Unique Shipping Container Floor Modification - Installing Checker Plate Directly on Wood Flooring
Follow along as we install checker plate flooring directly on the wood floor in this 20-foot shipping container. This is not the usual way we install diamond plate floors, but we wanted to take you along as we try to figure out how to weld the sheet metals together without catching the container on fire.
Usually, we install tread plate flooring over a cementitious substrate to achieve a 1-hour or 2-hour fire rating. We start by installing a steel channel frame on the floor where the seams of the metal sheets will meet up, and then fill the gaps with drywall before welding the checker plate in place.
In this video, in order to prevent the heat from penetrating down into the wood, we elected to use aluminum foil tape. We hope this method will prevent the wood from smouldering and possibly catching on fire. If you have a better solution, please share down below in the comments!
VIDEO
Purchase Container Modification World Products Featured in The Video
YouTube Video Transcript
In this video, we are installing 3/16 checker plate steel flooring directly
on top of the wood flooring in this shipping container.
The method shown in this video is not how we normally do it,
so follow along as we try not to burn our shop down.
Hi, I'm Channing McCorriston, The Container Guy.
We just received a customer order for a couple containers.
The customer doesn't want a wood floor inside, they want a steel floor.
So we've elected to use 3/16 checker plate steel flooring.
We're going to be installing that directly over top of the wood floor.
They also want us to seam weld all the joints, which is a bit tricky and we'll show you how
we're going to manage that just because we don't want to light this whole container on fire.
Usually, we install a 3/16 or 1/4 inch checker plate flooring over a cementitious substrate
to achieve a one-hour or two-hour fire rating.
We often build a steel channel frame on the floor where the seams of the checker plate will end up,
then fill the gaps with a 5/8 Type X Drywall or a fire-rated cement board.
The checker plate can then be welded to the channel at the seams
and we don't have to worry about as much warpage.
So, we're using our plasma cutter to cut this 3/16 checker plate. It works great,
but it does leave a little bit of an edge that we have to sand off.
And a lot of people probably wonder, why don't we plasma cut
our vent openings and man door openings, and there's a reason for it.
We like to use an angle grinder with a zip disc. It leaves a nice clean edge.
We do own one of these, so we use it for heavier gauge materials, but
in the instance of cutting out rough openings, it's not the right tool for the job.
Now that we have the first sheet plasma cut and ready to be installed in here, prior to
bringing it in we took some of this aluminum foil tape and we're laying it where the two
seams are gonna butt together and that's going to prevent the heat from when we seam weld the steel
from penetrating down and potentially causing the wood floor to smolder or even catch on fire.
She's a heavy lift for two guys but we got her in.
Now we're just going to gently lay it down and set it on this aluminum foil tape here.
So we have the first sheet in, and the second one is actually going to come
past the rough opening cut out for the man door.
And we want the floor to come out past uh almost to the the front edge of this channel here, so.
43, 43 and an eighth. And that's gonna, yeah. We'll have to notch it out,
and just leave ourselves a little bit of an edge here that we're either able to
stitch or seam weld that or just a nice bead of caulking.
So we had to be kind of cautious when we were sliding the sheets in,
not to rip up the foil tape, but we really like, you know,
how it looks when it's under there and feel like this is going to help.
So now that we have the second piece installed here, we left ourselves a half inch or so lip,
and that's going to allow us to fully seam weld across this checker plate.
And then, now that this checker plate extends out the rough opening,
this is going to finish up so much nicer once we get that man door installed here and be
able to do a nice bead of silicone or something along the bottom of the footer.
In this instance, because we don't have any steel channels to weld the checker plate flooring to,
we elected to countersink some screws down into the wood floor and that clamps the steel down,
so that when we do apply heat from welding, we aren't warping these panels.
You got to be very careful. 3/16 we feel is the minimum
thickness that you can use in order to prevent warpage.
Once you go down to about 1/8, the whole
floor feels like a trampoline after you're done welding it.
After welding the steel checker plate floor down,
we applied one coat of quick dry primer and two coats of black epoxy floor coating.
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Hope you learned something.
