09/08/2026
Three weeks of prep to paint a used container — and the rust is already coming back
This is the cost nobody puts in the budget. The builder here spent weeks getting one container ready for paint. Hand-scraped the lettering, tried every adhesive remover, thinners, acetone — none of it touched the glue. Ended up burning it off with a propane w**d torch and wire-wheeling the crust. POR15 on the rust, then hand-sanding it rough so the paint would grip. Sprayed with a Graco Magnum X7 and an extension tube.
Two years on, rust is bleeding through again and needs touching up.
His own advice afterwards: order a one-trip instead. The gap is around $1,200, and it buys you a clean container that needs nothing.
The rest of the build is the easy part by comparison. 24-foot trusses with a foot of overhang, giving a 14-foot covered bay off the side. Trusses and lumber came to $2,500, tin was left over from another job, and with trim and guttering the whole bay landed near $3,200.
So the roof over your head cost less than the paint job on the wall holding it up.
Worth knowing: one person in the comments swears a hot pressure washer strips the lettering far faster than scraping ever will.
Shared by Jason J Uhl. .j.uhl.2025
One-trip and skip the misery, or used and put in the hours?
💡 Cost figures are rough estimates and vary by location and project.
