# any way to safely to bury a shipping container?



## sticky_burr (Dec 10, 2010)

is there a way to safely bury a container or 2 and not have them rust out? possibly with the treated floor removed. any chance the refrideerated or insulated are aluminum?


----------



## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

They're going to rust out sometime, but if you can bury them in a hilltop or hillside with lots of gravel and some drainage tile around them so the moisture keeps moving away they should last for a good while. Particularly if you paint them up good first.

I'd look into what it would cost to surround them with the waterproof membrane they use on foundations or some sort of spray-on coating as well.


----------



## Gabriel (Dec 2, 2008)

sticky_burr said:


> is there a way to safely bury a container or 2 and not have them rust out? possibly with the treated floor removed. any chance the refrideerated or insulated are aluminum?


Your big problem will not be rust, it will be lateral pressure. Containers are made to be stacked, so they're strong on the *corners*. Walls, however, cannot withstand the load that will be pressed against them. I'm sure you could build a bracing system inside to stand up to it, but it's probably cheaper/easier to do something else. Unless you already have the containers... :bash:


----------



## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

what gabriel said. the hydrolic load will blow the walls inward--seen it at my old job, they tried burying a container for storing explosives and the walls colapsed and ruined a lot of stuff. you could pour a concrete wall around one but then your costs start going up.


----------



## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

There's a neat vid on youtube. I searched underground storage .


----------



## Darren (May 10, 2002)

I think you could do it but it would be a pita. Use a heavy asphalt/tar coating on the outside. Cover with sheet foam insulation. Install temporary bracing on the inside. Form and pour a concrete retaining wall around the outside. Backfill the underground retaining wall after installing appropriate drains and waiting a few weeks for the concrete to cure. Remove interior bracing.


----------



## kvr28 (Feb 15, 2009)

[YOUTUBE]<object width="480" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/A3EAJex1RVo?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/A3EAJex1RVo?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]


----------



## Darren (May 10, 2002)

That's an interesting video. One of the key points is the owner did not backfill against the sides of the container since he apparently excavated a pit in rock.. That means there is no active earth pressure to collapse the walls. The sheet metal supported by bracing as the bottom form for the slab was questionable. He got away with doing that without the metal collapsing. I'd use Q deck which is designed for that and doesn't need bracing.


----------



## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

_Total cost was $12,000 ... I did most of the work myself ... had my own tractor_

Really, didn't look like a tractor that was lowering the container into the hole and I was counting allot more guys in that video than just one. 
Still I wish I had the funds and a tractor. 


~~ pelenaka ~~


----------



## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

Thats the vid I was talking about....


----------



## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Pelenaka said:


> _Total cost was $12,000 ... I did most of the work myself ... had my own tractor_
> 
> Really, didn't look like a tractor that was lowering the container into the hole and I was counting allot more guys in that video than just one.
> Still I wish I had the funds and a tractor.
> ...


He said to hire a septic tank contractor to put in the tank. He also said he did most of the work himself. 12,000 seams right for what he hired out.


----------



## sticky_burr (Dec 10, 2010)

i was thinking basically as the (maybe insulated) containter as the form. to the same level as the footing CCA underneath with weeping tile. weld the 2x 40 ft together. spray foam them to even the surfaces of the container out and make drainage of sorts, higher in middle. install remesh and using a hooper/stucco gun or DIY one to apply 2-4 inches of concrete.then epdm? edpm? spray rubber after it cures some. then use CCA around the base maybe some that plastic dimple membrane. sounds pretty complex ...

wasa looking for other ideas or would just laying out ICFs and lite deck be cheaper and easier?


----------



## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

sticky_burr said:


> i was thinking basically as the (maybe insulated) containter as the form. to the same level as the footing CCA underneath with weeping tile. weld the 2x 40 ft together. spray foam them to even the surfaces of the container out and make drainage of sorts, higher in middle. install remesh and using a hooper/stucco gun or DIY one to apply 2-4 inches of concrete.then epdm? edpm? spray rubber after it cures some. then use CCA around the base maybe some that plastic dimple membrane. sounds pretty complex ...
> 
> wasa looking for other ideas or would just laying out ICFs and lite deck be cheaper and easier?




by the time you do all that you could just build it with concrete. To do it with 6" walls which would be plenty. Would use about 30 yards 10x40x 8 feet tall. Plus about 2000 lbs of rebar. I would put #4 bars @ 6" Each way for the walls, with two layers @ 1 foot each way for the top and bottom. 

Figure 3000 for the concrete
figure 2500 for the steel.
figure 1000 for the form work.
Plus 1000 for incidentals (pipe for drain, door, handrail.)

total of around 7500. No steel to bow or rust as well.

For it to be double wide.... Structurally that is a heck of a long distance.


----------



## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

sticky_burr said:


> is there a way to safely bury a container or 2 and not have them rust out?


Design your container to be round, such as a 55 gallon drum (or larger). Coat it with cosmolene and set it on its side on a bed of pea gravel. Fill around it with pea gravel, then fill over with dirt.


----------



## sticky_burr (Dec 10, 2010)

oh yea CCA crushed concrete aggregate like 1/2 the cost of regular chrusted stone


----------

