Interesting idea, just read where they are converting them into apartments, stacked three high.

They are only 8 feet wide, so not like you can have a row of games down each side. But guess you can do them in rows that are three across and still have an aisle to get to each row. So you could probably get 18 pins in a 40foot container.

I want some as a house.

Seems like a good idea to me.... I've always been fascinated by container houses. You could fit a fair amount of games in something like this.

aab22cc44afc9a1566b79800c70e0667.jpg

Great idea..zoning laws may be your biggest obstacle
Above pic looks great.

Would love to see some pics if you do it!!

Ventilation and insulation will be an issue in Upstate NY. Imagine a garage, and then imagine a garage with neither of those, no protection from the sun, and less mass for thermal damping. Your average cheap used container will also not be watertight.

They're also usually not rated for much in the way of load-bearing or stacking once you start cutting holes in them for light, ventilation, power cords, etc. There's the potential for them to crumple or collapse in transit once they've been altered.

It could work though, if so it'd be pretty cool! Modifying the container to make it a pleasant environment and also protect your machines seems like it could easily get to be more expensive than the container itself.

That thing looks like it would be ten thousand degrees in the summer. You should do it!

Well at least he won't need a soldering iron to do board work in there.

you can install one of those mr slim a/c heat pumps from mitsubishi. foam the inside and install a roof spaced off of the container with sloped stringers to let heat escape and route water away. If you have enough of an overhang from the roof it will help shade any windows and entrances.

-c

containers that were used with refrigeration are insulated, but they will cost more, but may be worth it.

Most containers are waterproof, unless they have been sitting and rusting for a long time.

Could well be worth an extra $1000 to be sure it is a good shape, insulated, etc.

Containers can get crazy hot in the summer. You'll need cooling too.

It might be worth it to do the insulation yourself and make sure it's not all covered in mold and fit for human occupancy. Plus you will have to cut everything up for electrical, windows, etc. It sounds like a fun project.

-c

Sucks they are so thin in the width department. From a cost perspective though, you can't beat one. You can get 40 footers for under $2k. Wonder if you could get two and join them together, insulate, run power, and put in on the aforementioned portable HVAC units? Probably could have the whole thing for $10,000 and that'd be 640 sq ft. and would fit about 32 games, 16 games each outer wall with walking space in the middle.

There's a lot of people who have done just that.

05-8jSRcXn.jpg

We have one here in Christchurch courtesy of Pintech:

http://pintech.co.nz/tiki-village-to-open-in-june/

Cool! I didn't know that.

Container buildings are cool. I have designed several cool ones for use on my industrial park, however tenants aren't so keen on them. People have preconceived ideas, I guess.

I visited this complex in Zurich (Switzerland) in 2013. It's a high end retail store in the middle of nowhere. There are container pubs and food outlets behind it (not shown in these pics)

Imagine how many pins you'd get in this baby!

rd.

image.jpg

image.jpg

Go simple, spray foam(not the stuff in a can) the walls put up plywood and paint them all black. R/V AC unit on the top. Stick with the hi-cubed containers, gives you 9'6" height.

You can also buy refrigerated containers but they start around 5K

Put one of these next to it
image.jpg

If cost/functionality is a factor I'd say just go with a regular pole barn. Shipping containers are cool, but if you have to do a bunch of modifications it might be more costly.

Could you bury the majority of the shipping container, aside from the entrance so the ground would insulate it? I'm sure that opens up more weathering variables, but it might take care of the harsh heatomg/cooling spikes/bills.

Edit: Just looked it up and rained on my own parade. Not good to bury them.

A friend of mine bought a shipping container online to use as storage in his back yard he has some acrage slso, he said it was 1/4 the price of putting up a garage.