For those of you who use your garage for storage...

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

how do you keep things from getting ruined?

By that, I've noticed that a lot of people talk about storing Christmas decor, some household supplies and even food in their garages.

I've had unattached garages, and attached garages. Live in Ohio where temps can range from 90's and humid to below zero.

Even in the attached garage, I think the heat and the excess cold would be hard on things like nicer Christmas items and foods

Do a lot of people have heat/cooling in their garage? Or do they live in more moderate climates?

Here many people have attics, and the heat and cold there makes storing many things unwise, and garages seem to have the same hot/cold swings as attics in my experience.

I have just always wondered. Please share your results.

proudlyfromNJ · ‎05-01-2010

Our garage is underneath the house. Only one car so it is not that big. There is heat in the garage and in the rest of the basement underneath the house.

However, it is just my husbands stuff(tools, machines,etc).

My Christmas stuff is in the attic and it does get hot up there in the summer. So far nothing has been ruined.

I am still oxox · ‎03-09-2010

I do not have Christmas things, but for years I have stored clothes out there in big plastic bins

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being positive what could go right.

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

@Mominohio......I am in the same state as you.... Christmas items that are stored in the attached non heated garage are swags, picks, window lights, jar fillers, artifical small trees, strings of lights, you get the picture --there are three totes full of that type of decorations. Everything else I have is stored in a closet in the house.

A few years ago I went thru all my paint and discarded a lot but what I kept, is now stored in my laundry room in a cupboard, along with any stain, wax etc. I don't like having that stuff in the house but storing in the garage was not good for paint. I hang on to large glass jars and when I have left over paint I transfer the paint to the glass jars, along with the paint code. The extra paint stays fresher longer in the glass jars.

I do not store food in the garage.

1Snickers · ‎03-19-2016

I have an inside & outside garage also. The attached is cooler and I store non perishable items like extra cleaners, plastic bags, paper products. no food

Christmas gifts (not candles) are on racks & some in bags and plastic boxes. Some decorations are there but most are in the unattached garage i.e. Xmas trees ,wreaths and ornaments (except the very best ones). It does get hot there. I've done it for years and no problem. But I live in VA so it doesn't get as cold, but does get hotter.

froggy · ‎03-10-2010

I live in a very hot summer climate (Arizona) and our garage is not insulated, heated or cooled. We do have built in cabinets lining the walls but I do not store food or any delicate decor that might be affected by heat. The only household items we store in the garage are paper products. I only store decor that won't be affected by extreme temperatures.

That's one of the main reasons we built storage cabinets in our spare room for me.

We acutally do use our garage for our two cars and a freezer and second fridge. Also the HVAC units, and water heater are in the garage. All storage is kept in the third bay of the garage.

BirkiLady · ‎02-22-2015

What keeps bugs and critters out of your paper products that are stored in your garages? Many of you live in hot or very humid climates. I don't understand storing anything other than tools and patio furniture in the garage, yet we don't deal with the bugs so many of you do! Call me a chicken, but I'm not about to pull out a paper sack with anything alive in/on it.

Money screams; wealth whispers.

froggy · ‎03-10-2010

@BirkiLady wrote:
What keeps bugs and critters out of your paper products that are stored in your garages? Many of you live in hot or very humid climates. I don't understand storing anything other than tools and patio furniture in the garage, yet we don't deal with the bugs so many of you do! Call me a chicken, but I'm not about to pull out a paper sack with anything alive in/on it.

Paper towels, toilet tissue, napkin, etc stay wrapped until we bring them in. Have never had bugs in our paper products.

Marsha2003 · ‎03-12-2010

I live in a temperate climate and don't use A/C or heating in the house so the garage stays about the same temperature as the inside of the house. Therefore, I have no problem storing items in the garage. I don't worry about bugs too much as we don't have a lot, but I do worry about mice and rats, so I don't keep any food in the garage.

PA Mom-mom · ‎05-27-2015

@Mominohio I live in PA, and any decor has to go into the basement. Attic and garage are too hot in the summer. We have a sofa and loveseat from our neighbors, who moved, sitting in our garage and waiting for my son to move into a new house. It's fine covered with sheets.