Need Storage Space? Don’t Use a Storage Container!

LESLIE: Bill in Pennsylvania is on the line and wants to know what to do when you need storage space. What’s going on?

BILL: I’m looking at purchasing a shipping container – one of those cargo shipping containers – and turning it into a storage shed.

TOM: OK. OK.

BILL: But I’ve also read where the problem with that is they build up a lot of condensation when the weather and temperature changes.

TOM: I bet they do.

BILL: And I was wondering a way to remedy that. Would a dehumidifier or – I was thinking of putting a ventless gas heater in it. But I heard those also can create moisture.

TOM: The ventless gas heaters are going to dump a lot of moisture into it because it’s not really ventless. All that combustion gas is 80-percent water vapor or 90-percent water vapor. It’s just going to make it worse inside of it.

BILL: OK.

TOM: Look, this is like trying to insulate a shed. If it’s an – it’s an unheated structure. It’s an unheated building and you’re going to seal it up like that, there’s going to be no ventilation in it. And so, yeah, it’s going to develop condensation. So it’s not like you can keep cardboard in there or paper goods or wooden furniture or mattresses even if you need storage space. Things like that are going to develop mold just from being exposed to all of that moisture.

That’s why storage places that – when they rent storage, they have temperature control. It’s not warm enough to live in but it’s warm enough to maintain the proper balance of humidity. If you just have a regular shipping container, it’s going to be damp.

BILL: OK. Would a dehumidifier in there benefit it at all?

TOM: Well, maybe. It might help a little bit.

LESLIE: I think it’d just be constantly working.

TOM: Yeah, it’s going to be going all the time.

BILL: Yeah. OK.

TOM: Yeah. Did you get a good deal on a shipping container?

BILL: Actually, yes. Someone purchasing it to store some furniture and stuff in it on my property. And they were just going to leave it there when they were done.

TOM: Oh, OK.

BILL: But I didn’t want it to ruin their furniture.

TOM: Yeah, so their problem became your problem, and you need storage space, huh?

BILL: Well, not yet. It hasn’t happened yet.

TOM: Yeah. I don’t know if that’s the best idea if you need storage space.

BILL: OK.

TOM: Only if you want to store lawn furniture or something that’s really, you know, fairly moisture-proof would I use that space.

BILL: Alright. I appreciate your help.