Frequently Asked Questions

Containers arrive on a tilt-bed truck, which slides the container off the back. That means the truck needs a straight, level run at the drop point:

• 20ft container: 110 feet of straight clearance from the drop point
• 40ft container: 130 feet of straight clearance from the drop point

The truck needs at least 15 ft of height to drive, at least 22 ft of height along the entire unloading path, and at least 10 ft of width. Low utility lines, tree limbs and roof overhangs can stop a delivery. If you are unsure, describe the approach when you ask for a quote so it can be reviewed before anything is scheduled.

Watch a delivery: container delivery video.

Price depends on the size, grade and condition you choose, on what is in stock, and on the distance and access to your address, so there is no single statewide number. The starting prices on this site name the grade and the city they apply to. For your address, the quote form or a phone call gets you a written quote with delivery details.

Warranty runs by grade: one-trip units carry a 10 year structural and 10 year no-leak warranty, cargo worthy and wind and water tight units carry a 5 year structural and 5 year no-leak warranty, and economy units carry a 1 year roof leak warranty. The warranty travels with the grade you buy, so if warranty length matters to you it is worth comparing grades before you compare prices.

We sell containers. We do not rent them. Rent-to-own runs through a third-party partner, My Container Rental, and spreads the payments until you own the container. Our rent vs buy guide walks through when each path makes sense.

Virginia pricing starts at $2,147 for a 20ft Wind and Water Tight container delivered in Norfolk, per Container One's prices as of 6 August 2026. On that date the same unit was $2,147 delivered in Virginia Beach and in Richmond, even though Richmond is roughly 96 miles from the depot and Norfolk is about 6. Price moves with size, grade and what is in stock, so the number that matters is the one quoted to your ZIP code. Every figure above includes delivery.

Virginia splits this into two questions, and one of them has the same answer everywhere in the Commonwealth. The building code question is settled statewide: Section 102.2 of the Virginia Construction Code provides that the Uniform Statewide Building Code supersedes local building codes, and Section 108.2 exempts one story detached storage sheds and similar uses from permit application where the building area does not exceed 256 square feet. A 20ft container is about 160 square feet and sits under that line. A 40ft is about 320 and sits above it. That is true in Norfolk, in Richmond and in Wise County alike. The zoning question is the opposite and it is where the real variation lives. Norfolk names shipping containers in its ordinance and lists the districts that allow them. Virginia Beach runs a Portable Storage Container Permit through its Zoning Administrator. Richmond requires a certificate of zoning compliance for almost anything three feet or taller that you set on the ground. One call to whoever issues your zoning approval, with the parcel address in hand, is how to settle it.

Level and firm, with water running away from it rather than under it. A container carries its entire weight through four corner castings, so it needs solid bearing at those four points rather than along a wall. Across Tidewater, including Norfolk, Virginia Beach and the Peninsula, the soil is sandy over a high water table and the concern is how much weight the ground can carry and how far it will settle, so blocks, timbers or a compacted gravel pad under the corners keep the box level and the floor out of standing water. Inland, the Piedmont turns to clay that is firm when dry and greasy for days after a hard rain, and the same four supports do the same job for a different reason. Along the Interstate 81 karst belt there is a third question worth asking before anything is set down: has this spot held a loaded truck or a piece of equipment before.

Delivery timing depends on location, payment, weather, container availability and site access. Container One's Delivery/Dispatch department schedules the date after payment is received and the site is reviewed.

There are five grades and the warranty runs by grade. One-trip containers have made a single loaded voyage, look close to new, and carry a 10 year structural and no-leak warranty. Cargo worthy units are certified fit for ocean shipping and carry 5 years. Wind and water tight units are dry and serviceable and carry 5 years, and they suit general storage. Economy is the budget grade and carries a 1 year no-roof-leak warranty. Multi-trip units are also sold, so ask the Container One sales representative preparing your quote about them. Refrigerated units are inspected and tested before delivery. Ask about their warranty terms before you buy.

Containers are built from Corten steel, which forms a stable surface layer that slows corrosion, and they spend their working lives crossing oceans in salt spray. What actually causes trouble in Virginia is condensation on the inside, not rust on the outside. Hampton Roads runs summer dew points in the upper 60s and low 70s Fahrenheit, and warm humid air meeting a steel roof that cooled overnight puts water on your ceiling. Cross ventilation high and low on opposite ends, setting the box up off the ground, and keeping it level so the roof sheds water handle most of it. Near the water, add a look at the roof seams and the door gaskets on arrival, and touch up the paint anywhere the finish is thin.

Yes, when the road and the drop spot allow it. What decides it is the last quarter mile and the drop spot, because a tilt bed truck needs a firm, reasonably level path and a long straight run to slide the box off. Send photos of the approach and the drop spot when you book.

Yes, rent-to-own is available in Virginia. With rent-to-own the monthly payment builds toward ownership, so at the end of the term the container is yours. With a straight rental the payments end and so does your claim on the box. Which one costs less depends entirely on how many months you actually need it.

A container is exceptionally strong in compression, which is why they stack nine high on a ship, and it is comparatively light for its surface area, which means uplift and overturning are the conditions worth planning for rather than crushing. For ordinary storage, setting it level on firm bearing and keeping the doors closed handles normal Virginia weather. If you are anchoring it, or building with it, that is engineering work rather than a rule of thumb. Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore carry higher design wind speeds and, close to the water, opening protection requirements that inland Virginia does not have, and the Central Virginia Seismic Zone means seismic design category is a real line in your locality's table rather than a formality. Ask your building department for their filled in Table R301.2 and have the connection between container and foundation designed by a Virginia licensed engineer.

Two questions decide it, and neither is about how much you own. The first is what the truck can do at your site: a 40ft needs a longer straight run to set down than a 20ft, so a constrained lot can take two 20ft boxes where one 40ft will not place. Richmond alleys and a narrow valley in Southwest Virginia are examples. The second is the shape of your load: a 40ft is one long room, while two 20ft units give you two doors, two locations, and the option to move one of them later without moving both. There is a Virginia code wrinkle worth knowing too, because the statewide building permit exemption stops at 256 square feet and a 20ft container sits under it while a 40ft sits above it. Tell the sales representative where the box has to land so the site can be reviewed for the size your ground can take.

• One-trip: made one loaded ocean crossing. Clean floors, intact paint, close to new.
• Cargo worthy: certified fit to carry cargo at sea. Structurally sound, cosmetically used.
• Wind and water tight (WWT): inspected to confirm the doors seal, there are no holes, and the interior stays dry. Surface rust, paint wear and minor dents are normal.
• Economy: the lowest grade we sell. Weathered, and priced accordingly.

For a grade-by-grade walkthrough, see the container condition guide.

It depends on what the container is for. If it is going to be seen, lived in, or converted, the clean interior and intact paint save real work later and the 10 year structural and 10 year no-leak warranty is the longest available. If it is going behind a shed to hold equipment, a wind and water tight unit does the same job for less.

We offer 20ft standard, 40ft standard and 40ft high cube containers, plus modified containers and refrigerated units in 20ft and 40ft.

Personnel doors, roll-up doors, windows, vents, skylights, electrical wiring and a panel, LED lighting, insulation, spray foam, HVAC, shelving, workbenches and exterior paint. Insulation and HVAC choices depend on the climate the box will sit in: Virginia is genuinely mixed, and the 2021 code says so out loud. For years the whole Commonwealth sat in climate zone 4A. The 2021 Virginia Residential Code adopted the updated ASHRAE map and split the state three ways: nineteen localities along the southern and eastern edge, Norfolk and Virginia Beach among them, are now 3A warm humid, five localities on the northwest edge are 5A cool humid, and everything else, Richmond included, stays 4A mixed humid. What that means for a container is that the wall number is the same everywhere and the ceiling, floor and glazing numbers change as you move north and west. What does not change anywhere in Virginia is that moisture governs. R-value matters, but controlling where humid air meets cold steel matters more, so the insulation plan is a moisture plan first.

A reefer has a refrigeration unit built into one end. It runs on a 460V 3-phase supply, or a compatible generator where 3-phase power is not available, and holds anywhere from -25 degrees F to +70 degrees F. The walls are insulated as part of the original build, not retrofitted.

Virginia has five physiographic provinces, and the ground depends on which one you are in. A container carries essentially its entire weight through four corner castings rather than spreading it along a continuous footing, so four concentrated point loads on ground that softens, settles or subsides is how a box ends up out of level, with doors that no longer close and a roof that ponds water. Across Tidewater, including Norfolk, Virginia Beach, the Peninsula and the Eastern Shore, the soil is sandy and the water table sits close to the surface, so the main questions are how much weight the ground can carry and how far it will settle.

For temporary placement: Set the container on solid bearing at the four corner castings rather than straight onto turf. Pressure treated timbers, concrete blocks or a compacted gravel pad under each corner keeps the box level, keeps the doors square and keeps the wood floor out of standing water. Grade so surface water runs away from the corners rather than under them.

For permanent placement or a conversion: Set poured piers or footings under each corner casting, bearing on undisturbed soil, with drainage that carries water away. On Tidewater sand or Piedmont clay a soil test is cheap next to remediating a settled corner, and anywhere along the Interstate 81 karst belt a geotechnical investigation is the first step. Any structural build needs the foundation and the anchoring designed by a Virginia licensed engineer.

Frost depth: There is no single statewide figure to look up, because IRC Table R301.2 is filled in locally in Virginia the same way design wind speed and seismic category are. Ask your building department for their number before you pour anything.

Crawl space and slab on grade construction are the Virginia norm, and frost depth is rarely the governing factor outside the mountain counties. What governs instead is water: where it goes, how fast the soil sheds it, and whether the ground under the corners stays firm through a wet week. In Tidewater Virginia the flood zone and the finished floor elevation can decide the design before soil strength does.

At a minimum, make the placement area level and firm, and clear debris, rocks and brush out of the way. Confirm the straight run the truck needs, and look up for lines and limbs. Soft ground can delay a delivery: a loaded truck can sink, so the driver may wait for the ground to dry. Describe the site in your quote request so it can be reviewed before delivery is scheduled.

The box itself is corrugated Corten steel. The lock is the weak point, so use a hidden shackle lock, sometimes called a puck lock, inside a lockbox welded over the handle. Ask whether the selected unit has a lockbox fitted.

The recurring signs are a price far under the market, a seller who will not let the container be seen or photographed, payment demanded by wire transfer or crypto, no verifiable business identity or contact route, and pressure to decide today. A real dealer will give you a phone number, answer questions before payment, and put the quote in writing.