside and on the floor inside.

If no access to the bed liner, then consider spray polyurethane insulation if its available for the outside (not the floor).

Instead of cutting styro insulation with a bandsaw, or any saw for that matter, spend an hour or two and make a hot wire cutter. They can run off the wall (with some resistors and such) or some batteries. You probably won't need to do it, but you can even make them quite large if you needed to. You'll be able to cut shapes and sizes with a precision you could never manage with a saw, and make MUCH less mess.

Whoops, I just noticed someone else mentioned spray insulation, I fail at completely reading thread.
 
I have no idea how I missed this post. A year or two later and everything is still in one piece in the container. I have had to make some small adjustments - for example I needed to sure up the ceiling as the expensive building glue I used was not as good as I had hoped. The cheaper glue I purchased as a supplement to the expensive glue turned out to be much better.

The work flow has been excellent in the container and I have no complaints at all. It was well worth the hours of planning to have a good workflow. With 1 person there is enough room. With 2 people there is a bit of "musical chairs" happening but there is still ok room for small projects.

The heating solution with IR lamps has proven to be a great solution. The ambient temperature in the container never drops below 14 degrees celcius despite dropping to -25 degrees celcius on occasions over the winter.

Despite the small size, I still have not managed to fill all the storage I have available. The rotating small parts storage was a great investment and has been a huge benefit. The plasma screen arms behind the tool-boards have also worked great as I don't have to reach for tooling.

Overall, I am really pleased with the solution. I am trying to find the time to make another video to follow up on the previous 2. I just want to get the rolling bridge crane fixed before I shoot the video.

Paul.

Many thanks for the reply Paul, took me a while to get back to this thread but am doing so with renewed interest. I've been researching all manner of possible workshop solutions and keep coming back to the shipping container as a good option for my budget. Local companies (I'm in the UK) are quoting around £1380 for a 20' High Cube container, which I think is reasonable as a starting point, they can be found cheaper on Ebay but look pretty rough. Was your container a "once shipped" or used out of interest?
 
Many thanks for the reply Paul, took me a while to get back to this thread but am doing so with renewed interest. I've been researching all manner of possible workshop solutions and keep coming back to the shipping container as a good option for my budget. Local companies (I'm in the UK) are quoting around £1380 for a 20' High Cube container, which I think is reasonable as a starting point, they can be found cheaper on Ebay but look pretty rough. Was your container a "once shipped" or used out of interest?

My container was a one way or once shipped container. These are in the best condition and if you keep it heated, you won't need to worry about spraying the inside if the paint is ok as you won't get any condensation. £1380 is ok as I paid significantly more for mine. The great thing is that because it's not a building with a slab, it's often easier to get approval for than a shed.

Paul.
 
My container was a one way or once shipped container. These are in the best condition and if you keep it heated, you won't need to worry about spraying the inside if the paint is ok as you won't get any condensation. £1380 is ok as I paid significantly more for mine. The great thing is that because it's not a building with a slab, it's often easier to get approval for than a shed.

Paul.

Yes, we rent at the moment so keeping things temporary and by-passing planning permission is big on the list. I'm looking forward to your follow up video, cheers for now!
 
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