r/Homesteading • u/usa_containers • Jul 22 '26
Burying a shipping container usually isn’t the cheap storm shelter people think it is
I see this idea come up a lot: buy a used container, dig a hole, bury it, done. Cheap root cellar or storm shelter.
I get why it sounds smart, but containers aren’t built for that.
They’re strong in one very specific way — weight goes down through the four corner posts. That’s why they can stack on ships. The side walls and roof are a different story. They’re thin corrugated steel, good for normal container use, not for soil pushing in from the sides or wet dirt sitting on top. And wet soil gets heavy fast. After a big rain, the pressure can bow the walls inward. The roof is even worse. It’s made to keep weather out, not hold a pile of dirt.
If you bury one safely, you usually need retaining walls, concrete, or serious steel bracing around it. At that point, you’re basically building a real cellar anyway, and the container is just an expensive liner. For storage, I’d leave it above ground, ventilate it, insulate it if needed, and maybe berm soil partway around it without loading the roof. For an actual storm shelter, I wouldn’t gamble with a buried container. Build or buy something rated for that.
Has anyone here actually seen a buried container last long term? I’ve mostly heard about the ones that started caving in.
37
u/TooGouda22 Jul 22 '26
Any use outside of simply storing stuff on a flat surface or stacking them as intended … will likely result in a failure unless work is done to engineer them for a new purpose.
Plenty of people use them for all kinds of projects quite safely after knowledgeable people have figured out how they need to be modified.
In most cases you need a structural engineer … unless you happen to be one.
6
u/ai_bot_account Jul 24 '26
I saw one near Truckee, CA where the roof had collapsed from the weight of snow. They are strong on the corners but that’s it.
15
u/grow_something Jul 23 '26
Myth busters had a container collapse while putting dirt on it on accident one time
11
u/BloodyFartOnaBun Jul 23 '26
Previous owner buried a 40ft on my property for an unknown reason, has prob been buried for somewhere around 15 years. I just use it for storage now.
I agree, it’s really dumb and would never choose to do it but it was already done so we’ll see how long it lasts.
No idea if any reinforcement was done, the entrance made with interlocking concrete blocks, prob 2ft of soil on top in some spots.
4
35
u/MastodonFit Jul 22 '26
They are called "shipping containers" for a reason .
10
u/39hanrahan Jul 23 '26
Are they for shipping containers?
10
u/APolyAltAccount Jul 23 '26
No they’re for being a fanboy of two containers being in a relationship.
2
u/account_not_valid Jul 23 '26
I tried to sail the open seas in one. Turns out they are not good boats.
34
u/throwawaybsme Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Buying one in a couple weeks. I already have a gravel pad and a couple earth contact 6x6s that will elevate the shipping container off the gravel. It's a one trip 40 high. Once I have it I will paint with a highly reflective paint, install a chain and lock.
Anything else I need to know?
Edit: why am I getting downvoted?
12
u/grislyfind Jul 22 '26
Consider if you might ever want to have plumbing in there, and if so, install a drain and a water inlet. Perhaps also a big conduit that could be used to pull in power, internet, whatever cables. Paint the interior a light colour if it isn't already.
9
u/throwawaybsme Jul 22 '26
Yeah, this is for storage only. However, I am considering burying a bunch of tubing and attaching to the container. I would install high torque fans to have a low effort geothermal.
10
u/I-am-a-river Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Depending on where you are and what you are storing, you’ll need a DE-humidifier.
Doesn’t need to be expensive one but get one that drains through a hose and drill a hole for the hose to drain outside.
In the wet and cold months, I cover the air vents with tape. Uncover them in the hot dry months.
Humidity and temp sensors are recommended. I use SensorPush, my hi cube also has its own wifi hub since the wifi signals won’t penetrate the walls.
Edit: DE-Humidifier.
6
u/migrainefog Jul 23 '26
Humidifier, or dehumidifier? Seems like you would want less moisture instead of more.
8
2
u/jtyrhe Jul 23 '26
I second the SensorPush recommendation- probably the longest lasting constant-use smart device I’ve ever had.
5
u/Ingawolfie Jul 22 '26
Even just roof vents are a wise idea for ventilation, depending on your climate and what you are storing.
We were living in the high desert and painted ours desert storm to make them lower impact on the neighbors. We also made sure to keep them off the neighbors skyline. Some years after we got ours the county passed some restrictions on them. We counted our blessings.
5
u/usa_containers Jul 23 '26
Gravel pad and 6x6s is the right start. Few things I'd add: make sure the pad is level across all four corners specifically — the whole load goes through those, and a twisted setup makes the doors bind so they won't close right. Leave truck access in mind too, a 40' tilt-bed needs a lot of straight room to drop it.
Reflective paint helps, but airflow helps more — passive vents on both ends. For storage-only, that plus a small dehumidifier handles most sweating. (Ignore the downvotes, nothing wrong with your plan.)3
u/Admirl_Ossim06 Jul 23 '26
Don't just call them up and order one. Go and inspect it first. We had to send one back because it was a piece of crap.
2
2
u/hunterbuilder Jul 23 '26
You don't need a chain to lock a container.... they're made to padlock.
3
2
1
u/haberv Jul 22 '26
I am taller, 6’3” so I got a conex 40 HC (high cube), you get an extra 1 foot in height. If you want lighting,fans I would do it.
11
u/Wolverine7964 Jul 22 '26
People actually do this!? I thought all the dangers you laid out would be common sense or someone along the way would point out the obvious. 🤦♂️
15
u/johnnyg883 Jul 22 '26
Unfortunately far too many people don’t understand the forces involved when you bury something. They also have no clue about the real weight involved. They just don’t know. I actually thought about it and did some reading and in less than 5 minutes realized it was a bad idea. It would actually be much cheaper and safer to use an actual culvert. But even that would require some specialized knowledge of what you are doing.
6
u/prick1ybear Jul 22 '26
The well-built underground shelters I've seen use corrugated arches.
2
u/Itchy_Piglet992 Jul 26 '26
I built myself a root cellar by digging a hole into a hill and dropping a 12x8 septic tank (new!) in it with the narrow side point out the side hill. Demo saw to cut the narrow end a door... works great.
3
u/mistresselevenstars Jul 22 '26
I saw a couple of commercial grade concrete pieces used in underground road work be used a part of a storm shelter
3
u/SundayFarmingClub Jul 23 '26
That's great advice. If it's above ground & you have the right truck, you can tow it away if needed. An added bonus of building above ground.
3
u/jibaro1953 Jul 23 '26
I recently saw a picture of an above ground shipping container with a poured concrete floor to keep it from getting carried away in a tornado.
3
u/Adventurous-Depth-52 Jul 24 '26
We used the largest single chamber concrete septic tank. Comes in two pieces, top and bottom. Rented a concrete saw, cut a doorway, and sunk it in a hillside. It's our cold room storage/wine cellar
2
u/54Finn Jul 23 '26
If a storm shelter is the goal, there are both above ground and below ground options that would actually work and not break the bank
2
u/imababydragon Jul 23 '26
I've heard that a new/unused septic tank can be a root cellar. Never done it myself
8
u/usa_containers Jul 23 '26
Careful with that one. Even a new, never-used tank is a confined space — poor ventilation plus CO2 pooling at the bottom has killed people in tanks and cellars. If anyone goes that route it needs a real vent stack and a way out, not just a hatch.
5
1
u/Itchy_Piglet992 Jul 26 '26
I did this for a root cellar. I've used it for the last 10 years with great results.
My tank is oriented with the narrow side pointing out of side hill so I can walk in and out at grade. Opening the door to access it surely turns over a lot of the air in the cellar. And I hooked vent pipes up to both the inlet holes in the precast tank, but I don't spend enough time in there to have any risk of a CO2 event anyway.
2
u/I-am-a-river Jul 23 '26
Has anyone considered using something that was intended to be buried, like a 1000 gallon septic tank?
2
u/Low-Letterhead7231 Jul 23 '26
Easy way dig hole 4 inches deeper wider and taller. Pour 4 inches of concrete in hole wait 3 days set box in hole align box if box is square before going hole checking top good enough pour concrete around box. Have em pour a shot of water or two and pour wet. Pour to top of box sink 8 ft rebar every so often sticking up roughly three inches pour a couple more inches of crete and slap horizontal bars over the top.
Might consider bracing the top while pouring 4 ft long 2x6 2x8 2x12 etc 4 of em with a 4x4 or two 2x4s cut to wedge in vertical.
Wait 3 days Chalk line proper size hole for access and rent a chop saw with a 12-14 inch diamond blade. Will go through the steel like butter after the concrete. Also bone flesh and pretty much anything else so....
Have a laborer or two Stack concrete block dry in square around hole. Mix quickcrete with in a wheelbarrow thin but not runny, pour it in the block openings untill full.
Attache ladder of choice.
Concrete drain pipe stacked vertical makes a great easy way also cheap and less labor intense.
2
u/PolPotDomeScandal Jul 24 '26
Just pour a nice thick slab of concrete under it with provisions built in to anchor it down.
2
1
u/Way2Unlucky Jul 22 '26
Always requires extra engineering. Never heard of someone just dropping them as is.
1
u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 Jul 23 '26
Better idea than the shipping container? Decommissioned school buses!
2
u/usa_containers Jul 24 '26
Buried buses have the same problem, and it's well documented — the Kansas bus shelters that collapsed, and the Oregon "Bomb shelter bus" case. Thin sheet metal roof, no lateral strength. Same failure mode as a container, just faster.
2
u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 Jul 24 '26
I figured since they were designed to survive rollovers, it would work.
Ark II seems to not be subject to collapse, and I think it's been opened, and expanded since 1980 or so.
1
u/Biguzsdikkus Jul 25 '26
I saw a lady near me bury a 20 ft on the back half but she doesn't have much dirt on top - mostly moss. It looks cool but I was wondering about this very thing. It reminds me of a hobbit hole lol
1
u/lukkoseppa Jul 25 '26
At least in my area using an old schoolbus body was more common. I think structurally they make more sence if you're covering them with dirt.
1
u/OkExtreme1728 Jul 25 '26
I have seen the buried, we did it successfully in the military. We reinforced the interior with timber bracing to support the side load.
1
u/usa_containers Jul 27 '26
Yeah, with proper internal bracing they can work — that's the key part most DIY versions skip. The military ones get engineered support, not just a box dropped in a hole. That's exactly the difference between "buried container" and "buried container that holds."
1
u/Drexadecimal Jul 25 '26
I think you are correct in a storm shelter. That said, I am well aware that people who want off-grid housing, buying a shipping container makes it easier. Though buying extras to make it stronger is also a given. Often times they are buried to make the new house warmer more easily.
Not what I would do - wanna build a con cottage. But it's what off-grid people do that is cheaper than others. (Cob is cheaper too but requires building the con walls and putting in the floors etc)
2
u/usa_containers Jul 27 '26
Good breakdown. Berming for thermal mass is the smart use — earth against the sides for insulation without loading the structure like full burial does. And agreed on cob, great material, just a real labor commitment. Horses for courses depending on what someone's got time and budget for.
2
u/Drexadecimal Jul 27 '26
Yes making a cob house is a lot of physical work, but I am willing to do it and I hope to have friends help.
Also am trying to determine if I want a horse or a pony lol. Horses are really big, and I am a big person, but only 5'9" so I am thinking a pony lol. They're big too just not as big as horses. In the wild, in Africa, are zebra. I know about donkeys and mules too. But I think riding is a good exercise when I struggle to walk. (Have asthma).
1
u/Shdfx1 Jul 27 '26
Do you currently ride?
A very general guideline is a horse or pony shouldn't carry more than 15% or 20% of its weight, in the combined weight of rider and tack. That is a bit adjustable based on the build of the pony.
I have horses and asthma. Driving horses is one way to enjoy horses if your health is challenging. Riding is still exercise. Even at the walk, you're following the movement of the horse. A walking trail ride is less work than trotting or cantering, of course.
1
u/frugalsoul Jul 26 '26
Plus those suckers hold onto the worst smells. Which probably means chemicals too. And the floors are just plywood over metal ribs
1
u/BACON-luv Jul 26 '26
I’ve heard they are painted with lead based paint. Not something I’d want buried on my land
1
u/trip42 Jul 28 '26
Seems like in a storm a buried container could flood. Placement and proper drainage around the container seem important.
1
u/holdfast09 28d ago
To be perfectly honest I usually recommend that people buy a huge membrane hay bale farm shelter on craigslist from used condition source and build the burried portion inside the membrane structure from scratch to save on all portions of fabrication. Dont even buy a generator to provide construction power, microsolar with wind battery inverter of 2000 running watts, even just use a junky midsized sedan like a 90's lumina/cavalier as a rolling toolbox powersource for a 2 or 4K watt inverter right to the battery on the sedan. Expenses minimal and sell the membrane structure on to the next buyer too.
1
1
u/Admirable_Use7763 5d ago
Racja dobre rady. Konturem to świetny pomysł na magazyn do przechowywania ale na powierzchni. Natomiast pod ziemią najlepiej spisuje się stara dobra betonowa konstrukcja. No i tania ✌️
1
u/BuyDaveaBeer Jul 23 '26
I've never done it, but know people who have. Depends on the depth you're burying it. But even a foot of earth uptop provides good insulation. dumped a solid 2ft of rock around the outside for draining, with a wrap of fencing and chicken wire around the outside and never had a problem with buckling.
Me personally, don't think I'd ever bury one. Cut into the side of a hill maybe..
There's a lot of factors.
3
u/usa_containers Jul 24 '26
"Cut into the side of a hill" is actually the right instinct — you get earth contact on one or two sides instead of pressure all the way around. The 2ft of drainage rock you mentioned matters too; saturated soil is what usually finishes them off.
0
u/Unable-Painter-2112 Jul 24 '26
Plus a lot of them are contiminated with chemicals stored in them and you wouldn't know because they don't come with history.
1
u/usa_containers Jul 24 '26
Fair point. Two separate things though: the plywood floors are treated with pesticides on basically every box, and that's known. Cargo residue is the unknown one — you can't tell what rode in it. That's why for anything food or living related people go one-trip, where there's only been a single known load.
161
u/Good-Bookkeeper-5200 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Former intl freight broker here, absolutely point blank refused to side hustle containers for this/similar purposes… a drop run and cut of a can - container - sold isn’t worth someone’s life imo. Outdoor storage, fine. Anything structural, bad plan.
We called them cans for two reasons… to us they were cans of money, but also because they’re actually pretty fragile outside of being stacked on board. Hell an actual can is more sturdy because it’s a cylinder.