Moisture, wind, heat, cold. The elements are not always favourable to your belongings when storing them in the great outdoors. Corrosion and other damage can occur to items that contain metal, rubber, electric components or batteries. Learn what’s OK to store outside, and what’s not, and why a MI-BOX storage container might be a better choice than just covering stuff up with a tarp.
What Items Can Survive When Stored Outside
Some items won’t succumb to the elements when stored outdoors. However, it is still essential to protect them from theft and damage by placing them in a secure outdoor storage unit such as an on-site storage container.
Some items that can survive outdoors include:
- Kayaks, canoes, surfboards
- Bicycles (make sure to oil the chain and service the brakes once removing your bicycle from bike storage)
- Lawnmower/gardening equipment
- Lawn furniture
- Note: For expensive and large items such as RVs, boats, motorbikes, and cars, look for a vehicle, RV or boat storage facility or parking lot that offers 24-hour security. Prepare your items for outdoor storage by removing batteries, propane, and anything else that might be affected by the elements.
What Should You Never Store Outdoors?
Items that shouldn’t be stored outdoors, due to their propensity to either rust, fade, rot, or break in extreme temperatures, include:
- Food (canned or otherwise): Food items can not only spoil when stored in an outdoor shed or container, but they can also attract pests and other animals.
- Leather items: Furniture and other goods made from leather fade and deteriorate when exposed to heat or cold.
- Electronics: Computers, tablets, phones, TVs, stereo equipment, and other electronics should never be stored outdoors as both batteries, and other components can lose their power and corrode in cold temperatures.
- Paper products and fabrics: Paper disintegrates around moisture, while fabric can fade in extreme temperatures. Both can also attract pests when stored outside.
- Paint: Paint stored at freezing temperature can separate and become unusable.
How a MI-BOX® Helps Protect your Stored Items
Storage containers are a great way to protect items on your property when a shed simply won’t do. Secure as well as moisture and pest resistant, a MI-BOX‚ìá mobile storage unit has enough space to fit contents of up to five rooms of household goods, including large items such as recreation equipment, furniture, and more. Delivered to your door, and sized to fit a standard parking lot, you can fill your container at your leisure and leave it on your property, or if you’re worried about outdoor temperatures affecting your belongings, you can have your mobile storage container picked up at stored at Space Centre Storage’s indoor climate-controlled warehouse until you are ready to access it.
For more information, read Why a Portable Storage Container is Great in Winter.
Space Centre Storage has everything you need to keep your belongings safe and secure and protected from the elements. Contact us for RV, boat storage, affordable monthly MI-BOX‚ìá storage container rentals, climate-controlled storage units, and much more.