Where Can I Find a Port Container in Australia? Here are Surprising Results
Last year I decided that in 2015 that I was going to start working on a handful of projects around the house that I’ve been putting off for almost 5 years. I had been putting these projects off because I simply do not have the working space to get going at the moment. No place to work but in the backyard, and with all of the noise my tools create, I really did not want to make any trouble with my really amazing neighbours (Hi Ted!).
Having a regular day job as a car mechanic, the only time that I can set aside to get my work done around the house is after dark, when the kids are asleep and my wife is all tucked in with her television shows or a really good book.
And of course, this comes with its challenges.
I am not one to disrupt my peaceful neighbourhood, as the tranquillity of my surrounding area is why I decided to move in here just over 15 years ago, and I would hate to destroy the sanctuary the neighbourhood provides. And I am sure my neighbours and the wildlife would not appreciate it very much, either.
So I set out to find a solution that I could afford on my current mediocre salary, and I was really surprised to see how much building supplies cost nowadays! I have not done any renovations for about 20 years and oh my how things have changed –prices have skyrocketed for just about every form of building supply on the market.
Except for shipping containers. In fact, their price has gone down quite dramatically with the ubiquity and availability of used shipping containers –and the market is beginning to become quite saturated.
From how I understand it, there are millions of used cargo containers just sitting in lots around the world, rusting away, and begging for a new lease on life. And so this is where I began my journey.
After shopping around for a supplier that provides shipping containers for sale, I had to quickly decide between a dome shelter or a shipping container. I had eventually decided to opt for some shipping containers; however I will still include a dome container supplier within my research for your review.
So, here are the Australian shipping container providers that I found, and a little of information about them in order from my first pick, to my last pick. I ended up opting for the first option I present here, but that is not to say that these other shipping container providers are not reliable or valuable.
I just went with instinct, and because their staff treated me in a way that I really appreciated. I asked a lot of questions, and it did not seem to wear them down at all, whatsoever. Here they are:
Royal Wolf
This storage container supplier caught my eye because it has multiple locations, and they even serve New Zealand, too. All of these suggestions offer additional services such as self-storage, and what I liked about them was that they emphasize the ability to provide additional cold storage while others seemed to focus more on shipping container sales or removals. I am keeping this one in mind for the future if I ever have successful hunting season (mind you, it’s been awhile) and I need extra space to store meat.
Port Container Services
The reason I personally selected this company was because of their monthly specials and their ability to walk me through the whole process from port container purchase to modification, and because their rep was really nice and helpful. I was able to get a quote instantly on my modified shipping container plans, and that was in spite of my complete lack of knowing what on earth I was doing.
I downloaded their PDF catalogue from http://www.portcontainerservices.com.au/ and it was in full colour, and pretty easy to understand. No information overload, just clear and concise information which made the review process pretty straight forward.
In the end I was able to buy a prefabricated “workshop container” and throw my own terribly drawn plans out the window. This saved a lot of time because I didn’t need to build it on my own.
I am sure other companies can do similar things and have full colour catalogues and such, but I did not get that far. The rest of these candidates are probably as good as any!
SCF Group
SCF Group are another decent shipping container supplier, and much like the others they have port containers in 20 foot and 40 foot sizes, as well as smaller 6 foot, 8 foot, and 10 foot mini shipping containers which are ideal for site construction storage and construction waste.
I found them searching for “container rooms” when I first started my search, as I was not sure what to look for in the beginning. I found the other options on this list by searching for “port containers”, so I was lucky to find these fine folks.
Also worth note is that their containers are “pest and vermin proof”. This might be great for storage although if I wanted to build an addition onto my home with one of their containers, I would have to strip away the harmful chemicals that make this possible for safety’s sake.
You can download their shipping container fact sheet for more information.
Dome Shelter
This website was pretty cool, even though I opted for a regular shipping container. Their website had audio recordings of interviews with some of their happy clients and it provided some insight that none of the other companies offered. Check them out if you’re considering a dome shelter, although I cannot speak to their offering as I didn’t opt for them.