Shipping Container: Estimating and Panel Installation

1. Estimating & Installation Preparations
2. Wood Window Frame Install
3. Insulating Swing Doors
4. Installing CX44 Panels on the Side Walls
5. Inside Container Corners
6. Installing Panels on the End Wall
7. Installing Panels on the Ceiling
8. Installing Panels on the Floor
9. Installing Plumbing
10. Installing Electrical
11. Installing Drywall, Trim, Cabinets
12. Cold Weather Adhesive Application Tips

1. Wood window frame install
2. Window flashing for a Shipping Container
3. Insulating the bottom rail
4. Exterior CX 44 install
5. Framing the lower Exterior wall
6. Weathered steel siding install
7. Board and Batten Exterior install

• CX44 panel's features
• InSoFast UX2.0 panel's features
• UX 2.0 Specs and Features
• EXi 2.5 InSoFast features for interior applications
• CX-LP LowPro Insulated Stud Application
• InSoFast Features: Copolymer Stud Adhesion

1. Shipping Container Installation Guide
2. Shipping Container Extended Installation Guide
3. Insulating a Shipping Container Door Guide
4. Interior Application Guide
5. Exterior Application Guide
6. Specifications and Details

The first question to ask is why are you interested in insulating a container?  What do you want to achieve when you are finished, the end result?  What surfaces do you need to frame and insulate?  A container is a cube with 6 sides, each side has 2 surfaces that can be framed and insulated. Add together interior and exterior, now the surfaces to insulate equals 12 sides with windows, doors, then R-Value the combinations are limitless.

Make a plan and stick to it don't over-estimate your needs. Measure twice order once. BEFORE you order is the best time to talk with a design professionals and building code officials to discuss regulations, permits, and codes surrounding container building in your area. Different locations have their own set of rules, zoning and building permit requirements. Find your local State R-Value Code Requirements

There is not a defined universal grading system for containers. If you are planning on purchasing and converting a container for storage, a man cave, she shed, mobile office, or just insulated storage we recommend a personal visual inspection. It is okay to act like a Missourian, (the SHOW ME state). It will always be easier to modify a container in good condition then one with dings, dents, rust, and holes. 

• • Ensure all surfaces are clean of any debris, dust, loose paint, etc before installing InSoFast panels. It is up to the installer to determine the suitability of the adhesive for the surface you are bonding to. If in doubt, an adhesive performance test can be done.
  • Eliminate any leaks before installing InSoFast panels. Do not penetrate the steel walls of your container with screws or fasteners. This compromises the continuous seal and can introduce moisture-related issues.
  • If the container has large dented or indented areas, we recommend hammering them as smooth as possible before installing InSoFast products. As an alternative, the foam of the panel or insert can be adjusted by either carving away the InSoFast foam or by adding spray foam as as a dent filler.
  • Cut out and frame all openings before installing any InSoFast panels or inserts.

It can be very confusing purchasing new or second hand container. Every supplier and reseller can grade conditions on a different scale of good, better, or best, ABC’s, 123’s, and other industry acronyms and certifications. The alphabetic soup of ratings. It all sound so complicated and confusing. Yet it is fairly simple, inspect your container before you make the investment. Would you buy a used car before you took it for a test ride?

• Institute of International Container Lessors –The IICL sets repair standards, by which all repairs are carried out. IICL is the strictest standards for used containers. Tools and Guides.
• Cargo Worthy– CW  Standard under which a used shipping container is deemed suitable for the shipping cargo.  The CW or Cargo Worthy standard generally implies that the container has a valid CSC.  That little plate attached to the container Convention for Safe Containers. Look for the latest inspection date.
• Wind & Water Tight – WWT a standard under which containers are literally “wind and water tight”. In short, if you lock yourself inside the container, you should not see any light coming through the panels or roof. WWT makes no reference to the quality of the understructure.
• Convention for Safe Containers –CSC established in 1972 to promote and maintain a high level of safety of human life in the transport and handling of containers by providing generally acceptable test procedures and related strength requirements.
• International Standardization Organization – ISO International organization based in Geneva working towards harmonizing worldwide technical standards; including those governing the construction of shipping containers.

Finished Interior Space; suitable or good enough to live in. This would be walls that would achieve higher R-Values, and would require planned services like electric, plumbing, windows and door openings and higher-grade finishes and cabinetry.

Commercial Interior Space; office space, commercial spaces, retail pop-ups and other high-end habitable spaces. These would be walls that would achieve higher R-Values, and planned services like electric, plumbing, windowsand door openings and higher-grade finishes and cabinetry.

Industrial-Agricultural Interior Spaces; These would be walls where interior space is at a premium and services can be surface mounted. Insulation values can vary but a clean and durable finish materials like FRP fiber reinforced plastic or metal are desirable.

InSoFast stable insulation panel will work well with most exterior finishes. Stucco, thin veneer stone, weathered steel siding, and board and batten siding's to name just a few finishes. The insulated framing systems allows the designer a wide range of options. The air tight water tight steel shell need not be compromised with hundreds of screws for just attaching exterior finishes.

1. Framing the lower Exterior wall
2. Weathered steel siding install
3. Board and Batten Exterior install

The weathered steel we chose is heavier than most available material siding. Weathered steel, often referred to as *(Cor-Ten). Corten develops a light rust layer that once formed, will protect the underlying material and prevent further corrosion. That is why we chose it for this InSoFast project we are hoping for a dramatic yet rustic finished shipping container.

Options for finishing the long side wall of containers.

1. Option: Finished Interior Space; suitable space to live in, commercial interior space; office space, labratories, retail pop-ups and other high-end habitable spaces. These walls should achieve higher R-Values, and require planned services like electric, plumbing, windows and door openings and higher-grade finishes. The CX 44 panel is best suited for this application if the container is in good to excellent condition.
2. Option: Industrial-Agricultural Interior Spaces; These would be walls where interior space is at a premium and services can be surface mounted. Insulation values can vary but a clean and durable finish materials like FRP fiber reinforced plastic or metal are desirable. The CX-LowPro insulated studs, side wall inserts, with flat stock insulation provided by others. This method is adaptable and suited for application when the container is in fair to good to condition. The studs and inserts are easier to modify and make plumb and level.on. The studs and inserts are easier to modify and make plumb and level.
3. Option: Finished insulated exterior;  Walls where exterior finished attachment is the primary application requirement. Insulation thickness can be increased to meet higher energy codes. The CX-LowPro insulated studs, side wall inserts, with flat stock insulation provided by others is the best exterior choice. This method is suited for this application when the container is in fair to good to condition. The studs and inserts are easier to modify and make plumb and level.
4. Option: Just using inserts with foam by others. A container is an airtight environment. The corrugations presents a unique challenge when insulating a container. Humidity can get trapped in the corrugations which can lead to problematic hidden condensation, aka: “Sweating Metal”. The inserts reduce that hidden dead air space reducing the potential condensation. We believe the best way to insulate a container is to themally buffer the steel from sudden cooling that invites cold condensations points from occurring.

CX 44 Container Panel

The InSoFast CX 44 Container panel is designed to fit most shipping container's long side walls. It's ideal application is more formal residential/office finished habital space.  Refer to the container diagrams to determine if the InSoFast CX 44 will fit your container’s corrugations. The corrugations should be 11" on center the proper fit is very important. We recommend that you purchase a Container Sample Kit and physically measure the CX 44 panel's fit to the weld seams on your container. Make sure that you have a uniform 44" on center spacing for the container's welds.

The panel is optimized for interior finishing with the electrical raceways built-in, CX44 is adaptable and will on the exterior walls applications too. The panel’s solid airtight construction helps prevents steel container condensation issues. CX44 panel varies in thickness from 2" to 3 1/2″ thick of closed-cell, injection-molded EPS foam and achieves R-11 insulation.  The specifically shaped EPS is designed to fill the inset corrugation of a shipping container where the side wall weld seams are 44"on center.  If the weld seams are less than 44" this may involve trimming the panels to fit.  Contact our technical department about triming and stack bonding panel alternative methods of installation. 

Side Wall corrugation dimensions that the CX44 will fit.

• See Diagram.

• The CX 44 Panel 24" x 44"
  • • It is a good choice as a base panel for the InSoFast PLUS when higher R-Value is needed. 
    • It is a good choice when a finished livable space is desired.
    • Designed to fit 44" wide weld seam to weld seam.
    • CX44  Panel (5 panels/box) 36.67 s.f.
      • One 20’ high cube wall would require 5 boxes of the CX 44 panels
      • One 40’ high cube wall would require 10 boxes of the CX 44 panels

CX LowPro Insulated Studs

CX LowPro a hybrid engineered solution for insulating containers for interior or exterior applications. The CX-LP studs are ideally suited for intermodal container conversions and are best suited for industrial applications where thin wall insulation and framing is the primary need. (If you are not planning to embed electric services like wiring in the wall, or if you are planning surface mounted conduit. One of the many benefits to the stud, it is easier to modify and adapt to accommidate dings and dents of older containers. The CX-LP is a hybrid method designed to address the overseas freight charges. CX-LP insulated stud method of application utilizes locally sourced flat foam board to reduce overseas freight.  The insulated stud is ideal eliminating framing cold spots when insulating a container.

Interior application

LowPro interior application with a window.

The adhesively applied CX-LP eliminates the hundreds of holes associated with shipping container or sea can modifications. The CX LowPro stud is part of a assembly to work with the Side Walls Inserts. The corrugation infills are typically placed on either 11 - 22 inches on center in an alternating pattern with the (CSW) side wall inserts. The CX-LP insulated infill framing is ideally suited for container conversions in commercial, residential, industrial, interior or exterior applications where thin wall insulation and framing is the primary concern.  

CX-LP LowPro Insulated Stud		Side Wall InSerts
CX LowPro-Side Wall Architectural Details	dwg dxf pdf	Dimensioned to fit
Dimensions	7 1/2in × 24in × 2in	48in x 7 3/4in x 1 1/4 in
Coverage	2.5 sq-ft	2.5 sq-ft
R-Value ASTM C518	R-8.5	R-5.3
Closed-Cell, injection-molded EPS	ASTM C578 Type II	ASTM C578 Type II
Canadian Standards	CAN/ULC S701 Type 2	CAN/ULC S701 Type 2
Foam Density	1.35 lbs per cubic foot	1.35 lbs per cubic foot
Polyproylene Studs	Surface	N/A
Ready for Finishes	√	√
Interior	√	√
Exterior	√	√

• • One box of the CX-LP 46 Insulated studs will do 92 lineal feet of framing.   One 20' container side wall would need 44 pcs, of CX LoPros insulated studs and 20 pcs. of the Side Wall Inserts to do one side.
    • One box of Side Wall Inserts has 30 pcs. that are 48 inches long or will cover 112 Lineal feet of corrugation in-fill.

The high-strength co-polymer plastic studs on 11 or 22-inches centers provide a positive attachment stud for finishing the container. The ribbed dovetails surface provides for adhesive applications against the metal surfaces.

CX LowPro Insulated Studs, (CX-LP) is ideal for export. The InSoFast panels, comprised of 98% air; they are bulky and expensive to ship. So like oranges made into orange juice, we concentrated the best attributes of our insulated panels into a cost competitive exportable insulated stud. Typically, an overseas container will hold enough insulation panels of our CX44 to fabricate 4-5 completely insulated shipping containers, with the LowPro Stud and locally sourced flat foam board 40-50

Insulating a shipping container is a balancing act between space, comfort, energy efficiency, and humidity control, LowPro gives you that control.

The UX 2.0 Flat Panel and insert method for side wall has material to finish the side wall of a shipping container for interior or exterior applications. The UX Flat panel and inserts is a two-step process insulated first with the (CWS) Side Wall Inserts to infill the wall's corrugated voids preventing hidden condensation. The UX2.0 (48″ x 24″) panels are installed over the inserts so that the black studs run horizontally, crossing over the container's corrugations, providing maximum contact between the InSoFast studs and the steel container. Theis is the quickest and easiest method used when the container 's condition is less than optimal.

1. 1. Preferred method when modifying older containers with dings and dents.
   2. When weld seams are greater than or less than 44" on center.
   3. Industrial fast track application.

Side Wall Bundle Contains:

• • • (UX2.0 Flat Panel) = 40 sq-ft. per box.
    • (CSW Side Wall Inserts) = 30 pieces 48 inches long covering 120 lineal feet of corrugation in-fill or (15) 8′ tall sections

(CSW Side Wall Inserts)

Side Wall InSerts One box of Side Wall Inserts covers 112 Lineal feet of corrugation.
Dimensioned to fit	48in x 7 3/4in x 1 1/4 in
Coverage	2.5 sq-ft
R-Value ASTM C518	R-5.3
Closed-Cell, injection-molded EPS	ASTM C578 Type II
Canadian Standards	CAN/ULC S701 Type 2
Foam Density	1.35 lbs per cubic foot

(UX2.0 Flat Panel)

The side wall of a shipping container interior or exterior applications.  If you just need to just insulate a container for insulated storage and covering the insulation is not a concern we recommend the (CWS) Side Wall Inserts to infill the wall's corrugated voids to prevent hidden condensation. Then install locally sourced board stock insulation over the steel container's exposed metal surfaces. 

1. 1. Inexpensive method when modifying older containers with dings and dents prevent cold condensation surfaces.
   2. Industrial fast track application not suitible for habitital spaces, storage only.
      1. Check with local code restrictions for exposed foam insulation fire requirements.
   3. Traditional framing, wood or steel studs, would need to be installed with drywall and optional additional insulation in order to make the container into a habital space

Side Wall Inserts:

• • • (CSW Side Wall Inserts) = 30 pieces 48 inches long covering 120 lineal feet of corrugation in-fill or (15) 8′ tall sections

(CSW Side Wall Inserts)

Side Wall InSerts One box of Side Wall Inserts covers 112 Lineal feet of corrugation.
Dimensioned to fit	48in x 7 3/4in x 1 1/4 in
Coverage	2.5 sq-ft
R-Value ASTM C518	R-5.3
Closed-Cell, injection-molded EPS	ASTM C578 Type II
Canadian Standards	CAN/ULC S701 Type 2
Foam Density	1.35 lbs per cubic foot

LP-EW LowPro End Wall

LP-EW LowPro Insulated Stud One box of the LP-EW 22 Insulated studs will do 44 lineal feet of framing.
Dimensions	5 1/2in × 24in × 2 1/2 in
Coverage	1.00 sq-ft
R-Value ASTM C518	R-10.5
ASTM C578 Type II	Closed-Cell, injection-molded EPS
Canadian Standards  CAN/ULC S701 Type 2
ASTM C303 Foam Density	1.35 lbs per cubic foot
ASTM E96 Water Vapor Permeability	(Class III Vapor Retarder) 3.5perm/in
Maximum Service Temperature (long term)	167°F = 75 Celsius (°C)
Co-Polymer Polyproylene Insulated Stud	Surface
Interlocking Edges	√
Engineered for Shipping Containers	√
Exterior Application	√
Interiors Application	√

End Wall Insert

End Wall InSerts End Wall or the containers nose 36 lineal feet of corrugation.
Dimensions	5in × 48in × 1 3/4in
Coverage	1.67 sq-ft
R-Value ASTM C518	R-7.5
ASTM C578 Type II Canadian Standards CAN/ULC S701 Type 2	Closed-Cell, injection-molded EPS
Foam Density	1.35 lbs per cubic foot

Insulating the end wall of the shipping container is a two step processs. End Wall inserts and the Flat Panel UX 2.0 Suitable for interior or exterior applications. Inserts are installed on the end wall corrugations. The embedded stud panels run horizontal, perpendicular to a shipping containers corrugated ribs. The goal is to provide as much contact between the studs and steel in order to maximize the holding power of the studs.

End Wall  or the container's nose corrugation

End Wall Inserts One box of Inserts covers the end wall.
Insert Dimensions See Diagram	5 1/4 in × 48in ×  1 5/8 in
Coverage per pcs	1.75 sq-ft
One Box -20 inserts 4' long	(covers 35’ Sq-ft)
Interior side of the end wall	1 boxes
Exterior side of a the end wall	1 boxes
R-Value ASTM C518	R-4.24 per in
ASTM C578 Type II	Closed-Cell, injection-molded EPS
Canadian Standard CAN/ULC S701 Type 2
Foam Density	1.35 lbs per cubic foot
Interiors	√
Exteriors	√
Shipping Containers	√