How to Remove Shipping Container Rust

The odds are rust is going to be the death of your shipping container. This is a fact most buyers of shipping containers underestimate, until it becomes a holey problem.

For example. I had a 20' Wind and Watertight cargo container that a framer needed asap.

My standard protocol is to brush off the rust on a container with a drill and cupped wire brush (always use a facemask, gloves, goggles etc...). Depending on the amount of rust and the weather (I live in Phoenix, try cleaning rust on a 20' container in 100 degree weather. I've done it a lot, it kinda sucks!) this is no small task.

I then apply Corroseal (you can check it out here ( http://www.corroseal.com/ ) over the cleaned up rusted areas. I then brush (you can use an air compressor if you have one) the shipping container clean, and spray it with my paint sprayer (I use White Rustoleum Oil Based Paint ( click here to visit their site ).

In the scenario I am describing above with the framer, I was not able to do this, and had to send it out on rent immediately. When I got it back six months later (keep in mind I live in the desert) the rust begin to form holes.

Addressing the rust at the beginning, however painful it is in some cases (it's a lot of work), will greatly extend the life of your shipping container.

In my opinion two things mess up a cargo container, rust and YOU (if you drill holes etc...).

Other than that they are a perfect box that is wind and water tight and incredibly amazing for over a million purposes (my guess :))

Back to the culprit rust, and I apologize as I digressed;).

In the case of the container I got back, I had to resolve the pin prick to nail sized rust holes I now faced.

I followed the process I stated above, but also used FlexSeal ( click here to view ) and foam to seal the holes before painting with Rustoleum.

Now the question is? Do you want to do this maintenance or just buy a One Trip Cargo Container?

These have been used one time to carry goods from China and are then sold to Container Depots by ports of entry (Such and Long Beach in California or Oakland- Where Cargo Container were invented). They are usually in excellent condition and would require little to no maintenance (atleast for some time- rust is a pain in the ass and will always find a way to stay a pain in the ass).

The price of a One Trip at the time of me writing this in Phoenix, AZ would run you about $3,300-$3,800 per container. A wind and water tight would run $2250-$2750.

You can do the math to run a rough estimate on if it is worth the work.

Either way, kill the rust or it will kill your shipping container.

See some of my pics below of work I have done on my rentals in Phoenix.