we bought a shipping container

I had a bad patch with work recently (in that there was too much of it!) and fell behind posting... I just realised I hadn't mentioned the recent big purchase of the shipping container yet, so here goes..

It was something we'd been toying with for a while, but Dad resurrected the idea. One of the problems we have is that because we don't live in Australia, we don't have anywhere other than our parents houses to store things. That's OK provided there's not too much stuff, but it just seems to be ballooning now we know we'll be moving back there at some point. Like with the Vacola bottles (that's for the next post).

Anyway, in Australia you can buy second-hand old steel freight containers for a few thousand dollars, which effectively can function as an instant - and very very secure - shed. Dad found one for sale at a place near Geelong which seemed perfect for what we needed so he bought it on our behalf on impulse. It was delivered a fortnight ago and put between the driveway and the dam, near the entrance. You can just see the top of it over the dam wall from the house. Obviously it doesn't look that pretty but we can disguise it eventually with planting; or even build a mock shed around it if need be!

Here's the description of it in Dad's words...

Extract from email from Dad - Mar 6, 2005

"I had not intended to do more than sus (the container) out and make a decision after comparing Melbourne and Geelong based firms. One of the difficulties when buying something in an "as is" state, is there are various conditions you can find containers in, some of which render them to a short life in the open unless roofed. All the firms suggest coming out to look at the item before buying. I looked as 20 footers, 40 footers, and a cutdown version only 10 foot. His were in good condition, and then he said he had one he could sell more cheaply. I had looked at the 40 footer, and found out that whereas the cost of a container 20 foot is 2100 plus delivery of 328 from his farm, the cost of the 40 footer was only 2300, but delivery was more expensive due to the more difficult offloading technique. I said I wanted one only a bit bigger than 20 foot because spouting and pipes come stocklength at exactly 6 m and the inside of a 20 footer is only 5.8 m. He then showed me a one-off container that had been bought by him from a plumber... He offered the container for 1600 and it contains lovely shelving, has an extension of 18 inches at one end, is wired for powerpoint, and has two vents in it for air circulation, which are covered with very heavy mesh. It also had brackets for blocking the doors closed with a large steel "I" beam, but he didn't have the beam formerly used. I arranged for him to fit his self-designed covered security locking system so the paddlock is protected from bolt cutters or sawing off, or barring off. I also arranged for him to make another beam to block the doors with a further level of security".