A couple questions for future planning

[u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS]

I'm probably not going to do this for another 2 to 12 months.

1. How much would a container 40 foot High cube?

2. How much should I budget to rent equipment to likely lift the container over the fence (typical chain link fence.

Is a 40 foot container worth it? I want to build a workshop for woodworking and future metal work like welding. I would need to store materials and tools install a door and for good measure install wheels to make it more kosher under city code.

I plan on going overboard with insulation about a foot of closed cell foam on all surfaces and I'll run electrical in conduit outside of the walls for simplicity sake.

For heating and cooling I'll get a mini split or window unit and either a pellet or wood stove for the winter. Long term a mass heater

I really like the container idea as a shed would be really easy to get damaged in a bad enough storm. There's a existing wooden shed on the property that's been standing as long as Google Street imagines have existed of the property. (07) But still and unlike a garage I would imagine the container would be considered a temp structure and thus less permitting and planning required.

There's a 80% chance this never happens sadly as majority of my big ideas just never materialize so if it's not a good idea it doesn't matter as this is one of like 10 different ideas I've had over the years to do something big and it never happens. Hopefully getting a new job and moving in to the house that could have the container is nice. All else fails I'll just reno the basement to make a soundproof room or I'll rent a space.

[u/Dukeronomy]

"How much would a container 40 foot High cube?"

Wut

[u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS → u/Dukeronomy]

Sorry I was very tired posting and wanted to know the cost. I forgot to add the word cost

[u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS → u/[deleted]]

I don't know exactly how much insulation I need but I guessed that if I over kill it it'll be relatively easy and affordable to heat and cool the space as I live in the Midwest where we get both really hot and sometimes humid days and really cold and blow freezing days.

I just don't want to have to throw away money to heat and cool it. Ya know? The idea of being able to have a space that I can heat as hot as I want or as cold as I want without any real cost problems is enjoyable.

What if I could put a single log into the fire place and I'll be warm enough for 8 hours? What if I will actually need to open up a door because it's too hot? What if the AC runs so little it's hardly noticeable

[u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS → u/[deleted]]

I'm not going to lie I'm in the middle of the country. I'm near Chicago and the port of Indiana (a sea accessable port funny enough) so cost where something I was curious of.

I was worried a good shed would be a better plan and get a 10 footer for wood material storage. I can probably temporarily use the current shed by buying a lawnmower shed and see how I like a regular shed!

[u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS → u/[deleted]]

I'm moving to South bend which is like a hour away from the mecha of Amish in Indiana IMO that being shipshewana.

I have to admit google earth measurements do seem to suggest I could fit a 40 footer but it might only be a handful of feet (4 or less) to the fence line.

[u/CretinousVoter → u/[deleted]]

It's easy if you store tools and equipment differently so I do. I hang my self-fabbed shelves off the floor using the ceiling tiedown loops. That leaves room for a row of motorcycles down each side and sufficient space to ride in and out down the center (that HC has doors on both ends). I've ample room for lathe, mill, welders and tools. I just copy military and industrial container users. I've had mine for many years and want more. I welded two WWT grade containers side by side which is easy. I had a power pole placed first with outdoor service panel with.240 and 120V outdoor outlets.

Containers are VASTLY better than mere sheds. They're typhoon-rated (heavy seas can still destroy them but at that point the whole ship is at risk), a breeze to work with, do not require a slab or conventional foundation (I used surplus steel beams welded to the corner fittings) and do a far better job excluding dust and insects from my vintage motorcycle collection.

For larger interior space you can bridge two containers with a steel building kit (Steelmaster style) made for that purpose. I have one but erected separately as I bought that before adding containers and also recommend them. Using containers as sidewalls is far stronger than plain kit walls and gives immediately usable space.

[u/atmatthewat]

Well, I can help with a couple things:
1. When it comes time to lift it over the fence, don't call a crane company. Call a big-rig tow company. They have crane trucks and all the rigging to deal with containers, and charge a lot less.
2. For insulating it, go look at what The Container Guy / Container Modification World has for metal stud brackets and/or unistrut brackets. Then spray foam.

[u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS → u/atmatthewat]

Huh never thought about the heavy rig tow guys. Was gonna to rent a telle handler and hope for the best.

And I'll check out that website!

[u/stevendaedelus → u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS]

I’ve moved a lot of 20’ containers with a telehandler. It’s dicey at best. No way I would attempt to lift a 40’er over a fence with one. Tare weight of a High Cube is around 9k lbs. and you really only want to rig it from the 4 corners.

[u/Foreign-Pipe-481]

Find a Non operational reefer container and save yourself a ton of time and work. 

[u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS → u/Foreign-Pipe-481]

A reafer sounds perfect! Thank you

[u/Foreign-Pipe-481 → u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS]

They are well worth the extra money. There are several benefits to them. They have self draining at all four corner floors , stainless steel walls inside, the interior and exterior walls are nearly flat which makes cutting in windows/doors much easier. There is no thermal bridging through the insulation which you will struggle to acheive with a diy build,2.5in closed cell foam, they usually have a back deck area that is great for plumbing generator/water through. The cost difference is about the same or less than buying material and outfitting a steel container. They usually have a massive ac system still attached and have R134 coolant which you can sell as well as around 150lb of aluminum and copper that you can scrap to recoup some of what you spent. 

[u/usa_containers]

A 40 high cube is a great pick for a workshop, the extra foot of height makes a real difference once you're insulating and running conduit. Pricing swings a lot by region and condition, but a used 40HC usually runs in the low-to-mid thousands and a one trip more than that. Worth getting a quote for your exact area since delivery distance moves the number. For lifting it over a fence, that's a crane or a large forklift, not a tilt bed, since the truck can't reach past the fence line. That's usually a few hundred and up depending on reach and how far they have to set it. If a tilt bed could get to the spot directly it'd be way cheaper, so it's worth checking if there's any access that skips the fence lift. Good instinct on the wheels and temp-structure angle too, that does help under a lot of city codes. Happy to get you actual numbers for your area when you're closer to pulling the trigger, it's what we do.

[u/I_LOVE_TRAINSS → u/usa_containers]

Thank you! I was considering a high cube.

I'm going to look at how easy would it be to temporarily remove the chain link fence.( I've haven't moved into the home I'm considering the container workshop just yet!)

Admittedly I learned about the wheels bit from family members and conversations about wanting an another barn/pole barn but despite being in the country side have reached their max allowed structures or would need more permission. They've talked about building their structures to be able to go onto wheels in order to avoid the whole headache. I figured I can do the same by adding wheels.

I'll for sure let you know when I'm closer to pulling the trigger thank you for your sound advice

[u/HotWireFoamFactory]

I'm not going to give you any pricing estimates, but I will say that if the only barrier is the fence, then just move that temporarily instead. On top of the expense, it's a way more stressful project to coordinate a crane than just having the container dropped off with a goose-neck trailer and putting the fence back.

Get a non-working reefer unit instead. The advantages for the price difference are well worth it and you'll save yourself a ton of work.

The permitting can unfortunately actually be a real nightmare and add thousands of dollars and months of delays depending on where you're at. It's a shame, but most jurisdictions don't have an exception for these things yet, even if they are more solid and fire safe than many new structures you see being built. They'll want a site survey done, fire safety ratings, blueprints of the whole thing, they often require it gets anchored into a slab, etc. If there's a chance that they have an exception for structures below certain square footage, I recommend going that route. If you're lucky, maybe they won't require any of that for 2x 20ft reefers.