There are many types of shipping container conversions, some of which we have detailed in previous posts. One of the most common, but maybe one of the most technical is for chemical or hazardous good storage.
Chemical stores are a specialist conversion that have to take into account what is actually going to be stored in them. At the very least they normally will have a bunded aluminium anti spark floor so that spillage is kept within the container and there is no danger of a spark from the metal floor igniting any flammable liquid.
chemical store with bund
This is fine for storing items that do not weigh very much but very difficult if the chemical store is to store large barrels of liquid - such as diesel on a building site for example. For that a sump is fitted below the floor level with meshed guttering around the sides of the floor for any spilt liquid to drain through.
chemical store guttering
This obviously makes it much easier to move the barrels in and out of the container as there is no need to lift them over the raised bund - although it does make the chemical store more expensive as it is much more work to fit this sunken sump. Any liquid spills can be drained away through the use of a tap on the outside of the container so they can be safely disposed of.
Chemical or Dangerous Good Stores are, as I said, a particularly tecnhnical area of
container conversion and in our next blog we will deal with some more of the elements that need to be considered when customising the chemical store for use.
Shipping Containers provided the answer to much need storage for PE kit for High View Primary Learning Centre in Barnsley.
20ft shipping container conversion
The school needed a storage container nearer to the school playing fields so that equipment was easily accessed. In order to make sure that the children had no problems opening the doors, a personnel door was put in th centre of one of the sides and the double container doors sealed off for added security. Inside the container was shelved so that there was plenty of storage space.
shipping container conversion close up
CS Shipping Containers is particularly keen to work with schools and can arrange for delivery before the school day starts if this makes it easier. Do feel that if you have any specific requirements for your shipping container conversion that you can talk it through with us so that you can get exactly what you need.
“I’d recommend CS Shipping Containers to any school without hesitation. All the staff, from sales through to delivery, provided a first rate service and ensured that the container met our exact specifications.”
Tim Marsh, Business Manager, High View Primary Learning Centre
Shipping Containers and Halloween may seem to you an unlikely combination. I certainly have to admit that it is not the first thing that springs to my mind! However, Susan has been plotting all week to produce a halloween picture for the 31st October. I personally think it has something to do with her American family’s influence.
halloween shipping container
I can’t really see us getting many requests for this as a shipping container conversion but you never know!!
For those of you familiar with the prefixes on containers that indicate the shipping line the container was manufactured for we did think of a pun especially for halloween. This container would have to have the POCU prefix - so we could really say Hocus pocus and make you groan!
Anyway, have a great weekend!
Yesterday we discussed the process of ordering a shipping container conversion. Today I promised that we would go through some of the options that you might want to consider when converting your container.
If the container is going to be used as an office, site accommodation or a classroom, the first thing is to insulate and line it. The most common method of doing this is with a combination of rockwool and melamine faced board. This produces nice smooth walls and ceilings - although you can choose to have wall paper or a painted finish if you require. Flooring is generally placed over the existing wooden shipping container floor. The most common is a hard wearing lino although carpet (and in particular carpet tiles) are another favourite.
10 ft office conversion
The next thing to consider is the number of windows required. For a 20ft container the normal requirement is between 2 and 4 windows and for a 40ft 4 or 8 windows. The windows can be double glazed and are normally 3ftx3ft with lockable steel shutters for security. As far as access is concered it is quite common for the double shipping container doors to either be sealed off or replaced with a blank end and personnel door put into the container - usually on one of the long sides.
Shipping containers are then ideally suited to be fitted with electrics, lighting and heating. Specify the number of double or single sockets you require and, if possible, where they are to be located within the container.
shipping container conversion
Do remember too that it is perfectly possible to have containers joined together along the length to give additional width. Bespoke Container Conversions are able to do this with up to 5 containers and then go up to 7 storeys high due to the strength of the corner posts of a genuine ISO shipping container.
These are just the basic alterations that you can have to a shipping container. Plumbing, glass frontage, internal bulkheads and air conditioning are also possibilities - in fact most things are possible so don’t be afraid to ask. And if you are looking for something temporary on a short term basis, don’t forget that standard offices and site accommodation are available on a hire basis as well.
Shipping Containers are a fantastic start point for all sorts of conversions. They can be converted into so many different things - some of which we have featured in earlier posts.
Site accommodation, offices, classrooms, housing complexes and workshops are but a few of the shipping container conversions that are available.
shipping container conversion - cargo container city
How then, do you go about planning your own bespoke container conversion? The first step obviously involves working out exactly what sort of conversion you require. You should then ring some companies specialising in shipping container conversions and ask them for advice and to help you draw up a final specification. Sometimes drawings are a good idea as it enables you - and them - to know exactly what is required and for you to agree on what you want produced and at what price. Often you can have specific items detailed such as windows, personnel doors etc so that you can decide within budget how many you need or can afford. Don’t forget that containers can be joined together to provide larger spaces.
Our next post will go through some of the modifications you can make to a shipping container that you may like to consider if you are planning turning a shipping container into an office, home or even a series of workshops.
Shipping Containers are, as we have discussed in previous posts, ideal for use in emergency situations. They are frequently used in Australia and New Zealand for emergency housing and the Red Cross in America used them extensively in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.
Flooding
The floods in North Lancashire and Cumbria mean that many people are going to be looking for emergency container storage for household items. Most firms will guarantee their containers to be wind and watertight, and as shipping containers are designed to withstand marine conditions they are ideal for storage after the storms and flooding that happened at the weekend. Offices and site accommodation in the form of conversions made out of shipping containers are also likely to help out local businesses.
20ft container
10ft container
Obviously, the storage containers will not be needed for long periods of time so container hire is an option that should be considered. Often insurance companies will organise this for their clients. If you are looking to hire a container yourself, you should remember that the initial invoice will normally be for the first period of hire (normally a month) together with the delivery and collection haulage. Therefore if the haulage was £150 the first invoice would be for £150 x 2 = £300.
Condensation solutions are also available in the form of moisture traps and additional security can be provided through lock boxes and insurance approved CISA padlocks.
Regular readers will know that we have been working hard on our new website. It is designed to be easy to navigate around and give easily accessible information on shipping containers.
Today we have launched the almost completed site. It does not have all the photographs that we had planned as yet, but does have some unique features such as a section on FAQ specifically relating to refrigerated containers - some of which we featured in last weeks blog.
There are specific sections on containers for secure storage, shipping which explain all the things you need to know when purchasing a shipping container to use in these ways. There is also sections specifically designed for different applications such as companies, individuals, education etc. Container Conversions also have a special section which we will continually update with new ideas and projects.
Let us know what you think of the new site and bear with us as we update our shipping container images. Any ideas you have on how we can improve things we would love to hear.
You may remember last Friday we featured shipping container cartoons set in Wales, Scotland and Ireland and completely left out England altogether. Well, in order to redress the balance we are going to fly the flag for England in this post and apologise to all of you who thought we were showing an unreasonable celtic bias! But first the Union Jack.
Before we go onto Susan’s brillant cartoons, here is a 20ft container with a fantastic paint job! I just couldn’t resist it. Imagine having this at the olympic games 2012 in a big wall featuring shipping containers with all the competing nations flags around one of the venues. It would certainly be pretty amazing and very colourful!
Not to be outdone, Susan just dashed off a couple of very quick sketches of how she would see steel containers being used in London. What this girl can turn out in a few minutes using a couple of felt tips and a piece of paper puts Blue Peter to shame!!
Anyway, I do hope that this redresses the national balance for all of you who felt that we had neglected England in our shipping container gallery of cartoons. Next week we are going back to - by popular demand - featuring some interesting conversions that we have seen. Mind you next week is going to be pretty busy as we hopefully launch our new website so we may just get a bit distracted by that and do something else altogether. Hope you all have a good weekend!
So, carrying on from the questions we answered yesterday on refrigerated containers, we have the more technical aspect here. A big thanks to Kev for getting these through to us in a way that we had a chance of understanding.
What power does a refrigerated container require?
Most marine units run on 3 phase electricity. The actual requirements depend on the type of machine i.e. Carrier, Thermoking, Daikin, Misubishi, Zanotti etc., the ambient temperature, set point of the machine and the product placed inside. But to give an idea based on a Carrier machine set to chill in this country it would require 40/60 amps per phase on start up and on running will pull between 10/15 amps.
I don’t have a 3 phase electricity supply; can I still run my refrigerated container?
Some refrigerated shipping containers have been adapted to run from the single phase domestic electricity supply. These are normally more expensive than the 3 phase models due to the additional work involved in converting them. Alternatively, all refrigerated containers can be run off diesel powered gen-sets which clip onto the front of the machine.
What length is a cable on a refrigerated container?
On average the length of cable is 18 metres but this varies depending on the type of machine.
How often should I service my refrigerated container?
Every 6 months is recommended although this does depend on where the refrigerated shipping container is sited. In a very dirty or dusty environment if not cleaned out regularly it will affect the operation of the unit and so a much more frequent servicing programme is recommended.
Hope you now know everything you need to know about refrigerated units - and I suspect many of you will know much more than you ever thought possible - so that tomorrow we can return to less technical stuff!
We have been discussing refrigerated containers on this week’s blog and quite a few of you have rung the office with questions which I thought would be a good idea to answer here.
How is the temperature recorded on a refrigerated shipping container?
On marine units the controller will have a display that will show the set point and the running temperature. If particualarly required some units have displays which can also be “downloaded” - whereby you can see a set of parameters over a set period of time although you will need additional equipment in the form of a laptop, specialised software etc. Other units have a Partlowchart (like the taco graph that some lorries have) although it is important should you wish to use them you specify this to your supplier at point of order.
How should a refrigerated shipping container be loaded for maximum efficiency?
The products inside te container should be stacked at least a foot away rom the front panel (which is the end opposite the doors!) and at least a foot away from the ceiling. This allows air to flow under the product (through the t-bar flooring) and up by the doors before going over the top of the goods and back down again.
Can I use a refrigerated container to bring things down to temperature?
A refrigerated container is designed to maintain the temperature of the goods placed inside rather than bring the goods down/up to the set point temperature like a blast freezer.
Tomorrow we will deal with some of the more challenging technical questions to do with electricity supply and servicing that some of you seem so keen to know about - our electrician has been relentlessly quizzed and come up with some understandable answers to your questions.
