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| Keep your items dry and safe from moisture damage. |
Used shipping containers are excellent for dry storage with a little preparation. Containers are affordable, secure and portable. Read on for valuable advice on keeping your items clean and dry.
Start with a wind and water tight container or better grade. Consult your local storage professional about various types of used or one trip containers that are appropriate for secure storage.
A wind and water tight container can still have moisture issues. How? Humidity and condensation.
Shut the doors to your container and moisture is trapped inside. Everything has some humidity in it. When temperatures change outside you can get into trouble. You can even end up with "container rain"-condensation collects on the ceiling and drips down. Please see the link below for an excellent explanation:
http://www.absorbopak.com/the-problem-with-moisture/
Contributing factors to condensation:
Weather-relative humidity, day and night differences, rain, snow, wind, exposure to sun and shade.
Location-sun/shade. Low wet ground, high ground with good drainage, close to trees (often damp), position to prevailing winds
Container interior/exterior-insulated ceiling, proximity to other containers/buildings, foundation-footings, leaves or moss, surrounding ground conditions such as paved or graveled.
You can't control the weather? Me neither.
Here is what we can do:
- Start with a clean inside. We recommend Odo Ban. It is non toxic to children and pets (suggested by my vet tech for stinky dog bed). It smells clean and prohibits mold. Odoban is sold online and at Home Depot. I once used this after serious flooding in my office-it saved me from nasty mold. Really.
- Used commercial desiccants like Container Dri desiccants. This stuff is made for shipping containers, but once it swells, it has to be replaced.
- Damp Rid is a popular product.
- Add Silca Packs inside of boxed items. Like the ones you see in dry goods-you know to keep them dry.
- Just say no to cardboard boxes. They hold moisture and attract bugs.
- Start with clean, dry items. No wet shoes while you load either!
- Avoid opening the doors in the rain.
- Provide some ability for air to flow around your items. Stack items off the floor on shelves or clean pallets. Don't cram your stuff together.
- Exhaust vents...consider installing a roof turbine, run a fan if you are able.
- If you have power, a dehumidifier makes sense. You will need to empty it to keep it going.
- Consider a Solar Powered Vent Fan. Turbine style in the roof.
- Be advised that passive side vents can allow "blown in" humid air. Not good.
- Above all, use common sense and check on your container just like you would check on anything you own.
- Some customers swear by buckets of charcoal wick out humidity and odor.
- Damp rid is made from calcium chloride-ice melt (in colander, over bucket to catch water).
- Bags of kitty litter works well.
- Consider insulating your container. Spray foam insulation is helpful when applied to the ceiling and or walls.
- Monitor humidity-try to stay as dry as possible. You can test humidity with a moisture meter.
- Lay container on pavement, gravel or 6" pressure treated blocks under the corners. The more air circulates around the container-the better.
- Park on high ground. Floods are bad for your things.
- Keep roof clear of leaves & moss. They trap moisture.
- Park containers 6" away from other containers and buildings.
- Avoid the trees-sunny, windy locations that allow storage pods to dry out.
- A tarp over the roof, peaked (cannot touch the roof) or a hard roof. This slows down quick temp changes. Include a foot or two of overhang.
- I recently noticed a customer placed his container on thick plastic as a vapor barrier-I am not sure how well this will work-water might get trapped between plastic and container.
Need assistance renting or buying shipping containers?
Visit us at:
www.atlas-leasing.com
Want to know more? Visit our Facebook page at:
Atlas Sales & Leasing on Facebook!
You may visit us at the following locations by appointment:
ATLANTA SHIPPING CONTAINERS & TRAILERS
GA & Surrounding States
4485 Lilburn Ind. Way
Lilburn, GA 30047
Call Addie Turner 678-380-9980
aturner@atlas-leasing.com
We deliver shipping containers to GA, FL, AL, TN, NC & SC.
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| We rent storage containers in Atlanta, GA. |