Custom container projects are a great way to get the perfect solution to an issue you’ve encountered. While a storage container is an easy way to ensure your goods are protected from the elements, you might want to add modifications to fine-tune your container to your liking. In this article, we’ll discuss why you might want to customize a container, outline some of our favorite customization projects, and detail the steps to take when you want a custom container.
Why Should I Customize a Container?
Customizing a container combines your ideas with our technical experience into a completed container that’s sure to impress. It’s a collaborative process where both parties work together to create a container to help solve your problems. You’d want to customize a container when a standard container lacks something that you need to utilize the container better.
An auto repair shop might want to add a roll-up door to the side of their container for ease of access, while plumbers might request special 24ft containers for pipe storage. Depending on your industry and requirements, you might find value in different modifications. Regardless of what you need, Southwest Mobile Storage has a 90,000 sq ft facility with expert fabrication staff ready to make your vision a reality!
Our 5 Most Inspiring Custom Container Projects
At Southwest Mobile Storage, we’re proud of every project we’ve completed for our clients, from basic modifications to one-of-a-kind designs. Below are five of our favorite custom container projects:
1. Aerospace Custom Container
This 40ft container has been customized with several upgrades, with a stunning interior outfitted with power outlets and six ceiling lights. The interior of the container has been insulated and has vents for the attached HVAC unit, making it more like traditional building construction than many would expect from a container.
Customers typically add doors to custom container projects because they require a type of access to the container that double cargo doors don’t provide. The keypad door provides a secure entry point, ensuring that only your team members can enter your container. You can unlock the personnel doors during regular working hours for ease of access, and the double cargo doors can open if furniture or other large items are needed inside the container.
Customizations for this project:
- Four custom doors (one keypad door, one double-wide cargo door on the broad side of the container, and two personnel doors)
- HVAC unit
- Reinforced interior
- Power outlets, wiring, and outlets
- Custom ceiling
- Anti-slip flooring
2. Custom Tool Crib
When’s the last time you looked at a container and said: “I wonder if I could put a tool crib in there?” Well, that’s precisely what one customer requested. A tool crib is a well-organized storage area or workshop. We outfitted this container with shelves and cabinets, a sprinkler system for fire safety, a Dutch door and plenty of outlets for power tools.
Shelves and organized storage solutions can help structure your container’s interior, allowing quick access to materials. The cabinets in this container have a diamond mesh, cutting down on the time people spend opening cabinets to find a specific item.
Dutch doors can be a great addition to any custom container project. They allow for the top half of the door to open while the bottom half remains shut. They let fresh air in while stopping most dust and dirt from entering the container.
Customizations for this project:
- Container painted yellow
- Sprinkler system
- Power outlets, wiring, and outlets
- Shelves and cabinets
- Power box
- Dutch door
- Diamond mesh interior door
3. Custom Container with Exterior Guardrails
Custom container projects aren’t just limited to interior modifications. We can add framing to the exterior of the container, add guardrails on top of the container to add even more usable space, or install a ladder to help safely access the roof. We can also install a personnel door with a lock box for security and a long table that provides a workspace for employees.
The container was painted white to help control the interior temperature, and the HVAC unit was given a security cage for additional protection.
A storage container is already a very secure investment. Their strong cargo doors are nearly impenetrable with a secured lockbox. Because of this, their steel construction isn’t easy to get into without powered tools. Still, if security is a priority for you, think about if you would value bars on your windows and a personnel door with a strong lockbox.
Customizations for this project:
- Container painted white
- Exterior ladder and guard rails
- Two windows with protective bars
- Personnel door with lockbox
- Interior lighting
- Custom walling and flooring
- Long workstation
4. Custom Container with Roll-Up Doors
Roll-up doors are a standard customization option because they allow better access when transporting larger items in and out of your container. You can open and close the doors in seconds.
We also added aluminum ramps that you can flip up or down for this container. Ramps can be a critical upgrade for containers used by auto shops and mechanics, helping vehicles and dollies to roll on and off without issue.
While some projects have a long list of modifications, others only have a few. It’s not a matter of what’s a “better” container but what works best to solve your problems.
Customizations for this project:
- Container painted white
- Large roll-up doors
- Four aluminum ramps
5. Custom Container Projects: Pure Greens Farm
Our sister company, Pure Greens Container Farms, customizes containers that can grow fresh produce using hydroponics. These farms can be used by restaurants, schools, and other industries to increase the freshness of their food by decreasing the transit time required by traditional agriculture. Everything a hydroponic farmer needs is inside, from a helpful washing station to automated sensors that monitor nutrient levels and plant growth.
Keep these options in mind because there might be other applications for these modifications that you might want for your container. While the washing station inside a Pure Greens container farm helps farmers clean their produce and fill spray bottles, you might want a station for staff to wash their hands. The shelving we do for containers like this can also be used for various other purposes, storing and organizing anything you need.
Customizations for this project:
- Electrical wiring
- HVAC climate control
- Plumbing and water reservoir
- Shelving
- Custom flooring
- Grow lights
- Washing station
- Custom workstation
- Automated sensors
- Enclosed entryway
With a Pure Greens container farm, fresh produce can be grown anywhere: so long as there’s power and internet connections.
Start Your Custom Container Project Today
Custom container projects start with a conversation with your sales representative. Write down a list of your proposed additions and what you intend to do with the container. If you have specific building materials in mind, mention that to your sales representative. While we can’t promise we’ll be able to use the material in our fabrication work, we’ll run it by our production team to see if we can make it happen.
After you have a list of potential additions, contact us and speak to a sales representative. Once they know what you want to do with the container, they can suggest what modifications might work best for you and fit within your price range.
