Shipping containers have generally lived a hectic life when retired from overseas service work. Many shipping containers are removed after a single ocean crossing, but the rest may end up traveling offshore three to five times before reaching their golden years. It is at this stage that they are bought and start a new career in the storage business, or they are modified to become a house or a small business or else they are buried and become a shelter for storms. One element 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 roof of the shipping containers is simply a corrugated sheet of metal with a small step from side to side to drain the water. The steel is a special formulation called Cor-Ten steel that will protect itself by forming layers of oxide to stop deterioration. If puddles of water form in a particular spot, 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 to 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 renting mobile offices. Newer mobile offices are generally built with a commercial rubber roof system, but many of the older ones were built with a galvanized steel roof. Galvanizing was just a coating rather than hot dipped, therefore it would wear out over time and like containers we would experience small holes in the roofing system. To repair this problem, we had great success using a product called “Kool Seal”.

If you find a large tear or other type of opening in your container roofing material during inspection, you will need to patch it up or perform a complete tear and replace the roof, but if you only have a deteriorating roof condition, look in Kool Seal Reflective Roof Coatings. The Kool Seal elastometric roof liner system forms a heavy rubber-like blanket that protects against moisture and expands and contracts along with your roof. Remains flexible from -10F to 160F. Unlike galvanized metal roofs, after applying Kool Seal it will last for many years, I can’t think of a time when I had to re-coat a container that was coated with Kool Seal. Just follow the manufacturer’s application instructions and you will have an efficient and durable roof system in the shipping container and will seal any small holes that may have formed. Kool Seal is available from many major home improvement retailers and mobile home parts retailers.