Container Cover in Alaska Offers an Affordable, Durable Solution

Many customers come to SteelMaster when they want to turn their shipping containers into functional and secure storage areas by adding one of our container cover roof systems.

One of those customers is Joel M., owner of Denali Vacation Rentals just outside of Denali National Park in Healy, Alaska. Joel found SteelMaster while searching online for container structures.

SteelMaster provides a cost-effective solution for a variety of storage needs by adding a roof between two shipping containers, also known as Conex boxes or ISO containers, with our innovative steel container cover kits.

“I priced it out with three different companies and you guys were the quickest response and the best price for what we were looking for,” Joel said. “Each time I needed to make a minor change or size, there were no issues with you guys working with us to make changes. Sometimes other companies seemed reluctant to redesign it.”

Ultimately, Joel decided on an X-Model container cover that is 42 feet wide and 62 feet long.

X-Model container covers are rare, but because Joel lives in an area of Alaska with heavy snow loads, it was the best option. The 4:12 pitch roof of an X-Model allows snow to slide right off of the arches.

“We get a lot of snow, so with motor homes, trucks, and trailers, we burn about 40 cords of firewood per winter. We needed a structure to cover all of that.”

One of the main reasons Joel chose SteelMaster was our competitive pricing.

“We’re in a somewhat remote area, so mainly the cost of the structure was a big factor as well as erecting it. Here in Alaska, a lot of building materials like wood and concrete have doubled in cost this year,” he said. “This [container cover] ended up being significantly cheaper for the same square footage of coverage and storage than if I were to do a stick frame building.”

Another reason was the structure’s low maintenance.

“The nice part about it is I should never have to reshingle it, I should never have to repaint it, I should never really even have to touch it now that it’s up. Whereas any of the stick framed or wood-framed structures I would have put up I would have had to reshingle and have extra maintenance on.”

Joel assembled the container cover with the help of one friend. The two have backgrounds in construction and were able to put the container cover-up in 9 days.

He says getting the first few arches up was a little nerve-wracking, but the process went smoothly as they put up more arches.

“Just a lot of nuts and bolts,” he laughed.

Not only does Joel use the area under his container cover roof for RV parking and storage, but he also uses the actual shipping containers for storage as well.

“I have a full 40-footer of construction tools and supplies for construction, I have a 40-footer of hunting, camping, and fishing gear,” Joel said. “We’ve got other conexes with gardening and lawn care supplies, canoes, and kayaks in other kayaks.”

Joel also has another container that he’s working on building to be a bathhouse and laundry facility for the guests in his rentals.

“Once we have RVs that show up paying customers, we’ll have a separate bathroom they can use and a couple stackable washer and dryers that people can utilize.”

So far, Joel is enjoying his container cover building and has even started decorating it for the holiday season.

“For us, this has worked out really well. My wife was concerned with how it would look but it actually looks pretty cool,” he said. “I got a bunch of hooks with magnets on them. The magnets stick right to it and we hung up a bunch of Christmas lights on the inside.”

He says his experience with SteelMaster was a great one.

“We enjoyed [the experience]. If I ever need to build a similar structure, I’ll give you guys a call.”