Shelving for a shipping container without drilling: brackets that hang on the corrugation
Use shelving brackets made for containers: they hook onto the corrugated wall, so you never drill the steel. Lay 2x12 boards across a pair of brackets for each shelf, and add a pipe rack for long stock.
How the brackets work
A container wall is corrugated steel, and bracket kits are shaped to hook onto those ribs. Each bracket gives two or four shelf levels. Hang a pair a few feet apart, lay your own lumber across them, and the shelf is done. Nothing is drilled, so the wall stays watertight and the shelves move when you change the layout.
Most people use 2x12s for the shelf boards because they are cheap, stiff and easy to buy at any lumber yard. Each of our plan sets lists how many you need.
Pipe racks and hooks
A pipe rack holds conduit, pipe, trim and lumber flat along the wall instead of leaning in a corner. Magnetic hooks stick to the steel for bows, cords, packs and lanterns.
Kits that bundle brackets, a pipe rack and hooks are on the accessories page, priced below the parts bought separately.
Lay it out before you hang it
Put the shelves along one long wall and keep the other side clear for a mower, a four-wheeler or a walkway. Heavy items go on the bottom shelf. Leave room at the doors for what you grab most.
If the box is not level, shelves tilt and things roll. Level it first; see how to level a container.
Buying a container?
Longleaf sells used and one-trip 20ft and 40ft shipping containers, delivered by tilt-bed across the Pine Belt. Enter your ZIP for the delivered price — it comes straight from the supplier feed and already includes the haul. Locks, vents, shelving and lights are on the accessories page. We sell; we do not rent.
Keep reading
- Solar lights for a shipping container with no power run: what works and what to buy — Solar lights for a shipping container with no power: interior string and work lights, motion lights over the doors, the panel, and when to run a cord.
- Which vents stop a shipping container from sweating in south Mississippi — Which vents stop a shipping container from sweating in south Mississippi: louvered pairs, solar fans, roof vents, where to cut them, and how many you need.
- How to level a shipping container on pasture, sand, clay or a gravel pad — How to level a shipping container with a bottle jack and blocks on pasture, Pine Belt sand, Jackson clay or gravel, how to tell it is off, and when to re-level.
- Which accessories make a shipping container usable: locks, vents, shelving and more — Which shipping container accessories to buy first: a lock box and padlock, vents, solar lights, no-drill shelving, a leveling jack and ramps, in order.
- Storing hay in a container on a Pine Belt farm without mold: vents, pallets, cured hay only — How to store hay in a 40ft shipping container on a Mississippi farm without mold: about 300 square bales, pallets, vents low-in high-out, and cured hay only.
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