Storage Tips For Basement, Attic & Garage
Storing household items becomes problematic for many homeowners, no matter how much available storage you have. Chances are from time to time you find closets full to the brim, the garage ends up becoming a dumping ground ( no longer able to park the car in), and the attic gets a bit awkward when you’ve already used the most assessable areas within.
We also tend to bypass the conditions in which we are storing our items until we next have to access them only to be faced with rather dusty, sometimes damp, and even moulded stuff. Not ideal really, but at the time, we generally don’t think about these things, and it’s only until we have to access them again that we realise we should have perhaps done things a bit different.
So, without further ado and for the sake of making any kind of costly mistakes in the future, we have some simple but highly effective storage tips that we’d like to share with you all.
Check the conditions?
Before using any area, check its conditions, is it damp proof and dry? Does it tend to be humid? Is it safe from fire hazards or flooding? And is it ventilated? All of these will help to determine what items are safe to be stored where.
Books/documents/ Photos/paperwork- Ideally should be packed into boxes and placed on shelving, not directly onto floors. These items are better stored in higher places so that no risk of being destroyed by water; in this case, the basement should be avoided in favour of the attic instead.
Other items that are not ideal to be stored in basements include things such as handmade crafts, delicate fabrics such as wedding gowns, food unless it’s in airtight enclosures and candles, or anything that has potential to melt as it can get fairly hot during warmer months.
Xmas Decor/travel baggage/fabrics and sentimental items- Ideally are safe to be stored in the attic space as they tend to be stored for longer periods of time, so no need to have them within easy reach during the year. They should be packaged safely, though; fabrics need to be packed into boxes as do sentimental items with extra padding so that it’s at no risk of being crushed by anything else you may chuck up there. Christmas items aren’t really much to worry about as we do get them back out yearly anyway. Otherwise, storage units are the best place to store such breakable things.
Furniture/household items/tools- They are ok to be stored in the garage as it’s the easiest place to access and less likely will things come to any harm when not in use. It can be damp in garages, though, so before you put anything in that could be at risk of moisture damage, make sure the area is dry and try to store items off the floor, if not, or if the furniture pieces are too valuable to place in the garage, the best option is to rent a Climate-controlled Furniture Storage Unit. This way you will guarantee that everything is safeguarded against humidity/temperature fluctuation issues.
Toys/plastics/tinned foods/bottles and cans- Any toy or plastic item, as well as food and drink items that are in airtight cans and bottles, are ok to store in the basement as less likely to be at risk of any harm or damage.
Self-storage units
Another option for safe and secure storage, as well as being ideally climate controlled, is a self-contained storage unit; they can be rented either long or short term. A self-storage unit offers storage away from the home -to free up space, its ideal for the more de-cluttered living environment, and enables people to hang onto items they would rather keep but are lacking the space to do so.
