leveling ground for shipping container

[ffjosh]

Im wanting to make a shop out of a shipping container.

Im going to get 2 40 footers and put them 20-30 foot apart.

My plan was to leve the area and put down lime stone. Use a regular yard roller and use it to smash down the stone. Let it set for a while, add a little stone and roll it again.

Then set my container on there and build the shop later and concrete between them.

Someone told me I should worry about them settling and twisting my shop and that I should concrete the entire thing.

Do you think I will have problems? The ground is a lot of clay.

I also thought about pouring concrete footers at each corner and graveling the rest.

I will be using this to store misc tools, lawnmower ect and one will always have a truck or suv in it.

 

[Cheap5.0]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

I have used 2 shipping containers at work to store things in. While they are not on sod/soil, and they sat on a crushed concrete parking lot....they have never settled over the years.

 

[kbs2244]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

Are you in frost county?
I would like to see at least six, preferably eight, concrete piers per container down below the frost line.
That will keep everything level and square while you are doing your gravel work.
When concrete time comes you will have a point to level with.

 

[rsanter]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

if you were just setting them there and using them I wouldnt worry about it. but if you are building on that I would.
to me I think I would lay out some gravel and rent a compactor and go at it. generally if you reach over 90% compaction you should have a very stable base

bob

 

[Will67]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

Well since you did say lots of clay...I would excavate a minimum of 4" down below where you want finish grade to be and pour a base rock material and compact it. Pouring corner footings would aid in preventing sinking.

 

[Mmfh]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

We have a very high clay content out here, I set my container down on top of about 6" of gravel. Took a bobcat and graded down about 6" and got it as level as I could be eye.
Layed down a layer of 3/4"-, a couple of inches or so. Then on top of that I put a layer of pea gravel, run a compactor over that for about an hour.

I set the container directly down on the gravel and found it moves, to much to run machinery in there that needs to stay level. My surface grinder which needs to stay level was always changing so I moved it out of there and now its my wood shop.

If you are going to put a roof between the two containers and sitting on top of them I would think you would want to pour a pad first or at least 6 footings.

If you didn't it probably wouldn't hurt anything, but it might creak and groan from time to time when temperature and humidity changes.

Now granted you probably are not worried about it staying absolutely level all the time, but it gives you an idea of what to expect.

Mm

 

[ffjosh]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

Are you in frost county?
I would like to see at least six, preferably eight, concrete piers per container down below the frost line.
That will keep everything level and square while you are doing your gravel work.
When concrete time comes you will have a point to level with.

I was thinking just 1 at each corner. I don't see the middle of them sinking since a shipping container is all one peice...

I was going to do the gravel work before getting the container

 

[ffjosh]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

To respond to everyone else...

Im going to have a lot of yard work done with a bulldozer so it will all be fresh packed clay when I start.

I like the idea of using a compactor.

Maybe I will just lay down some gravel and go over it with a compactor. Maybe lay down some smaller stone and comact it as well?

would be afraid of it moving when I drive in and out equipment but the biggest thing I own is a suv weighing 6k.

Im still debating on making a metal flat style roof and linking both containers together welding in beams or just using wood truss's so I have a bigger roof and or loft.

Im trying to save money by not putting down too much concrete but I also don't want to have issues in 5 years

 

[ibedayank]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

I was thinking just 1 at each corner. I don't see the middle of them sinking since a shipping container is all one peice...

I was going to do the gravel work before getting the container

Yeah try a 40 foot span that has nothing in between and find out how far the middle will buckle/sag when you fill it up

take a 8 foot 2x4 and place it on blocks then stand on it in the middle...
and see what happens

there has to be airflow under the containers or on WELL drainable as in no standing water or the container will rust out

 

[ffjosh]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

Yeah try a 40 foot span that has nothing in between and find out how far the middle will buckle/sag when you fill it up

take a 8 foot 2x4 and place it on blocks then stand on it in the middle...
and see what happens

there has to be airflow under the containers or on WELL drainable as in no standing water or the container will rust out

Do you think a trailer that can hold 80,000 lbs would bunckle with 10-15k at most in it?

Another reason I want to set it on gravel is for drainage as well.

 

[RAYJAY]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

To respond to everyone else...

Im going to have a lot of yard work done with a bulldozer so it will all be fresh packed clay when I start.

I like the idea of using a compactor.

Maybe I will just lay down some gravel and go over it with a compactor. Maybe lay down some smaller stone and comact it as well?

would be afraid of it moving when I drive in and out equipment but the biggest thing I own is a suv weighing 6k.

Im still debating on making a metal flat style roof and linking both containers together welding in beams or just using wood truss's so I have a bigger roof and or loft.

Im trying to save money by not putting down too much concrete but I also don't want to have issues in 5 years

IF YOUR PUTTING THE SUV IN THE CONTAINER I WOULD SEE IF IT WILL FIT ....

YOU MAY BE LIKE A NASCAR DRIVER GETTING IN AND OUT OF IT

 

[tncatadjuster]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

I have two that I bought 15 years ago, and have had no problem with them setting on regular dirt. If you want you could put concrete parking bumpers around as a perimeter footing, that is what I used for my shop at home. Getting them set up properly would be a little work unless you have a fork lift. When they delivered mine they just slid them off. I have moved them once with a friends D6 cat.

 

[ffjosh]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

IF YOUR PUTTING THE SUV IN THE CONTAINER I WOULD SEE IF IT WILL FIT ....

YOU MAY BE LIKE A NASCAR DRIVER GETTING IN AND OUT OF IT

haha ya its a tight fit in a car, suv might have to sit in the shop and my car in the container lol

 

[ibedayank]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

Do you think a trailer that can hold 80,000 lbs would bunckle with 10-15k at most in it?

Another reason I want to set it on gravel is for drainage as well.

trailer can NOT hold 80,000 of cargo
80,000 it TOATAL weight tractor load fuel trailer and driver
and thats NOT a container thats a trailer
and semi trailers are not flat when not loaded are arched up
when loaded flatten out like a spring


if going to enclose/roof just do a fullsize slab and don't worry about it
hopefully you are not in the frost zone

frost/frozen ground is good at moving building/foundations

 

[ffjosh]

Re: leveling ground for shipping countainer

trailer can NOT hold 80,000 of cargo
80,000 it TOATAL weight tractor load fuel trailer and driver
and thats NOT a container thats a trailer
and semi trailers are not flat when not loaded are arched up
when loaded flatten out like a spring


if going to enclose/roof just do a fullsize slab and don't worry about it
hopefully you are not in the frost zone

frost/frozen ground is good at moving building/foundations

Im in a frost zone. I would think they could hold that muck since they get stack 4 high.

The more I think about it I may not go this route lol

 

[Capt Chrysler]

We have one setting on 4 railroad ties. No big deal.

Capt Chrysler

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

We have one setting on 4 railroad ties. No big deal.

Capt Chrysler

x2

When I put mine in my back yard, the ground was completely untouched other than cutting down a couple of trees to make room. It's been sitting on four chunks of hardwood logs for almost 10 years. I know they will rot eventually. I built up a bit up a ramp to the doorway.
With some stuff inside and the empty weight of the box itself being 8k, I don't think you have to worry too much about it moving. I've never had mine move and I drive my 2500lb tractor and other lawn equipment in and out of it and have even put a smaller car inside (Ford Tempo) when I was desparate to not be outside working in the rain.

 

[ffjosh]

Thanks for all the help. I may still get a shipping container but it probably won't be for a shop.

I think for now im just going to build a 24x24 garage to get me by for a while.

Then after I save some more money build another 24x24 shop with a lift strictly for working on things

 

[NUTTSGT]

If it was mine, I'd have something more permanent like concrete piers to sit on if you're planning on building a shop between them. Just using them as storage, I'd sit them on gravel.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Thanks for all the help. I may still get a shipping container but it probably won't be for a shop.

I think for now im just going to build a 24x24 garage to get me by for a while.

Then after I save some more money build another 24x24 shop with a lift strictly for working on things

I'd build the first garage (if it's unattached) with the design of being able to add on it at a later date.

 

[Capt Chrysler]

x2

When I put mine in my back yard, the ground was completely untouched other than cutting down a couple of trees to make room. It's been sitting on four chunks of hardwood logs for almost 10 years. I know they will rot eventually. I built up a bit up a ramp to the doorway.
With some stuff inside and the empty weight of the box itself being 8k, I don't think you have to worry too much about it moving. I've never had mine move and I drive my 2500lb tractor and other lawn equipment in and out of it and have even put a smaller car inside (Ford Tempo) when I was desparate to not be outside working in the rain.

A 65 - 100 mph wind will slide it off the ties, till the corner digs into the ground. She was empty at the time.

Only problem now is that there are less for sale, and they want more money!


Capt. Chrysler

 

[denis4x4]

Glad I didn't know about the GJ 8 years ago! Had a couple of 20 containers dropped on the ground and installed trusses and a roof over them to create a covered parking space and secure storage. Slight bit of settling on one corner in the first three months. A 10 ton bottle jack and some concrete blocks fixed the problem.

 

[Zeke]

Thanks for all the help. I may still get a shipping container but it probably won't be for a shop.

I think for now im just going to build a 24x24 garage to get me by for a while.

Then after I save some more money build another 24x24 shop with a lift strictly for working on things

Well, you got talked out this pretty easily. If you go back to the idea, I would build any connecting roof structure with slip joints.

 

[ibedayank]

containers are great for storage
but being I am a YANK I have seen what frost can and will do
seen a frost heave swallow the front of a rig in the yards gravel lot
tip mobilehomes on their sides because the pilliars sank into the ground.


build on a good slab and forget about **** moving
but then I over build stuff because I hate having to redo things

 

[kbs2244]

The basic idea is a good one.
It has been done from Florida to Alberta.
But you are trying to cut corners on the foundation,
and that is the worst place since everything sits on it.

A bulldozer will not pack the ground.
Tracks were invented to spread the weight and avoid packing.
If you have heavy equipment available, after leveling get a “sheep’s foot.”
It is designed to do your packing.
Then your gravel and piers.

Houses are basically empty boxes.
Furniture doesn’t weigh much and most of us like our “space.”

But a shop is different.
Big tools are heavy.
Stacks of steel are heavy.
Without good support a container shop will sag.

 

[ffjosh]

But you are trying to cut corners on the foundation,

This....

I really need a 40x40 slab of cement with some footers atleast on the end. Its crazy expensive.

I can build a 24x24 for around $9k with concrete.

The containers where going to be about $5k for two them them, then 40x40 concrete is roughly $6k. Then another $2k for steel to attach both containers. Then I have to paint it and stuff. So $13k and I still only have a 24x40 shop but with lots of storage. Im sure steel and wood would be more then $2k though. So maybe $15k +


or I can do a 24x24 and get by for a couple years and then build another 24x24 strictly for a shop. I may have 18k into it but I think it will be better in the end to have my parking area and shop area separate.

 

[ibedayank]

24x24 is small for a shop
I have stuff i work on that just will not fit because its longer than 24 feet
hope you only plan on working on cars or regular cab trucks

 

[SuperSocket]

Yeah try a 40 foot span that has nothing in between and find out how far the middle will buckle/sag when you fill it up

take a 8 foot 2x4 and place it on blocks then stand on it in the middle...
and see what happens

there has to be airflow under the containers or on WELL drainable as in no standing water or the container will rust out

Not sure if you know how shipping containers work or not....


Shipping containers have four points of loading, on each corner and on top each corner. They are designed to be lifted and supported soley on the four points, this is how they load them, this is how they offload and transport them.

We run other types of equipment in containers and design specifications calls only for four piers. Additional piers will not hurt, but is also not necessary especially if you are far below the rated capacity.


A standard 40 foot dry container has a capacity loading of 63,491 lbs... there are even more higher capacity units out there. A flat track container can hold 85,800 lbs and a platform container can hold 86,397 lbs.



If you are planning on loading only a faction of the weight (suv and or some equipment), I would really not worry.


I would also not worry about deep concrete piers or piers at all, as the weight will be very well distributed along the base (remember, surface area x weight). A lot of loaded containers are set down for months at a time on gravel or dirt yards... sometimes even stacked... so I would not be too overly worried about the whole concept.


EDIT: Your 2x4 argument would have worked had you worked out the same ratio to load and capacity and if you engineered the wood for additional strength. A 200lb persons standing on a 2x4 face flat at 8' span would be far over 150% of it's capacity... that would be the equivalent of putting over 100,000 lbs in a container and holding onto its ends.

 

[slickgt1]

I see them standing on the ground all the time. I really don't see a problem of them moving. I say go for it if you have the space. Connect them and all that. When time comes for you pick them up, for you cement, or place footers, you can always jack them up. I would do it without even worrying too much about anything else. Those things are heavy duty. If you rivet and weld steel beams to them, the will be that much more connected. Go for it. Great base for storage and your shop.

 

[Jetvette]

We have 5 - 40 footers on the farm for various storage needs. All flat on the ground, no footings, no gravel, less than 6" rain a year. The only problem I have with one of them is the door end is not level (Left to right) and we have to kick the latch closed. So for my 2 cents worth of experience, make sure your door end is level. Otherwise, if you live in a wet climate, lay in a gravel bed with some drainage system. I wouldn't worry about the wind except one time in Wyoming I saw a drilling rig tip over. I also have a rather crude wood canopy over the 25 ft space between 2 of them, attached with some welded angle steel clips with bolts thru the wood, put up a wind wall and made a nice storage space. One word of warning, the containers are air tight so we don't allow storage of fuels/oils or volatile fluids, including vehicles with engines and gas tanks due to the flamable level of the air. I have seen other folks plug in a roof vent, but without a positive air flow/circulation, I recommend against such storage uses. Good luck from another "frugal" farm boy on a limited budget.