Gonna have to build a reloading shed fast

[Dapper Dave]

When my sainted mother in law passes in the next few days, (hospice care, massive brain bleed and stroke, end of life care going on right now, losing a wonderful little old lady ), the clock starts for the sale of her house per the will. I have time, as my wife is the executor, but I need to move sooner than later. I have been renting a section of her storeroom for my reloading gear, components and safe. I will have to have a pad put down to bolt the safe to, and some sort of sturdy shed to go over it, plus electric,  lights, outlets, window AC, etc.. Anyone else had to do this on the fly, and what did you do? Gear is a bench, three cabinets, "standard" sized gun safe, and a metal storage locker - I don't have measurements yet. 

I wonder if I will need permits from the county to put this in...never done this before.  

[Jim Brown]

Depending on your location and laws there. 

An office type shipping container would be an option.

This is from a quick search.

https://huntsvillecontainers.com/shop/shipping-containers-30ft-modibox-office/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23633721024&gbraid=0AAAABDCZoQW-LfFUW188nsR_PJRwf0mHM&gclid=CjwKCAjwntHPBhAaEiwA_Xp6Rphg9gNnq7I8sUz_SqiXnquFEI1Msn1qQ1tghxjdQlkHrICwE2vbahoCO8QQAvD_BwE

 

[Horace Patootie, SASS #35798]

Thirty years ago, I built a 12 x 16 shed that was tall enough in the upper floor that I could stand up in the middle, so lots of storage.  I did have to get a permit.  I have tools of all kinds on one side and six reloading presses on the other side.  Get one as big as you can.  You can always use extra room.  The container idea is good if you can do it.  I've seen two containers together or more to include an upper level. Lots of possibilities.

Horace

[watab kid]

i wish that could be my solution , our humidity in summer and cold in the winter means it has to be conditioned , im currently comondeering one of our four bathrooms for the purpose - dont need it for the two of us but id like something more comfortably permanent , 

 

id also like my bathroom back - in spite of the remod cost i know im facing 

Edited May 5 by watab kid

[Grizz Henry]

Dave,

Look into some of the pre made all wood garden/storage sheds. Larger sizes are built on site, prefabbed walls floor, etc. or the smaller width sizes totally premade & delivered on a trailer like a shipping container.  The Gambrel roof style sheds provide ample interior head room and the option of substantial overhead storage ( Collar ties added  and covered by plywood sheets). A step ladder has to be used for access to storage area. Sheds are available in numerous dimensions up to and  exceeding 12' X 20'.

 

Grizz

[Pat Riot]

Dave, call your county Code Enforcement or Tax Assessor. They can tell what you can and can’t do as well as what is a taxable structure va what is not. 
 

@Jim Brown is on to something there. In Oregon and California building a shed with a concrete pad would raise property taxes and would need Code inspections. Setting a shipping container on a bed of gravel did not. 
One could buy a small single use (went across the ocean once) shipping container in excellent condition for under $2000. 
Of course this depends on your location. 
 

EDIT: that $2000 price was a 2018 price. 

Edited May 2 by Pat Riot

[Dapper Dave]

If the reloading gear was all, that would work perfectly...but I have a 1000 pound safe too. Can't put it in the house, 27 year old mobile home, go right though the floor...I did look and local code says a shed with a roof square footage of 200 or under is exempt...but I still have to run electric to it, which gets a code guy involved again. 
I have friends in Texas who bought shipping containers for storerooms, worked really well, very cool. I don't know if I could selectively reinforce the floor to take the weight - anyone done that?

[Boggus Deal #64218]

1 hour ago, Dapper Dave said:

If the reloading gear was all, that would work perfectly...but I have a 1000 pound safe too. Can't put it in the house, 27 year old mobile home, go right though the floor...I did look and local code says a shed with a roof square footage of 200 or under is exempt...but I still have to run electric to it, which gets a code guy involved again. 
I have friends in Texas who bought shipping containers for storerooms, worked really well, very cool. I don't know if I could selectively reinforce the floor to take the weight - anyone done that?

I have a 2000 pound Bridgeport mill sitting in one and the floor hasn’t moved.  The wood floor is about 4” thick.

[Horace Patootie, SASS #35798]

5 minutes ago, Boggus Deal #64218 said:

I have a 2000 pound Bridgeport mill sitting in one and the floor hasn’t moved.  The wood floor is about 4” thick.

Looks to me that the containers are really strong.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

11 minutes ago, Horace Patootie, SASS #35798 said:

Looks to me that the containers are really strong.

People put cars in them. 

[Stump Water]

I bought one of the 

5 hours ago, Grizz Henry said:

Look into some of the pre made all wood garden/storage sheds.

 

That's what we did at the previous house.  8x16.  Delivered it on a rollback.  

 

It had a "loft" in one end (7' 6" headroom under it) and a high shelf on the other end.  I ripped out the shelf, then wired it, insulated and put OSB on all the walls.  Then I put a loft in the other end and added benches on both ends with pegboard behind them.  I cut a hole in the back wall for a window AC unit, then covered the rest of the back wall with shelving.  For heat I used one of those oil-filled electric radiators. 

 

I would have had no problem putting the safe in there.  Had I needed to I would have probably set it on some 2 x somethings perpendicular to the floor joists. 

 

With that barn roof, lots of storage overhead.

 

If heat or AC was needed I'd turn it on for 30 minutes ahead of my barn session.  

 

It had vents in the peak of the roof, so in the hottest part of summer I put a small fan in front of the one on the shady side pulling air in.

 

[El Sobrante Kid]

If considering a shipping container, think about adding cooling as they are not insulated. In AZ, the temperature inside one of those will be crazy high during the Summer, making it unusable during the "Hot" months. Just leaving the door(s) open will not cut it.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Need to control the humidity 

[El Sobrante Kid]

20 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Need to control the humidity 

 

AZ doesn't have humidity. They traded in their humidity for extra heat years ago, LOL. But, OLG is right, whatever you end up doing, you will need to make plans for controlling temperature and humidity.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

2 hours ago, El Sobrante Kid said:

 

AZ doesn't have humidity. They traded in their humidity for extra heat years ago, LOL. But, OLG is right, whatever you end up doing, you will need to make plans for controlling temperature and humidity.

Know well of desert weather. 

Lived in the Mojave Desert for 28yrs. 

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

If you go the container way be careful with the purchase. I know of a gun club that got scammed when the paid with a bank draft. Then the company wanted more money for delivery. They never got the container, it was all a scam and they fell for it due to the advertised original price.

[Texas Joker]

Could always wire it as temp electricity.  Set it up like an rv with a plug and when you want to use it plug it in with an extension cord. Wire  your lights and outlets so that when plugged it all works but once unplugged it goes dark

[Dapper Dave]

I was thinking more year round electivity due to the extreme heat with gunpowder and primers. Ain't gonna set anything off but it might degrade, I think. The shipping container idea sounds interesting. I might have to look into people selling those locally. 

[Dapper Dave]

8 hours ago, El Sobrante Kid said:

 

AZ doesn't have humidity. They traded in their humidity for extra heat years ago, LOL. But, OLG is right, whatever you end up doing, you will need to make plans for controlling temperature and humidity.

We have three seasons - hot dry, hot wet, and mildly cool.

[Eyesa Horg]

Considering the heat out there, a wooden shed may be a better option. It will be easier to insulate and finish the inside. Containers also don't have doors intended to be closed from the inside. It will be an oven in there!!

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

1 hour ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Considering the heat out there, a wooden shed may be a better option. It will be easier to insulate and finish the inside. Containers also don't have doors intended to be closed from the inside. It will be an oven in there!!

X 1000

[Horace Patootie, SASS #35798]

Be interesting to see your project progressing !

Horace

[El Sobrante Kid]

One more vote against a container as a reloading shed. I owned a small business that used a 40' and a 20' container as a packing and a storage facility. This was in northern CA where the temps rarely got over 85-90 degrees in the Summer months. Both of the containers were very hot to work in, and quite stifling with little air flow, even with both of the big entry doors open and small vents at the rear. I can't imagine that anyone would want to be in one in temps over 90 degrees, especially doing reloading which requires constant awareness and concentration.

[Dapper Dave]

Point, not to mention when I brought this up to the wife, she seemed to think I was moving my OFFICE out there too, so reloading and computer office...electronics in 120 degrees...so she could have that entire bedroom to herself. I love my wife- that ain't happenin'. So, not shipping container. 
I might have to sell the safe - I am t literally the only person who knows the combo, ex-wife didn't want it, new wife didn't want it, just being almost more of a pain than it's worth. 

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

Wouldn’t sell the safe, find a place for it to keep your firearms secure.

[Buckshot Bear]

Dave the two main clubs that we shoot at have multiple shipping containers for different things, they are horrifically hot for around 10 months of the year.....I imagine in Arizona they wouldn't be too pleasant either mate and we've put safari roofs over some, still horrifically hot. 

[Dapper Dave]

Back to sheds...

[watab kid]

good luck sir , i wish you well in whatever direction you go , its best to have it conditioned and that always presents problems but its required to beat the heat/cold and humidity , all compoments need to be stable in temp and humitiy 

[Buckshot Bear]

Dave these are some examples of the most common new build for sheds down here, lined inside and insulated they are pretty good.....with a reverse cycle A/C even better.

 

 

 

 

[No Horse Hair, SASS #77464]

Dapper Dave, I sell , rent and modify shipping containers in Southern Illinois, been doing it since 2000. We turn them into offices and break rooms. We stud the inside, install walk in doors, windows and frame hole for window unit heat/ac unit. Spray foam inside before lining with white barn metal. Service panel , lighting and wiring in exposed conduit. They run between $15 AND $20,000.00 if we do all the work. Much of the work can be done by owner if he's handy. BUT, do start with a one trip container, not the typical used box. One trip units are straighter, cleaner, easier to work with and available in several colors so it won't have to be painted.  And it can be taken with you or sold off if you move. Obviously, I'm too far away to service you, but I can steer you to someone in your area thru the National Portable storage Association. 

[Dapper Dave]

$15 thousand is WAY out of my budget...as in might as well be $15 million. I think I will skip the whole shipping container idea. I am NOT a handyman with tools, unfortunately.  However, time is not as pressing as it may seem - my wife is the executor of the estate, and my hoarder sister-in-law will have to be evicted, anyway. Yes, the area I rent is locked. It's a weird thing I never requested but Mom built for me. 

[Eyesa Horg]

While I think the wood stick built shed is your best bet, they can be expensive prebuilt and delivered. Then you still need to finish the interior and add climate control. It may turn out less expensive to have a local carpenter to construct one for you. Around here you'd be pushing 10K I think for prebuilt. About half that for a local builder. Check with your local lumber yard for possible contacts. We got a 10x12 for just under 3K built for our recycle center. Well over 5K for a prebuilt. Good Luck DD.

[Cypress Sun]

On 5/2/2026 at 7:29 AM, Dapper Dave said:

If the reloading gear was all, that would work perfectly...but I have a 1000 pound safe too. Can't put it in the house, 27 year old mobile home, go right though the floor...I did look and local code says a shed with a roof square footage of 200 or under is exempt...but I still have to run electric to it, which gets a code guy involved again. 
I have friends in Texas who bought shipping containers for storerooms, worked really well, very cool. I don't know if I could selectively reinforce the floor to take the weight - anyone done that?

 

Pour a circular concrete slab 25' in diameter. Erect a tepee (shed) over the slab. On top of the tepee, build a 3' x 3' roof. Nine square feet of roof. Build whatever you want inside. Problem solved. 

 

Problems solved by Sun....just ask How.

Edited May 4 by Cypress Sun

[Dapper Dave]

Mom just passed on. Wife is doing ok, BIL fell apart a little,  bitch SIL is nowhere to be found. Now the bumpy ride starts.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

18 minutes ago, Dapper Dave said:

Mom just passed on. Wife is doing ok, BIL fell apart a little,  bitch SIL is nowhere to be found. Now the bumpy ride starts.

Prayers up, Dave.