Modify Before Delivery. Arrive Ready to Use.
Every modification on this page happens at our Brantford yard before the container leaves on a truck. American-made hardware where it counts. Honest grading on the base unit. The container that lands at your site is the container we showed you, built to your spec.
Venting
We install vents in new or used containers to provide airflow and prevent condensation. Most containers ship with 2 to 4 vents, we add as many as needed for your temperature and humidity profile.
Lock Box
Lockboxes ship as standard on most new containers. We add factory-style lockboxes to any used container, and additional lockboxes to any container for elevated security needs.
Roll Up Doors
Roll-up doors can be added to any face of the container in 6, 7, 8, and 10 foot widths. We use high-quality American-made door hardware. Most-requested modification for retail pop-ups and mobile workshops.
Man Door & Windows
Steel man doors and steel-framed windows in custom sizes. Cut into any wall under engineered drawings to maintain structural integrity. Standard for offices, retail interiors, and any occupied use.
Windows + Security Bars
Steel security bars over windows. Low-cost, high-impact modification. Prevents glass-break entry without darkening the interior. Standard for unsupervised yards or higher-value contents.
Curtains
Heavy curtain systems for quick and easy access to the container’s contents. Common for refrigerated containers split into temperature zones, retail containers divided into customer area and stockroom, and workshop applications.
Office Trailer
Full office trailer conversion: insulation, electrical, lighting, HVAC, finished interior, flooring, exterior paint and signage. Our most involved modification scope, quoted case by case.
Garage Door
Full-size garage doors in any required size or style. Common for workshops, residential garage extensions, and equipment storage where a full-width opening is more practical than personnel doors.
Insulation
We frame and install insulation as an option on any container. Essential for occupied modifications (offices, shops). Spray foam or rigid panel depending on application. Useful in any Ontario application where extreme temperatures would otherwise cause condensation inside.
Customize to Fit All Your Needs.
Transform your container with custom features. Tell us what the container needs to do and we will discuss the modification options, pricing, and any code or permit considerations specific to your use, before we cut steel.
How In-Yard Modification Works
The process starts in the yard, not in a catalogue. You walk the rows at 90 Morton Avenue East, or send us your use case, and we match the build to a specific container you can see before a single cut is made. Grade matters more on a modified unit than on a plain one, because a cut wall transfers load to the steel around it, so we start every build by agreeing on the right base unit.
From there the spec gets written down: openings, hardware, placement on each wall, interior work. Cut-ins are done under engineered drawings so the container keeps its structural integrity, and the hardware that takes daily abuse, door gear above all, is American-made. When the build is finished, the container goes out on a tilt-deck and is placed once, level, where it will work. No site welding, no second crew, no half-finished box sitting in your lot.
Choose the Base Container First
Most modification regret traces back to the base unit, not the build. A few honest rules from thirty years of doing this:
One-Trip is the base for anything people occupy or customers see: offices, retail builds, customer-facing kiosks. Clean steel takes paint properly and the doors operate like new. Cargo Worthy is the working choice for roll-up doors, garage doors, and workshop builds, structurally sound at a working price. Wind and Water Tight carries storage-side modifications well: vents, bars, lockboxes, shelving. As-Is is a donor shell for heavy custom cutting and nothing else, and we say so out loud when someone tries to put an office in one.
The full grading system is covered in our grades field guide, and current inventory is on the containers for sale page.
What Gets Built Most
Site offices. A 20ft with a man door, two framed windows, insulation, and an interior liner is the standard construction-site office across our delivery area. It locks like a vault at night, which is the reason contractors keep ordering them.
Retail and pop-up. Roll-up doors are the most requested modification we do, and retail is why. A side-facing 8 or 10 foot roll-up turns a plain box into a serving window, a merch stand, or a seasonal storefront that closes down in thirty seconds at the end of the day.
Secure tool cribs. Lockbox, bars over a vented window, and interior racking. Job sites that have lost tools once do not argue about the second container.
Insulated workshops. Insulation, a man door, venting sized to the humidity profile, and a garage door on the end wall. The difference between a steel box and a year-round workspace in an Ontario winter is mostly the insulation package.
Farm builds. Extra venting and roll-up access for equipment sheds, feed storage, and seasonal overflow, where the yard between buildings is the loading dock.
Why the Build Happens at the Yard
Cutting steel properly needs shop power, dry weather, fixed tooling, and drawings, four things a delivery site rarely offers at the same time. Doing the work before delivery also means one truck movement instead of repeated trades visits, and it means the unit is inspected as a finished build before it ever leaves Brantford.
Paul has been blunt about this for years: “The most expensive modification is the one you redo on site. We cut it right once, in the yard, and the box arrives finished. That habit has saved our customers more grief than any other decision we make.”
Electrical is the one trade we scope rather than finish: interior electrical work is roughed to spec and the final connection is handled by a licensed Ontario electrician at your site, which is the way it should be done. We flag the requirement in the quote so there are no surprises.
Custom Container Modification FAQ
Can you modify a shipping container before delivery?
Yes. That is the whole model: every modification happens at our Brantford yard before the container goes on a truck. You pick the base unit, we build to your spec, and the container that lands on your site is ready to use the day it arrives.
What modifications can be added to a shipping container?
The most common builds are roll-up doors in 6, 7, 8, and 10 foot widths, steel man doors and framed windows, window security bars, extra vents, lockboxes, insulation, curtain systems, garage doors, and full office-trailer interiors. We also sell the parts themselves, corner castings, door gaskets, handles, and lockboxes, from the parts counter. If your spec goes past that list, ask. If a partner shop is the better builder for it, we will say so.
Which container grade is best for a modified build?
It depends on the job. One-Trip is the right base when people will occupy the container or customers will see it. Cargo Worthy carries structural mods well at a working price. Wind and Water Tight suits storage-side modifications like vents, bars, and lockboxes. As-Is shells make sense only as donor units for heavy custom cutting. We walk you through the trade-off on the exact units in the yard.
How long does a container modification take?
Security hardware and venting are quick; cut-ins, insulation, and office builds take real shop time. Every quote comes with a build schedule and a delivery date, a real lead time, not a hopeful one. If a stocked unmodified unit fits your need better and faster, we will tell you that too.
Do modified containers still get 1-3 day delivery?
Stocked containers without modifications deliver in 1 to 3 days across most of Ontario. A modified container ships when the build is finished and inspected, on the date stated in your quote. The delivery itself is the same tilt-deck placement either way.
Spec the build. We quote the whole thing.
The fastest way to spec a build is a call, or walk the yard and point at the container you want. Base unit, modifications, and delivery come back as one honest number with a real build schedule attached.