Steel overhang off a shipping container workshop

[GroundEffex]

Curious if anyone knows if this Overhang could actually work in the real world.
We are considering of adding this to our shipping container.
The overhang would be made of tube steel. If anyone has recommendations on thickness/dimensions of the tube steel would be appreciated!!
We would just be screwing sheet metal roofing on top of what you see.
Each section is 3ft except for the last one being closer to 2ft.
We live in Northern New Jersey. We do get some snow, but i can have someone scrape the snow off each storm.
Also trying to keep cost low. We are just looking for a spot to store plows, excavator/skid steer/attachments/outdoor work area.
Thanks!!!!
Edit: the overhang is 8ft in length and is on a 20ft shipping container

 

[finn]

Not where I live..

It would have been on the ground half way before the first winter event.

Even with no snow, a wind event would have the container laying on its side with the uplift forces if it didn’t rip the overhang off first.

 

[GroundEffex]

Not where I live..

It would have been on the ground half way before the first winter event.

Even with no snow, a wind event would have the container laying on its side with the uplift forces if it didn’t rip the overhang off first.

something i also forgot to mention is that the container is insulated inside, as well as metal sheeting inside as walls between the container and insulation.
we think it weighs an extra 2000lbs.
do you think that wind could still be an issue?
winds do pick up in the area here and there.

 

[no704]

Put some poles on the wall your mounting awning to and run cables from the other wall to the end of the overhang.

 

[GroundEffex]

Put some poles on the wall your mounting awning to and run cables from the other wall to the end of the overhang.

Put poles under each rafter?

 

[Steve W.]

Put poles under each rafter?

That might be a bit of overkill, not to mention awkward.

Depending on the strength of the outer frame, I would consider a pole at each end and another in the center.

.

 

[GroundEffex]

That might be a bit of overkill, not to mention awkward.

Depending on the strength of the outer frame, I would consider a pole at each end and another in the center.

.

okay thanks!

 

[finn]

something i also forgot to mention is that the container is insulated inside, as well as metal sheeting inside as walls between the container and insulation.
we think it weighs an extra 2000lbs.
do you think that wind could still be an issue?
winds do pick up in the area here and there.

Mobile /manufactured homes are tethered, and I have seen several semi trailers toppled.

The awning is going to catch a lot of wind, which will produce a lot of uplift.

 

[GroundEffex]

Mobile /manufactured homes are tethered, and I have seen several semi trailers toppled.

The awning is going to catch a lot of wind, which will produce a lot of uplift.

So are you saying to run a tether straight to the ground from the end of the overhang each side?
Or do I tether the opposite side of the shipping container?
Or both lol
Thanks for the replies!
Edit: also what type of tube steel should I use for this project? Rectangle/square? And what thickness?

 

[finn]

Shipping container for sure, but the overhang needs some support.posts and a header across the end, too.

It’s just waving in the wind as proposed.

 

[LopezBart]

Knowing the amount of wind at your location is critical. If you're sheltered in the woods, you have a very different situation than being in the open. Your county will have wind numbers suitable for design.

As others have noted, support posts at the end are critical. You can use ground anchors to pull the awning down onto the posts; this can avoid using a bunch of concrete to keep the posts down.

 

[NUTTSGT]

How are you planning on attaching the frame to the shipping container ?

 

[Hank11]

You might think about extending the overhang over the building so you get a sunshade for the building and a patio. With a little overhang on the backside, you could put up a gutter that would keep the back of the building dryer and cleaner. I’d tilt it so the backside is lower and go ahead and make it steep enough that the snow will slide off.

I‘d get somebody to weld some big tabs on the corners and maybe right in the middle and then bolt on wooden framing. It’ll be a lot easier unless you already have steel and can weld it yourself.

 

[Rc_Guy]

snow load or no snow load?

 

[PCustoms]

Man, knowing location would be pretty useful here...

Looks too flimsy. Needs to tie in further back on the container and/or supports

 

[steves_001]

Can you just create a standalone awning similar to what Randy in AZ did? Then no worries about the container.

 

[strength_and_power]

something i also forgot to mention is that the container is insulated inside, as well as metal sheeting inside as walls between the container and insulation.
we think it weighs an extra 2000lbs.
do you think that wind could still be an issue?
winds do pick up in the area here and there.

My old gym had two shipping containers with old gym equipment in them, more than 2,000#s. Between the two containers, they ran cable and camo netting/tarp. The wind shifted the containers. It’d definitely be a concern. They were just sitting on a concrete parking area.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Man, knowing location would be pretty useful here...

Looks too flimsy. Needs to tie in further back on the container and/or supports

. . . .

We live in Northern New Jersey. We do get some snow, but i can have someone scrape the snow off each storm.
Also trying to keep cost low. We are just looking for a spot to store plows, excavator/skid steer/attachments/outdoor work area.
Thanks!!!!
Edit: the overhang is 8ft in length and is on a 20ft shipping container

He doesn't have it in his LOCATION of his profile but did mention it in his first post.

I don't think what he has drawn on Sketch-up is going to work. I believe it's going to take way more than simply hanging a roof off the one side of his shipping container.

Unfortunately, I've seen videos on Youtube of people designing stuff with Sketch-up and other programs. Just because you can draw something up, doesn't mean it's going to work. It's the new version of "it looks good on paper" in my opinion.

 

[andyvh1959]

Mobile /manufactured homes are tethered, and I have seen several semi trailers toppled.

The awning is going to catch a lot of wind, which will produce a lot of uplift.

How about create the overhang so it is above the top of the container by 6", overlapping the top about 6" to 12". Then if there is a wind event the gap allows the wind to "vent" under the overhang. The overhang still provides the weather protection without being a "sail".

 

[Fixr]

Curious if anyone knows if this Overhang could actually work in the real world.
We are considering of adding this to our shipping container.
The overhang would be made of tube steel. If anyone has recommendations on thickness/dimensions of the tube steel would be appreciated!!
We would just be screwing sheet metal roofing on top of what you see.
Each section is 3ft except for the last one being closer to 2ft.
We live in Northern New Jersey. We do get some snow, but i can have someone scrape the snow off each storm.
Also trying to keep cost low. We are just looking for a spot to store plows, excavator/skid steer/attachments/outdoor work area.
Thanks!!!!
Edit: the overhang is 8ft in length and is on a 20ft shipping container

Have you noticed any buildings, much less a container, with that much roof cantilevered off of it like that and attached like that? There's a reason you haven't - they all collapsed. Your structure would need to be much much stronger than what your sketch shows. A freestanding carport would make more sense.

 

[LXCam]

I’d do the opposite for supporting it. If you have the metal working ability to cut long angles in 2” x 3” tubing (16ga). I’d frame this like a truss with three 2ft tall 1/8” wall stanchions welded to the perimeter top rail then the bottom cord supported by the upper cord with a kicker back to the opposite side wall. One dead center and the other two, 2ft in.

Like this


I know, I know. Don’t be jealous of my photoshop skills. It’s taken years of halfassedness to get this good.

If you’re really concerned about uplift, I’d absolutely do what Andy suggested with extending and a gap at the wall transition.

 

[andyvh1959]

Or do what I have seen on mobile homes down in Louisiana, where they build a free standing gable roof over the entire mobile home, with an air gap underneath. It provides the extension for a carport, but also creates a shaded air gap over the mobile home roof, allowing air flow underneath, and heat off the mobile home roof underneath. For that matter it would also offer open air storage underneath the gable roof.

 

[jblnut]

We live in Northern New Jersey. We do get some snow, but i can have someone scrape the snow off each storm.

Before you build a roof of any kind see if you can get someone to go up and shovel your container roof off when it snows. I bet exactly no one will want to go on a slippery metal surface and shovel snow.

So.

Whatever you end up doing design it to hold as much snow as you’ve ever gotten so it won’t collapse when you end up not shoveling it off.

I agree with others in here that it’s a bad idea to create a giant sail on a structure like that. It won’t end well.

Is there room to place another container and a build a roof between them ? There are prefab kits out there that make it easy.

 

[Joemctag]

Not where I live..

It would have been on the ground half way before the first winter event.

Even with no snow, a wind event would have the container laying on its side with the uplift forces if it didn’t rip the overhang off first.

The snow doesn’t care about me or you. It’s not going to give you time to remove it. Maximum load would be after it fell. I hear people who don’t understand this and think the structure has to get tired and not fail til after awhhile. Thats not how it works. It gets overloaded, it can go down at any time . But if it can support the anticipated snow, then everything is fine. You don’t even have to remove the snos unless more is coming on top of that.

 

[NUTTSGT]

OP hasn't been back in almost 2 months. Not sure but some what typical of new members...ask a question and gone, especially if they don't like the answers given.

I'd like to see what he came up with and if it held up to the snow this year.

 

[finn]

The snow doesn’t care about me or you. It’s not going to give you time to remove it. Maximum load would be after it fell. I hear people who don’t understand this and think the structure has to get tired and not fail til after awhhile. Thats not how it works. It gets overloaded, it can go down at any time . But if it can support the anticipated snow, then everything is fine. You don’t even have to remove the snos unless more is coming on top of that.

That’s why people in snow country often clear their roof multiple times during the winter. My late father in law’s rule was to clear after every 100 inches of accumulation, so twice a winter. It’s usually pretty late in the season by the time the third hundred inches fall, and the days are longer, so there’s more melting from the sun.

More snow ALWAYS comes in snow country. Winter is a season long event, and there’s rarely a thaw, so it accumulates.

I don’t quite know where you’re coming from, though. It’s not uncommon for the roof on hundred year old buildings to collapse.
An elderly relative lives in a lake house we own. It was built in 1941. He called a couple of winters ago to ask if I knew anyone who could shovel the accumulated snow off. It was creaking under the snow load. He used to do it a couple of times per winter, but being in his eighties, he couldn’t do it anymore.

That spring, when we returned for the summer, I personally counted 58 collapsed roofs in Northern Wisconsin and the UP. They weren’t all new construction. It wasn’t a normal winter.

 

[denis4x4]

Buy another container and do what I did. See my avatar.

 

[finn]

Buy another container and do what I did. See my avatar.

That, in my opinion, is the way to do it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

That, in my opinion, is the way to do it.

I won't disagree. Honestly, if you are going to do one container, might as well do 2 containers. . . . If you have the room.