Sweat occurs when live plant tissue become equal in moisture.  If you plan on storing hay in a cargo container, sprinkle salt along the floor to keep the moisture level down.  The only true fix is to make sure there’s adequate ventilation.  If you purchase a cargo container with the idea of storing hay inside, always check the moisture content.  Above 20% means you could have a fire erupt.  Also, think about purchasing an extra add-on for your shipping container in the form of a turbine vent.  This will keep air-flow passing through and around the interior of your cargo container, keeping your stored hay fresh and dry for your animal friends.

In the high country of Oregon, one gentleman had two cargo containers air lifted to him because the terrain wasn’t semi-truck friendly.  One 48′ shipping container was morphed into his home “for use now”….the other for his home “after the Big One”…whatever he considered the “Big One” to be.  He had a big hole dug, and ocean container two was buried.  It’s stocked with a food supply, water, first aid, he has a rudimentary electrical system, a generator, everything he needs to survive the catastrophe which undoubtedly is expected to happen.  An underground tunnel connects his upper cargo container house to the lower one. 

If you have thoughts of doing the same, we do have people who can tell you how to go about ventilating and electrifying a shipping container.  Some can even be fitted with a basic plumbing system.  A shipping container could be the best hedge you have between survival and becoming a anarchy statistic.  So says the man in eastern Oregon from his cargo container bunker.

Sea containers on the farm can be seen standing in fields or near barns.  Holding farm implements and often crops themselves for short term storage, they often hold animal feed or tack for horses.  The ambitious farmer even builds a workshop to repair farm equipment out of cargo containers. 

All in all, sea containers offer the population many alternative ideas for storage or living solutions.

In some parts of the world, the 1950′s is still going on, although not as neatly or homey as it did in the real era of the baby-boomer.  A shipping container to buy, can cost anywhere from $2,000.00 to about $5,000.00, depending if it’s used, new or your region.  That’s less than a manufactured home, which is still cheaper than buying a stick built home.  In some parts of the world, a cargo container is even less, but you pay for that luxury.  Often rusted through with holes and gouges, these ocean containers are patched like a quilt, offloaded where a squatter says to put it, and there it sits.  People move in and now you have home sweet home.  Some South American communities are so inundated with cargo containers piled next to each other and often on top of each other, that the site resembles a Where’s Waldo puzzle.  How does one find their “home” in all of that?  And so the stigma continues, although now it’s for cargo container living. 

The shipping container homes that are truly beautiful are a sight to behold.  It’s often very difficult to tell if what you’re looking at is actually a cargo container!  But these are still in the minority.  While the actual purchase of a cargo container is small, you still need the land and a competent architect/designer to check on psi loads and to get you beyond the local permit regulations.  Still, the monetary savings is nearly in everyone’s reach (however, with the recent economic turmoil even this is debatable).  Would you set up housekeeping in a cargo container?  I honestly can say I would truly consider it.  And depending on how our ecomonic woe turns out, we might all be considering that option.  It’s an idea that should be thought out.  Perhaps all of our thinking needs to take a different route now.  Recycle what we have and save hard earned money in the process.  Maybe that should be the new mindset.

You’ll need a pressure washer for this job.  With a straight mixture of bleach, pressure wash the interior of your shipping container for a good 30 minutes.  Pressure wash the floor until a small amount is stripped.  Once that’s done, sprinkle a 3 lb can of coffee on the floor, shut the doors, and leave it alone all night.  The next day sweep it out, and that will leave the cargo container smelling, well, of nothing at all except for maybe a hint of coffee.  You won’t even smell the bleach that was used.

There’s nothing more noxious than a smell that’s unrecognizable and just awful.  Shipping containers can stay smelling clean if you follow the above steps.

Because shipping containers are in a modular design, adding new construction is as simple as stacking more containers on top of each other.  Designed with an interlocking system they can be easily connected together and in some countries can be found stacked 12 high to form apartments.

When you compare cost of erecting a stick built home to cargo containers, you’ll find them inexpensive.  Shipping containers don’t require the bigger and more expensive foundations needed by brick and mortar buildings.  Construction involves little in the way of labor since a shipping container requires only small changes.  Cargo containers can be purchased from companies that specialize in used, quality units, such as West Coast Containers.  Many buildings have already gone up utilizing the sea container.  There might be one in your neighborhood someday!

All in all, with the price of housing and the need for affordable dwellings, it makes only good sense to use cargo containers for something other than storage.

Check the surface rust that you might see.  A cargo container from us is made of nickle based, cor-ten steel.  Not all steel containers are.  Cor-ten steel keeps the rust from eating through to the inside.  Some minor surface rust is easily to get rid of and is to be expected from a cargo container that has been at sea.

Make sure that the doors to the cargo container open and shut with relative ease.  Shipping containers have double swing doors at one end, and they’re quite heavy.  If the doors aren’t easy to manuver, then you can’t fill the shipping container with the goods you have, or get to them when you need to.  The doors might need to be realigned and/or have the hinges lubricated (something that should be on a maintenance schedule once you purchase your cargo container.

The floors of a GradeA class cargo container are always in good condition.  There may be some scratches and a small amount of staining, but overall their condition is good.  Made of polymarine, ship plank wood, these floors are known for their durability.  Floors should be straight without buckling of warping of any kind.

Nothing can be worse then opening the doors on a cargo container only to be hit with the aroma of something less than desirable.  Imagine storing your goods in that for months on end?  Make absolutely sure that except for the scent of the wood flooring, nothing else is present.  A good company, such as West Coast Containers, will have made sure that any lingering odors were gotten rid of once the cargo container entered their yard.

Round out your cargo container inspection with a check of the door seals.  These heavy, rubber seals are what keeps the rain (and elements in general) from attacking what you’re trying to keep dry.  Seals can become damaged when unaligned doors are forced shut, and can become cracked and useless due to climate.  Make absolutley sure that these seals are still pliable and able to keep out water, making your cargo container the storage option you’ll be happy with.

From Nickle Folsham in Houston 77092:

“Wife thought I better write to thank-you for the storage container box we had delivered two weeks ago.  We bought it with the idea that after the stomr, some folks might be thinking about helping themselfs to our merchandise.  We bought a 40foot shipping container box and put it behind our store.  Glad we did, because in ourt stretch of the street some folks were picked up for doing just that.  We have some fix up to do, but our merchandise won’t need to be replaced.  Thank you and I can’t say that enough to Merrily where we bought the box.  West Coast Containers gets ourt approval!”