Like many others here, I have too much stuff and not enough room for it all.
It's gonna be a few years before I can build my shop.
So I figured I'd buy a shipping container for storage in the meantime.
However, they aren't cheap, they are very heavy and hard to move. For my needs, I decided they were overkill. 40 foot too long, 20 foot too short. There are a LOT of container scams out there, only pay on delivery after inspection...
I finally realized I could buy a dirt cheap camper to use for storage. Once they get water damage or run down, they are practically worthless for their intended use.
I found a 30 foot camper advertised for $500 and picked it up for $300.
Towed it home and put it right where it's going to stay. Unlike a container, it has wheels and a hitch to pull it with.
Put it on stands and deflated the tires.
Pressure washed the outside and gutted the inside.
trailer when I picked it up
Sealed up all the unneeded openings. The biggest issue was the roof. It's an aluminum roof, but was leaking at many of the penetrations.
Removed everything from roof, vents, AC, antennas whatever. Patched up holes with aluminum trim coil and rivets. Sealed all edge and seams with a layer of roofing cement, followed by roofing fabric, and a final coat of cement. Took a couple times but now the roof is water tight.
Aluminum roofs can be fixed fairly easily, rubber roofs not so much when they're really old.
Rubber roofs get hard and cracked and basically start to leak everywhere.
Plan on buying new EPDM roofing rubber and gluing it over existing roof if you go that way. For 10ft x 32 foot .060 thick membrane you're looking at $250 to $300 for the rubber, plus glue and probably termination bars for the edges.
Installed a layer of 3/4 OSB subflooring glued and screwed over existing floor. About $300 for floor. Put a couple coats of floor paint on to seal it.
Pretty happy with the result. 30 foot x 7 foot of clear storage.
looking better after a pressure wash, now to get rid of all the junk...
And the nice thing about trailers, at least where I live, is they are allowed under zoning regulations unlike containers.
They aren't as secure though. A thief could rip a window clear out or pry a door open more easily, but that wasn't a big concern for me.
The last issue is the door size & placement. The doors are only 24 inches wide. Not very useful, I couldn't even get a generator through the door.
So I cut a 54" wide hole where the existing door was, and framed it in angle iron. I used some scrap 2x2 metal tubing to make a door frame. I put plywood on the inside, and 1/4" PVC sheet from Home Depot on the outside. Some welded on door hinges and I had a nice wide ramp door.
I spent some time trying to figure out how to use garage door springs to make the door easy to raise and lower.
I finally just bought a kit from a company that makes them for trailers. Normally, the spring is mounted at the top of the door opening.
But since head height is low in this trailer, I mounted the spring on the other side of the trailer, across from the door. The two cables run along the ceiling and through 2 pulleys at the top of the door opening before angling down to the door. Works like a champ. Purchased from cargosystemsusa.com The coil spring with pulleys, mounts and shaft, cables and brackets ran just over $100 plus shipping. I sent them a label for shipping as my price for paypal shipping was much lower than they could provide. The only other parts I need were the two pulleys at the top of the door opening, those came from Amazon for about $10 each.
I still need to either put in shelving or make them, so I can really utilize the space. But even bare, the space is really useful, and dry!
inside with new floor and gutted
spring/cable system
spring assm mounted on opposite wall from door
It's gonna be a few years before I can build my shop.
So I figured I'd buy a shipping container for storage in the meantime.
However, they aren't cheap, they are very heavy and hard to move. For my needs, I decided they were overkill. 40 foot too long, 20 foot too short. There are a LOT of container scams out there, only pay on delivery after inspection...
I finally realized I could buy a dirt cheap camper to use for storage. Once they get water damage or run down, they are practically worthless for their intended use.
I found a 30 foot camper advertised for $500 and picked it up for $300.
Towed it home and put it right where it's going to stay. Unlike a container, it has wheels and a hitch to pull it with.
Put it on stands and deflated the tires.
Pressure washed the outside and gutted the inside.
trailer when I picked it up
Sealed up all the unneeded openings. The biggest issue was the roof. It's an aluminum roof, but was leaking at many of the penetrations.
Removed everything from roof, vents, AC, antennas whatever. Patched up holes with aluminum trim coil and rivets. Sealed all edge and seams with a layer of roofing cement, followed by roofing fabric, and a final coat of cement. Took a couple times but now the roof is water tight.
Aluminum roofs can be fixed fairly easily, rubber roofs not so much when they're really old.
Rubber roofs get hard and cracked and basically start to leak everywhere.
Plan on buying new EPDM roofing rubber and gluing it over existing roof if you go that way. For 10ft x 32 foot .060 thick membrane you're looking at $250 to $300 for the rubber, plus glue and probably termination bars for the edges.
Installed a layer of 3/4 OSB subflooring glued and screwed over existing floor. About $300 for floor. Put a couple coats of floor paint on to seal it.
Pretty happy with the result. 30 foot x 7 foot of clear storage.
looking better after a pressure wash, now to get rid of all the junk...
And the nice thing about trailers, at least where I live, is they are allowed under zoning regulations unlike containers.
They aren't as secure though. A thief could rip a window clear out or pry a door open more easily, but that wasn't a big concern for me.
The last issue is the door size & placement. The doors are only 24 inches wide. Not very useful, I couldn't even get a generator through the door.
So I cut a 54" wide hole where the existing door was, and framed it in angle iron. I used some scrap 2x2 metal tubing to make a door frame. I put plywood on the inside, and 1/4" PVC sheet from Home Depot on the outside. Some welded on door hinges and I had a nice wide ramp door.
I spent some time trying to figure out how to use garage door springs to make the door easy to raise and lower.
I finally just bought a kit from a company that makes them for trailers. Normally, the spring is mounted at the top of the door opening.
But since head height is low in this trailer, I mounted the spring on the other side of the trailer, across from the door. The two cables run along the ceiling and through 2 pulleys at the top of the door opening before angling down to the door. Works like a champ. Purchased from cargosystemsusa.com The coil spring with pulleys, mounts and shaft, cables and brackets ran just over $100 plus shipping. I sent them a label for shipping as my price for paypal shipping was much lower than they could provide. The only other parts I need were the two pulleys at the top of the door opening, those came from Amazon for about $10 each.
I still need to either put in shelving or make them, so I can really utilize the space. But even bare, the space is really useful, and dry!
inside with new floor and gutted
spring/cable system
spring assm mounted on opposite wall from door
