Shipping containers have generally lived a hectic life when they retire from overseas service work. Many shipping containers are retired after just one ocean voyage, but the rest may end up sailing the high seas three to five times before reaching their golden years. It is at this stage that they are purchased and start a new career in the storage business, or modified into a home or small business or buried and turned into a storm shelter. One item that is critical for a shipping container to continue to function in any of these areas is the condition of the container’s roof.

The shipping container roof is simply a sheet of corrugated metal with a slight slope from side to side to drain water. The steel is a special formulation called Cor-Ten steel that will be protected by forming oxide layer deterioration stops. If the water accumulates in a particular place, the roof will continue to deteriorate and you may find small holes in the roof of the container. A simple google search gives you many solutions for this problem that you can select from and I would like to add another one here for your consideration.

Along with storage containers, I have spent some time selling and leasing mobile offices. Newer mobile offices are usually built with a commercial rubber roof system, but many of the older ones were built with a galvanized steel roof. The galvanizing was just one coat rather than hot dip so it would wear off over time and like the containers we would experience small holes in the roofing system. To fix this problem we had a lot of success using a product called “Kool Seal”.

If you find a large tear or other type of opening in your container’s roofing material during your inspection, you’ll need to patch it up or make a complete tear and replace the roof, but if you only have a deteriorating roof, educate yourself. Kool Seal Reflective Roof Liners. Kool Seal Elastometric Roof Coating System forms a thick, rubber-like layer of protection that guards against moisture and expands and contracts along with your roof. Remains flexible from -10F to 160F. Unlike galvanized metal roofing, after Kool Seal has been applied it will last for many years, I cannot think of a time when I have had to recoat a container that was coated with Kool Seal. Simply follow the manufacturer’s application instructions and you will have a durable and efficient roof system on the shipping container and will seal any small holes that may have formed. Kool Seal is available at many major home improvement and mobile home parts retailers.