Here at Gateway Containers we get a lot of questions about the construction of shipping containers. One of the most often asked is “what are shipping container floors made out of?”
So what are shipping container floors made out of then?
Plywood! Sometimes steel but mostly 28mm thick plywood that has an elastic sealant to keep it weatherproof.
The plywood is screwed to steel beams on the bottom of the shipping container. At 28mm thick, container floors can take a lot of abuse – a loaded forklift truck can drive inside and the plywood flooring will take its weight.
One of the benefits of this is that you can screw things down on the floor for more sure storage or transit. You can even screw shelving to the floor of them!
We don’t see so many used shipping containers with them, but there are shipping containers out there with steel floors. The steel is also screwed to the beams and is 5-6mm checker plate flooring. You can ask us at Gateway Container Sales to make a special order for a steel-plated floor and we can arrange a new one to be delivered for you.
Plywood floors – great for shipping container conversions
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The fact that shipping container floors are plywood is one of the reasons that they are so good for conversions into other uses. The wood is lightweight but strong, and is very similar to wooden home flooring.
The Gateway Gazette has been looking at a range of possibilities for shipping container conversions over the years – here’s one from 2016 where we considered all the things you need to know about converting them for architectural use.
One downside is that the flooring is heavily treated with pesticides and fungicides to protect the goods that transit the world in them. It is often simple enough just to ditch the original flooring and to replace it for architectural use.
What about the rest of the container?
Most shipping containers are made of COR-TEN steel. This is a special steel alloy that corrodes on the outside but the corrosion protects the core of the steel plates. This means that shipping containers don’t have to be repainted for much of their useful lives.
COR-TEN steel is made in the United States and is exported to China where most of the shipping containers of the world are made. It is designed to take everything the climate can chuck at it. However for architectural use we recommend you sweep leaves and other debris from it to protect deeper rust patches from forming.
Now we’ve answered your question…
Right, now we have that pressing question out of the way, how about giving us a call today to discuss buying or hiring a shipping container from us?
Here in Brisbane, Australia we have a range of shipping containers both used and new that will meet your needs – be it for storage, moving home halfway around the world or a cool architectural project. We look forward to hearing from you!
