DIY Shipping Container Organization - MODULAR INTERIOR SHELVING SYSTEM
Do you own a shipping container that is completely disorganized from front to back? Are you looking for a way to organize your storage container more efficiently?
Follow along in this video as we install our Modular Interior System with strut channel and CSM Brackets and show you how you can modify your sea can’s interior wall for shelving.
With this framing setup, you can install anything to the struts, such as shelving brackets, pipe racks, tire rack kits, or really anything to design your own organization system inside your shipping container. You can install these struts every corrugation, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th corrugation, or as many as you need for your container. These can also be installed in both the insulated and non-insulated position.
What comes with the CSM Brackets:
2 x Base Bracket
2 x Angle Bracket
4 x 1/4" Thread Cutting Bolt
2 x 5/16" Flange Head Sheet Metal Screw
Tools Required: Strut Channels
Marker
Drill
7/32” Drill Bit
⅜” Hex Head Impact Bit
½” Socket Spring Nuts
Nyloc Nuts (only if you’re not installing roof struts)
⅜” Bolts and Washers
Purchase Container Modification World Products Featured in The Video
YouTube Video Transcript
0:00
Do you already own a shipping container?
0:01
Is it completely disorganized front to back?
0:04
Follow us along in this video as we install CSM Brackets and strut channel, which provides
0:10
a fully modular interior to allow you to organize your life.
0:21
For a list of the tools required, check the description below this video.
0:25
Before I get started, make sure you subscribe to our channel and ring that notification
0:29
bell to follow us along day by day as we modify containers and install accessories.
0:35
Hi, I'm Channing McCorriston, The Container Guy.
0:37
With me today is Travis with A&R Electric, my sparky.
0:42
He's here going to help me install these CSM Brackets and strut channel inside this container.
0:47
It's important to note that I have my electrician here with me today, and not my welders.
0:51
And that's one of the biggest advantages with these CSM Brackets is that they install using
0:56
a drill, self-threading screws.
0:58
No welding and no bolting through the container is required, so you're not going to burn your
1:03
beautiful paint, and you're not going to poke a million holes through your can.
1:06
This is going to provide, still a completely sealed envelope, and if you are electrifying
1:11
your container, there's only one hole through your can and that's power in.
1:16
If he pokes anymore in the container, I'm mad at him.
1:19
These strut channels can be installed every corrugation, which is about 11 inches on center,
1:23
or every second, third, or fourth corrugation.
1:27
If you have a plan ahead of time for where you'll be using these struts, you can actually
1:31
just install them only where you need them, which will save you time and money.
1:34
So we just jumped in at the back of the can here.
1:36
We've already marked out every second corrugation, and that's what we'll be installing the strut channel, so.
1:42
That's about 22 inches on center, which allows you a lot of freedom and flexibility if you're
1:48
gonna be bolting any shelving or even custom built racking to it.
1:52
We're gonna install the first bottom CSM Bracket, and then we'll jump up on top.
1:56
So step one is to mark out the holes. The holes are slotted.
2:00
Try to get to the back side of the hole when you're doing the bottom channel, so that you're
2:05
not going into the wall of the channel.
2:08
Then, pre-drill with a 7/32 drill bit, reposition your CSM Bracket, and use your 3/8 Hex Head
2:13
Impact Bit to tighten it up.
2:18
Just before he tightens those up he makes sure that the CSM Bracket is nice and parallel
2:25
with the container and not on an angle.
2:26
And the final step is to screw the sheet metal screw down into the floor using a half inch socket.
2:34
What's also nice about the sheet metal screw is we find that you don't have to pre-drill
2:37
and you still don't snap that head.
2:44
So you see this folded profile right here?
2:47
That makes up for the difference for the channel being higher than the floor, and then with
2:52
the 90 degree angle bracket, it's folded to the same profile, which stops this thing from
2:56
spinning now, so that keeps the strut nice and straight and square and doesn't, you know,
3:01
allow it to rotate one way or the other.
3:04
Up top, we hold the CSM Bracket in place, center punch the first hole, pull it down,
3:09
drill that first hole, then install the CSM Bracket, and then self-tap the final screw afterwards.
3:18
These CSM Brackets are meant to allow you to continue your strut up the wall, across
3:23
the ceiling, and then down the other.
3:25
So if you were doing that and going across the ceiling, you would mount your ceiling
3:30
strut and then your wall strut and the angle bracket using spring nuts in the ceiling strut
3:36
and the wall strut.
3:37
But because, on this one, we are only strut lining the wall, we have to use a bolt and
3:44
a Nylock Nut, and we're going to mount the angle bracket here, and then that terminates
3:48
this and then allows us to use the spring nut again to install on the vertical strut.
3:52
Now that we have the bottom CSM Bracket installed and the top one, the next step is just to
3:58
slide the strut in.
4:01
These struts can be installed either in the non-insulated or insulated position.
4:05
In the non-insulated position, the strut channel should be sitting flush against the outside corrugations.
4:10
The insulated position will pull the strut an inch and five-eights further away from
4:14
the corrugation to allow for foam behind it and a proper thermal break.
4:19
Insert your spring nut into the strut channel, slide it down into place, insert your bolt
4:23
and washer, and finally tighten it up.
4:27
So this here is the strut installed in the non-insulated position, so the strut is tucked
4:31
up nicely against the uh, the outside corrugation of this container, and then it--it's pretty much flush.
4:38
It just sticks out uh about a quarter-of-an-inch past the inside corrugations, so you don't
4:43
really lose any interior width of your container and now you have this beautiful strut channel
4:49
that's completely modular and allows you to bolt anything to it.
4:52
A lot of people don't know what spring nuts are, and I guess neither did I until my electricians
4:57
first introduced them to me a long time ago, and don't feel alone.
5:02
But what they are is, they're a nut with a spring on the back end of it and they got
5:06
the two rounded sides, so they only fit into the channel one way.
5:10
The spring pushes on the back of the channel, so as it goes in you can only turn it the
5:15
one way, and then it cannot keep turning, so then once you put your bolt through there
5:21
and you start tightening, it's the wrench on the other side of your bolt.
5:25
Super common hardware, it's available at, you know, any electrical wholesaler, bolt
5:30
supply houses, and then probably even, yeah, your local hardware stores.
5:35
And so, this is the same hardware that is used to install the shelving brackets, pipe
5:41
racks, and all the other components that we manufacture for this Modular Interior Systems.
5:46
So we'll start by showing you our 18-Inch Heavy Duty Shelving Brackets.
5:50
We like these shelving brackets for when you need modular height of your shelving in your
5:56
container, rather than the hanging shelving brackets where it's a fixed height for each
6:01
of your runs of shelving, this way you have full adjustability of that.
6:06
They're an 18-inch shelving bracket, which allows for two 2x10s to be installed on top
6:11
as you're shelving. 19-, 20-inch shelving width, we really like that because, if you're
6:15
to do that on both sides of the container, you still have a really nice over-three-foot hallway in between.
6:20
So with these brackets, the holes are about four inches apart from each other.
6:24
What you can do is measure where you think you want them to go.
6:28
You can just kind of pre-measure where your bolts are going to be on the strut, so that
6:32
you know where to insert your spring nuts, and if you get all your spring nuts in ahead
6:35
of time, then you can get all your bolts started nicely and then just do your final adjustment
6:41
once all of your shelf brackets are in and before you tighten up all the bolts.
7:09
And here with the pipe racks, the installation method is very similar to the shelving brackets.
7:15
You have to measure where your spring nuts will go and then insert your bolt, lock washer,
7:21
and washer through the pipe rack itself into the spring nuts, and then you'll tighten up the bottom one.
7:26
You can still use your impact driver and your socket, but then the top one you'll have to
7:30
use a flat wrench because of the angled profile of the pipe rack itself, it gets in the way
7:34
of the impact driver.
7:37
These are great for storing things like strut, obviously pipe for the pipe racks, but you
7:42
can also hang other things from these like extension cords, chains, straps, ladders.
7:48
There's a ton of uses for these pipe racks more than just actually storing pipe.
7:54
We do have these uh, these rubber caps that snap over top of the strut.
8:00
And so, just for safety, you know, if somebody bangs their back or whatever, it catches their
8:05
shoulder in this strut, it doesn't hurt.
8:08
And then the last thing that we're going to show you is our Tire Rack Kit.
8:11
We actually build that out of galvanized angle brackets, strut, and inch-and-a-quarter EMT.
8:16
It's a pretty cool kit.
8:17
We've lined entire containers with tire racks in there.
8:20
So for these tire rack kits, same process: get your spring nuts in the strut channel
8:26
ahead of time, and then just start with your bottom angle bracket.
8:31
You'll start bolting it on.
8:40
Once you got that on, you can start working out from the bottom and down from the top,
8:45
connect them all together, and then you'll get this triangulated frame here, and then
8:49
once you have that on both sides, we'll come across with the inch-and-a-quarter EMT and
8:55
the strut clamps, and then you can actually even adjust that EMT for the size of the tire,
9:00
whether you want them closer together in a smaller tire or further apart for a larger tire.
9:17
New idea: bunk beds.
9:20
Or, as Travis says, love seat.
9:23
Thanks for watching uh... this is our Modular Interior Systems.
9:27
Hopefully, uh, we've shown you how it all works and you can picture organizing your own container.
9:33
As always, if you like the video, please smash that like button.
9:36
Subscribe to the channel and ring that notification bell, or check us out at tcg.ca.
9:42
Hope you learned something.