Container Shelter Tarp Material, Recommendations?

I need a replacement cover for a 40x40 container shelter, or a quality 40x60 white vinyl/pvc tarp to accomplish the same thing. I was going to buy from a place in LA yesterday, but looking at their reviews they seem to be a terrible place to deal with. I would rather not spend $2k on a tarp just to find out it is garbage, and the company disappears after purchase.

We are needing to span a 46ft opening between 40ft containers, and can not use a commercially available canopy framework since all I find is 40x40ft. We plan to roll the hoops ourselves to meet our needs. Since we are in the AZ desert snow load is not a factor, and we plan to roll a much lower arc than the units you can buy. This way I am thinking the standard 40x40 covering will work with our 46ft opening, but maybe just a quality tarp will be easier to implement.

I figure there will be people here who have experience with these things. Thanks for any help!

Contact Shelter Logic- I have always gotten good service from them.

Thanks for the recommendation. They do not carry anything that would work for us unfortunately. (widest they deal in would be 30ft she said)

google clear span buildings

I hear about used billboard vinyl for tarps pretty frequently but have never bought one. this place came up, they show custom sizes available. I'm interested to know what you find.

Reused Billboard Vinyl: 9oz, Black, With Pipe Sleeves - Click for Sizes - billboardtarps.com

You can not lower the arch too much regardless of rain/snow loads.
Bill D

I'm curious, what would be your reasoning for not being able to lower the arch much?

Thanks for the other recommendations. I will be calling around on Monday.

Why not just use sheet metal? How long do you want it to last? Friend set up a portable shelter frame outside the Tx shop some years back for shade outside the shop to work on, she got about a year out of each tarp before a storm would destroy it. Frame work was well secured, maybe not quite as good as welded to a shipping container, the times frame got damaged it was usually failure of the motorcycle tie downs. And no matter how well we tried to stretch the fabric and keep it from flapping, in a good wind it made a racket AND EVERYONE STARTED SCREAMING LIKE THEY WERE ANGRY

Edit: After the last time it got destroyed she gave up and took it down.

This place has used/new billboard vinyl or dome material like you are looking for:

Dome Fabric For Sale - Geodesic Dome Covers | Repurposed Materials

Used Billboard Tarps - Recycled Billboard Vinyl | Repurposed Material

Use what you need and sell the rest or?

Have had good dealings with a company called:

Farm-Tek of Dyersville Iowa 563 875 2288

They are big in pipe/canvas structures

You might want to get prices on the corrugated steel Quonset type buildings. They are self supporting without a frame, but you would have to anchor it to your containers. Ive built one, they go up pretty fast, but a bit tricky to reach all the bolt holes. Initially it will probably be more costly, but if you have to replace an AZ-sun-degraded tarp every 5 years it might be worth it.
The agricultural buildings here are what Im describing: https://www.americansteelspan.com/agricultural.html

dalmatiangirl61 said:

Why not just use sheet metal? How long do you want it to last? Friend set up a portable shelter frame outside the Tx shop some years back for shade outside the shop to work on, she got about a year out of each tarp before a storm would destroy it. Frame work was well secured, maybe not quite as good as welded to a shipping container, the times frame got damaged it was usually failure of the motorcycle tie downs. And no matter how well we tried to stretch the fabric and keep it from flapping, in a good wind it made a racket AND EVERYONE STARTED SCREAMING LIKE THEY WERE ANGRY

Edit: After the last time it got destroyed she gave up and took it down.

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I already have enough purlins and R-panel that I could use to make a roof system here in the yard, and would just need to come up with some trusses to span the opening. This is still an option on the table.

This needs to be a "temporary structure" to fit within the local building code legally, and I am in the center of town in a big city so not unlikely to catch grief over such things. While I could make a metal system that is just as removable as the cloth covered I suspect I would be more likely to have to argue over it if the city did show up to give me a hard time. (or that they would at the least want to come in and look around to see that it is not attached to the property)

I want to put up an additional building in 2-3 years if still here, and only need something to last us through then. (even if I need to replace the covering every year to do so)

But yes metal roof is still one of our options we are debating over.

How about using two of these 30'x40' and over lapping them by about 14' in the middle?

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johfoster said:

I already have enough purlins and R-panel that I could use to make a roof system here in the yard, and would just need to come up with some trusses to span the opening. This is still an option on the table.

This needs to be a "temporary structure" to fit within the local building code legally, and I am in the center of town in a big city so not unlikely to catch grief over such things. While I could make a metal system that is just as removable as the cloth covered I suspect I would be more likely to have to argue over it if the city did show up to give me a hard time. (or that they would at the least want to come in and look around to see that it is not attached to the property)

I want to put up an additional building in 2-3 years if still here, and only need something to last us through then. (even if I need to replace the covering every year to do so)

But yes metal roof is still one of our options we are debating over.

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I was envisioning something in the desert, not town. One of my suggestions to friend (that she did not try), was to use Dacron fabric and skin it like a plane, skip the high priced glues and paints and just paint it with silver barn paint to block UV rays and make it water tight , but it would need to be stitched to the ribs. No idea what a couple of bolts of Dacron fabric would cost.
Fabric Covering SuperSTOL Fuselage using Poly-Fiber System - YouTube

Amazon.com: Yescom 2 Pack 30x50 Ft Waterproof Poly Tarp Heavy Duty Protect Cover 10-mil Tarpaulin : Tools & Home Improvement you could run these side to side and over lap them. Maybe put some roofing tar or something between them to glue them together.

johfoster said:

I'm curious, what would be your reasoning for not being able to lower the arch much?

Thanks for the other recommendations. I will be calling around on Monday.

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The structure gets weaker as you lower it. Think arch vs a straight beam. With a very pronounced arch, the force is going sorta downward at the ends, with a shallow arch, the forces are going more outward, trying to spread the ends farther apart (and make the middle sag down). Straight beam, wants to sag and the ends will want to pull together.

Edit, the shallow arch has more mechanical advantage.

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I too am in AZ and I suspect in the same county. If so then Pima county/Tucson code will apply with few exceptions. Your structure cannot be attached and may not have any utilities. In most areas there is a set back from the property line.
If you have been here since your join date then you know that it will be subject to 50-60 MPH winds 1-2 times per year. Like the hailstorm we had on the NW side in, what?, July? 30 foot trees down and roofers getting rich if they can last in that heat.
The billboard stuff might last a while since it has to on the billboard but remember, it's best days are over.
Good luck.

52 Ford said:

The structure gets weaker as you lower it. Think arch vs a straight beam. With a very pronounced arch, the force is going sorta downward at the ends, with a shallow arch, the forces are going more outward, trying to spread the ends farther apart (and make the middle sag down). Straight beam, wants to sag and the ends will want to pull together.

Edit, the shallow arch has more mechanical advantage.

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That is what I was thinking. And it is impossible, due to geometry, to pull a unsupported rope horizontal and take out all the sag. meaning rain will pool and increase sag exponentially.
Bill D

Superbowl said:

How about using two of these 30'x40' and over lapping them by about 14' in the middle?

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The cheap poly tarps is definitely a no go as it would just look like crap, and I wouldn't expect much life out of them anyways. I have plenty of experience with those over the years tarping equipment/materials. The sun is our biggest factor out here when it comes to the lifespan of things like this, and the pvc/vinyl tarps will have better UV resistance I know. (how much better I don't know, but certainly much better)

tdmidget said:

I too am in AZ and I suspect in the same county. If so then Pima county/Tucson code will apply with few exceptions. Your structure cannot be attached and may not have any utilities. In most areas there is a set back from the property line.
If you have been here since your join date then you know that it will be subject to 50-60 MPH winds 1-2 times per year. Like the hailstorm we had on the NW side in, what?, July? 30 foot trees down and roofers getting rich if they can last in that heat.
The billboard stuff might last a while since it has to on the billboard but remember, it's best days are over.
Good luck.

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Yes we are just S/E of downtown, and I have lived here all 32 years of my life. That is the idea of the temp structure; containers are set on the ground and nothing will be tied into the building. Probably hang lights under the roof that plug into a 120v outlet with a cord at most. Not sure if the code differs on a temp structure, but we are on an I-1 lot with zero setback anyhow. The canopy is attached to probably 50k pounds of container, and I am sure the commercially available units are rated for high winds. (assuming we can get close to the same quality tarp it should be okay) I would much rather have a tarp go flying off than a bunch of panels in a worst case..

52 Ford said:

The structure gets weaker as you lower it. Think arch vs a straight beam. With a very pronounced arch, the force is going sorta downward at the ends, with a shallow arch, the forces are going more outward, trying to spread the ends farther apart (and make the middle sag down). Straight beam, wants to sag and the ends will want to pull together.

Edit, the shallow arch has more mechanical advantage.

Click to expand...

The structure gets weaker as you lower it...if you are simply lowering the exact same structure yes. This can be compensated for in material choice and design of the framework though. The containers empty are approaching 10k Lbs each, so it wont be pushing/pulling in either direction. (and they are so full of junk it is much more weight than that haha)

I don't know where lowering the arc became a flat tarp, but we would of course keep enough slope for water to not pool.

Whatever we do will almost certainly have an engineer sign off on it also.

Two comments: 1) If it won't interfere with your working headroom, you can use a wire rope between the ends of a flattish arc to stiffen it up and resist the spreading forces. In a truss, this would be the tiebar, and a wire rope is fine because all it's going to see is tension. 2) Find out where your local truckers get their tarps. Won't be cheap, won't be light, but will be incredible durable.