Shipping Container Painting

Product Description

Shipping container painting is a very common way to extend the life of a used shipping container. Also repainting a shipping container makes it look smarter and neater. It may also be necessary for a specific use or to match company colours or similar.

We offer shipping container painting in all our depots. We commonly hold popular shades of blue and green in stock and a few other common colours, but we can also order any RAL colour code of paint you require. Note: Suppliers of marine grade paint only work to RAL colour codes, so if you have a different colour scheme code (e.g. BS colours) we would need to ask you to pick the matching RAL colour code. This removes any ambiguity for us in the middle leaving a colour ‘open to interpretation’ can mean unhappy customers so this is why we insist you tell us please!

Basic Repaints

The basic shipping container painting price usually involves a quick blow over only.

When repainting a used shipping container, surface rust is commonly not ground to a clean finish. It doesn’t really need rubbing down as the COR-TEN steel construction means any surface rust is in itself non porous so rubbing down the surface rust won’t make any significant different to the ageing of the container. (i.e. rust on shipping containers is a protective layer in its own right. Rubbing down this surface rust prior to a repaint won’t add additional life although it will improve the surface cosmetics). It also add so much labour time that its makes the cost not viable in many cases.

When repainting a one trip container this can offer a smart and clean finish,

With a basic repaint we do commonly repaint over the locking gear and door seals. If you want a smarter overall finish, especially when repainting a one trip container or having a container conversion project undertaken, we may recommend a premium repaint

This basic option is ideal if you want to hide the original colours, logos and markings on a storage container and make the appearance better overall.

Premium Repaints

We also offer a ‘premium’ repaint option where we mask off the door seals and locking rods before repainting. With used shipping containers we may also spend more time preparing the surface before repainting. This additional work for the premium repaint does not add any additional lifespan or help the shipping container function better, but its does give a better cosmetic finish, ideal for higher end conversions that may be on display to the public or similar.  You can read more details on this in our recent blog post detailing the differences between our standard and premium repainting options.

Anything can be done and a few hours spent rubbing down the surface rust can have the shipping container looking much cleaner overall. We can also add prime coats and base layers if you need exact shade matching for a specific purpose. As with anything, in such a competitive industry anything is possible but the more work involved then the higher the cost.

Darker vs lighter shades

Marine grade paint is designed to be applied without a primer and a single coat is priced as standard. Darker shades will routinely work better.

If you and a lighter shade of paint we may also specify a primer or base coat to prevent any of the original markings and on a used container the logos showing through. We may also recommend the removal of the container decals (shipping markings) prior to the repaint.

If you are shopping for pure value, we typically recommend looking at a darker shade rather then a lighter shade. We also generally only stock darker shades of paint.

Top tips to consider when getting your shipping container repainted :

• Surface rust is not rubbed down as a matter of course on used containers prior to a repaint
• We use marine grade paint, a very hard wearing and very durable paint finish. This will improve cosmetics on a used container and also add a little additional life.
• Masking up the locking rods and the door rubbers prior to a repaint will improve the cosmetic condition only, and will often not be included in the basic repaint price.
• Darker shades of paint will show up any dinks and dents less well than lighter shades
• We over-spray the original container colour without an additional base coat. base coats can be added at extra cost but we often suggest this isn’t necessary
• Repainting a shipping container will add to the lead time – at best it will take a couple of days to repaint the container and let the paint dry – it may take up to 2 weeks if we need to order in a special paint colour for you and if we are also busy with other planned in works.
• We will repaint in the RAL colour specified, but we do not guarantee perfect shade matching as there may be some minor offset when repainting over different original shipping container colours.
• We can only work with RAL colours, as marine grade paint only comes in RAL colours. If you have a different paint colour coding system, we will ask you to choose the RAL colour you feel is closest to your required shade.

*See our shipping container colours page detailing the popular and standard RAL colour codes, including example photos of the most popular paint shades in use on shipping containers.