cargo container storage?

I'm thinking about buying a container that they use for shipping over seas to store a truck and some parts. My question is do I need to worry about parts rusting from humidity or any thing else. This will be dry container. I live out side Chicago and concerned about weather can do.

 

My friend has two of them that he stores his cars in and there great. No bugs,no animals but he lives in a pretty dry area. I would use some kind of descant to keep the air dry!

 

My only advise is to put a little slab under it or get it off the ground, thats where most of your moisture will come from. We had one on our ranch and had no problems with it ever getting the feed wet and never smelled damp.

 

I have one and really like it. Beware though it gets really hot in the summer months. If you are storing anything nice I would get some outside ventilation. It's just a big metal box and it will cook out in the sun.

 

I rent one and have read other threads that advise vented it because of a sweating problem.I plan on doing that with mind so I dont get a mold issue ect.Other than that I love it,no bugs,mice and with four locks,the theives would really want to get it at that point.

 

Set it on railroad ties or treated lumber, up 6" or so. We use them all over at work and the couple they set on ground are rotted out, the ones up in the air are in great shape and twice as old. If you plan on using it for many years think about throwing a small pitched roof on top.

 

i purchased one about 15 years ago, and was surprised when i opened the door after a week, there was moisture dripping from the roof inside! i immediatley went to home cheapo and bought 4 gable end attic vents, some metal screen and cut 4 square holes in each corner of the container and installed the screens and vents, haven't had one issue with moisture since, and all i keep in there are 2 cars with covers on them. i just pulled my coupe deville out of there after a 3 year hibernation, and it was just as clean and dry as the day i put it in there. hope this helps.

 

Throw a attic ventilation fan in one end and it will kick on and off at the set temperature to keep the air flowing.

 

autobodyed must type faster than me! LOL

 

put some railroad boards under it from keeping it off of the ground ....

 

I had thought about putting a fan in but did not want to run power out to it. But I just remembered I could use a solar powered attic vent.

 

We have one at work that we use for file storage (we have to keep 7 years of back files). We have never had an issue with it, but it does get extremely hot in the summer time. I would also suggest that it get set on extremely level ground, ours was first on a not so level part of the storage yard and the doors were tough to close, but once we moved it and had the asphalt leveled it opened and closed just fine.....

 

We have five 40' containerswe hoard parts in. No problems.

 

I live in so cal, near the beach. we have 2 of them.

get them off of soil, on concrete or RR ties
get some sort of ventilation, turbine fans in the roof at least.

they WILL get moist inside if there is even a hint of humidity.

 

Give it a quick spray with flat green paint so the neighbors don't notice it.

 

I rent some of those and each one has one turbine type vent. Seems to work well.

 

I park my A coupe in one and leave the doors open. No problems ever

 

I have one, it's up on blocks and always stays dry in there. Never any condensation.

 

Try scoring one for refrigerated cargo. They come already insulated.

 

I've heard that if they have a dent they go cheap because they can no longer be used for shipping, they can't stack another container on top of a dented one. So that may be a way to get one cheap.

There are also cities where they go cheap, because they bring in more freight than they ship out so empties tend to accumulate. Chicago may be one such city.

 

Local RR historical society got one donated because a load shifted and messed up the doors. So yeah, if you can get it hauled away, you can likely buy it for it's scrap weight or less with dents.

Around here we have an outfit that buys, paints, and leases/sells them. Even outfits them as offices and stuff.

 

Lived in one with a double thick sandbagged roof for a year during my second Iraq deployment. They can get hot as all get out.

 

One of the neatest things I've seen was in Hiwaii. This guy layed down a base rock pad, set 2 40' containers approx. 20' apart and then put a trussed gable roof across the 2 containers to the outside walls. He was able to have a complete tool shop in one, store stuff or cars in the other and still had room for 2 car in between to park/store or work on. I also saw an heavy equipment company make a 40' container into a complete maintenance shop.

 

People have been living in them for years. I'm sure they could make a nice car storage.

 

So how much do they go for?

 

I insulated my 20 footer with our insulation before loading it up. It makes about 30 degrees difference on a hot day and there is never a humidity problem.

 

We use them to store surplus electronics, they sit on the ground and no dampness or mildew problem. We did a temperature test on one to see how hot it gets inside on a 95 degree day. It got up to 120 degrees, they were painted a light colored gray and had no vents or circulation.

 

Folks in Alaska live in them ! stackem weldem spray them with foam inside. They make very durable cheap housing. But they MUST have air flow.

 

I've had one for ten years. On the sound in Olympia, Wa. and Portland, or.
It rains a lot but I haven't had any problem with moisture. I has only the two small vents it came with. It sits on RR ties. Norm

 

they sweat like a sumbum in hot weather