Ideas to repair a Leaky shipping container roof

[preppypyro]

If you want very instant and very cheap, get yourself your favorite brand silicone/gooey crap that will stick, get a tarp, and then "glue" it down. Might have to redo it every once in awhile, but it would be cheap and quick to repair.

If I were in your shoes, I would source out a welder and some steel and repair it correctly though. I tend to not "repair" stuff cheaply as I hate redoing things.

[oldxr]

Some sheet tin or aluminum and some windshield adheisive should fix it.I would clean the area around the hole with a wire wheel on a drill .Slap the patch down with the windshield glue.If you wanted to you could put roofing tar on the whole patch after the glue dried.That windshield glue is mean stuff-I think it is urathene based.

[concours]

RTV will last two years easily. Cut the end off the (multiple) tube, (not the nozzle, the TUBE!) and push it out with a hammer handle. Trowel to suit. Throw a scrap of metal (road sign) over it to shield UV. Done in 10 minutes.
I've seen it done inside million dollar machinery, lasts nearly forever.

[lnewqban]

Originally Posted by Foot dragger

Build a quicky roof over it and be done with it,12 pack o beer,some 2x4's,4x4's,then some sort of sheeting,plastic? over the top.

Or Maybe a shed roof style with the 1 raised edge for run off,that could be done with metal or wood attached to one edge and sheet over the whole thing.
A layer over the top would deflect some heat with luck in the summer.

It would require some bodgy engineering,that's where the beer comes in.

This is the best solution, in my opinion.

You cannot stop that rust from progressing, no matter how much you cover top and bottom; it is a microscopic thing.

The same rust will make any welding very difficult, and each weld joint will rust faster itself.

You can combine this solution with desirable roof insulation.
Roof paper+bull tar or some UV-resistant plastic film would reduce the costs.

[H96669]

Originally Posted by overlandr

As you say, container roofs can get very warm sothe higher service temp the better. 60C is not high enough and as SIK 291, being marine grade, can be used below the waterline, its the winner. Must assume that after heavy rain, the roof will be sitting in a poll of water for a several days. I checked the video on yr corroseal but it seems very that the surface must be meticulously prepared which is impractical for me. So will stick with the P/acid in the meantime. I just need to find some sheets of scrap steel. maybe an old oven chopped up??

Meticulously prepared....funny.Wouldn't be me, scrape the loose stuff and apply. Just what I did on the mower deck a few days ago. I should dig out my test piece, half done with the phosphoric, the other half with Corroseal or possibly "Conquest by Chemsearch", don't remember been a while and the piece has been under the weather all winter.

Just that them Tannic/Gallic Acid based ones dry faster (20 minutes) and give a much better finish. The term is Polymer, that's what the converter turns the rust into. Phosphoric does the same but looks more like a clear varnish when the Tannic/gallic ones are nice and black.

Yep....seen a lot of corrosion "at sea" in the last 30+ years. Lots of Sikaflex and Corroseal/Conquest used.

[Maggot12]

Remove the side off and old washer or dryer (it's galvanized) and gluing it down, with the forementioned adhesive.

I like the windshield skylight idea too....

[DRZ Charlie]

Scrape, soda blast the rust? Then apply bedliner?

[t6pilot]

Cold roofing patch, here in the USA big box stores sell it in 5 gal containers, get the silver stuff should last at least 5 years. Apply with trowel sticks to anything

[redprimo]

How about some peal and stick rubberized roof flashing. I get some at the local box store that is 10" wide. if the sustrate is clean and you don't streatch it when you apply it, it sticks very well and its supper easy to use.

[overlandr]

Yes the roofing idea with glass is great but just to remind folks, it'll have another container on top so no light and no space for the wooden structure but it will get plenty of water graining down from the container above when it rains and little sun to evaporate the standing water afterwards

Thanks for all the responses. I have already though of an old enamellled washing machine or cooker as being a good source of steel plate. I'm having to use the metal plate to reinforce the already very weak steel roof which has rusted badly over about 3'x1' and is thus weak. I'm leaning towards a very thin (watery NOT gel) acid type rust converter which will soak into all the cracks and crevices and stop further rust. Keep the ideas coming.

[ontic]

Sorry to talk about welding, but the thing is made of steel. A hot welded steel patch will be the best and cheapest and easiest cure. Anything else just seems silly.
Are you actually in Sydney? I go to metal recyclers in Melbourne and I get steel for free- fancier metals I pay per weight but even if you have to buy some steel from a scrap yard it will be the fraction of the cost of one tube of Sika. A cheap little modern inverter stick welder like numerous people you must know could lend you will deal fine with a long extension cord.

Get an oversize sheet- lay it down and draw around it in a marker- wire wheel an inch or two clean all around where you have marked, lay the patch back down and weld the patch on. Including sourcing steel it would half a day max. Done.

If it is about doing it as cheap and dodgy and lazy as possible... many ways I suppose. Got any old paint tins lying around? Weathershield or a similar vinyl type acrylic would work well. Block up the pin holes with anything that will stop the paint running through. On a hot day get a $2 roller and paint multiple layers of paint over the whole suspect area making sure to go up beyond the area the water will pool. Put half at least half a dozen layers of thick rubbery weathershield paint and it doesn't matter what happens underneath it, the membrane on top will hold for years, even with water pooled on top.

But again, it seems silly not to weld it.

[GreaseMonkey]

Originally Posted by concours

RTV will last two years easily. Cut the end off the (multiple) tube, (not the nozzle, the TUBE!) and push it out with a hammer handle. Trowel to suit. Throw a scrap of metal (road sign) over it to shield UV. Done in 10 minutes.
I've seen it done inside million dollar machinery, lasts nearly forever.

Concours has the right answer IMHO.

I personally wouldn't weld it as it is non structural and the only thing you will do is burn off any corrosion protection already applied to the steel.

Also, if you are putting another container on top of it you might not even bother with doing anything.

[gunnabuild1]

Patch and sikaflex, if you use a rust converter and patch it bigger than the weakened spot once the other container is on top it will be a decade before you even have to think about it.Sikaflex is the Chuck Norris of sealants, if you ever want to take something apart DONT use Sika.

[BigToad]

I would just clean it up, wet it out with epoxy, lay on some 12 oz cloth, wet it out again and your done, if required another coat 12 to 24 hours later, Thats what I have done on my container here on the wet coast and its worked for many years.

I try to make my container look like crap so no one thinks there is anything of value in it.

[overlandr]

Originally Posted by ontic

If it is about doing it as cheap and dodgy and lazy as possible... many ways I suppose. Got any old paint tins lying around? Weathershield or a similar vinyl type acrylic would work well. Block up the pin holes with anything that will stop the paint running through. On a hot day get a $2 roller and paint multiple layers of paint over the whole suspect area making sure to go up beyond the area the water will pool. Put half at least half a dozen layers of thick rubbery weathershield paint and it doesn't matter what happens underneath it, the membrane on top will hold for years, even with water pooled on top.

But again, it seems silly not to weld it.

Thanks but they are not pinholes - big buggers that can easily get bigger with some gentle prodding!

From my first post: "From inside I noticed a single rusty blister 2" OD with evidence of a small leak below. On the outside of this area, there is an area about 2' x 1' with severe rust. By this I mean multiple thin layers of steel rusting come off when nudged by a screwdriver. I created two small holes (1" sq) easily so then stopped. The container steel is about 0.125" thick - maybe more. I only need to keep the container for another couple of years or so welding is uneconomic. "