Conex/Storage Container

[Stea]

This summer I would like to bring in a conex box for storage. Regs say I can't build a storage shed but a conex is fine. Crazy but what do you do.

It would actually be alot more secure than a built shed to leave the side by side and four wheelers etc. at the property.

Question is that I would like to get it up about 3' off the ground . I Can use a ramp to get everything in and out during the summer and hoping to make the deep snow depth easier to deal with in the winter. Yea I will still have to shovel to get the doors open but digging 2-3 feet is better than 6 feet.

What's your thoughts on how to elevate it and what to put under it for support.

[hierony]

What's your frost depth? I'd be tempted to use cinder blocks to make 3 ft piers. Sono tubes would probably be easier & allow simple leveling. If it's a long shipping container, maybe use some (treated?) lumber to span between concrete piers?

This is of course assuming code allows you to put in concrete piers.

Also keep in mind that a strong wind against a giant rectangle could produce some good pushing force, so locking the container in place a little might prevent shifting.

[Stea]

Conex will be 20' rules won't let me dig holes and fill with concrete. No permanent building.

That's why my yurt isn't on a deck 4' off the ground.

[hierony]

Well that's a bit of a pain.

So if you made a flat spot on compact/undisturbed ground, put down a ~3x3 ft cement board, then mortared masonry block on that up to ~3 ft tall, would that count as permanent? You could back-fill the void with concrete/lightweight aggregate concrete. It'd just be laying on the ground, but it'd be heavy & pretty sturdy for putting a shipping container on.

Some rough calc's suggest you could use straw bales, if you're feeling adventurous. They can take something like 300 psf, though I wouldn't take that as an exact design parameter.

Will your container delivery include use of a forklift to get it up on a foundation?

[Stea]

Originally Posted by hierony

Will your container delivery include use of a forklift to get it up on a foundation?

Nope I will have to figure that out on my own.

May be able to get my FILs skid stear up there and use it to lift.

[hierony]

It looks like most 20 ft containers are around 2.5 tons. I vaguely recall skid steers & tractors generally maxing out around 3/4 to 1 ton in lifting capacity/operational load rating when I was scoping out heavy equipment for moving my masonry heater when the time comes. Not to say you couldn't lift one end up & brace it before moving to the other. A telehandler or forklight would easily lift that though.

The other thought that comes to mind is cribbing. From the looks of it there's concrete or stone cribbing, which would be plenty weather resistant. You could use the cribbing for both jacking it up as well as stable "foundation".

[Stea]

I think maybe 2 sections of cribbing. 8x4 x maybe 36" might do the trick .

I have several. Heavy duty jacks that I think I could use to go up say 8" at a time. One end up 8" , brace and then switch to the other end. Back and forth until correct height is achieved.

[Wintergreen282]

I'd just shovel. Maybe a sort of snow fence if there is a prevailing direction the wind or weather comes from? Six feet of snow?!? Do you have to dig your yurt out? We get a fair amount of snow - some storms measuring in the feet, but it's always melting and compacting down. I actually have a shipping container and the opening sits 6" or so off the ground. Sometimes I'll snowshoe around the front swinging doors. I don't think I've ever shoveled. I'd be afraid of it falling off a 3' base. Good luck though! I think yurter's are by nature a clever bunch and do like hearing solutions others have puzzled out.

[Wintergreen282]

Okay Stea. Just looked at another thread and saw your yurt buried in snow. Lol. (Nice pic!). Unless that was 9 months of the year, *personally* - I'd still just shovel, but you guys carry on.

On another note. Shipping containers are pretty big and ugly and the exact opposite of yurts (yin and yang?), but boy do they keep things nice. No bugs, no mice, seemingly no fluctuating

moisture

levels (no mold, rust, or funny smells). Stuff comes out - even years later - exactly how it was when you stuck it in there.

[Yurtman]

I am buying a 20ft container too and the company that sells them told me you can support them in each corner using railroad ties to keep the off the ground. They are designed to do this all the strength is in the corners. I think I will probably support the center too