Storage

I was sitting here thinking about everything that I have put up, and everything that I still need to get, and I am already running out of room!! What are you guys using for storage? Just a closet that isnt being used, the garage? I am thinking about buying a small 18 wheeler trailer and making a doorway from the house to it for storage. Any thoughts? If it wouldnt be so expensive I would build an undeground unit, but cash flow dosent allow that.

 

"Our" storage problem has rapidly outgrown us here....
We have 2 mobile homes, 12' x 60' nearly filled, to where we can barely walk thru them....Including a 10' x 40' enclosed patio area.
We have a 10 x 15 storage unitwith a 10 ft ceiling (climate controlled) up to the roll up doors filled to capacity, and we are adding more: daily/weekly/monthly.
We are contemplating a scenario where we would build a couple of out-buildings on our land and move all supplies to that area, with a 'caretaker' on site of course.
As it is now, we will require no less than some 400 sq ft of floor area, and have a ceiling of 9' 6" or more.
It is amazing how much one can acquire, and then run out of space to accomodate it all!
Some we know opted for conex containers, which are steel, can be easliy set-up and relocated (when empty) as an 8' w x 20' l x 8'6" ceiling height weighs in at 4,800 lbs empty. Here they run about $2100.00 each plus delivery fees, based on mileage. ( they paid $2800.00 each!)
We found them to have a drawback in that the summers here are very hot in Arizona, and most items would not do well in that situation.
Up north in the colder climates, they need to be insulated or they will freeze.
It's a trade off to some and a catch-22 to others.
I found I can build a storage building cheaper, and make it modular, to be able to break it down into sections, then move it....
It really comes down to costs in the end, and what you need.....
Everything depends on the climate you are in, wet/cold/hot/dry...etc..
For the cost of 2 conex boxes delivered on-site that would be in the $5,600.00 range.
I can build a large building that will be far bigger, and even have room enough for 4 people, for that amount of money.
Bill

 

Another idea if you have a state or national forest near where you live is to "strategically cache" your most needed and vulnerable preps and supplies.

If that is not feasible, then you could try building a root type celler if you own your own land. Either way it will require quite a bit of manual labor.

Another short term solution is to rent a storage unit, but that definitely carries it's own risk.

 

Mark Twain National Forest is 3 miles down the road and I know quite a bit of the area near my home quite well. Not a bad idea, thank you. I have been looking into buying a few acres close to home just for that reason, building a storage facility and a "home away from home"

 

Our attic is so big we pretty much have another house up there. My long term plans are to floor it, and maybe wall off a big room up there. I may even add a vent going into it to keep it climate controlled. I am going to guess we have about 1800 sq. ft. in it, so we might as well make use out of it. We also have a couple of big closets that we use for food storage inside the house, including our pantry. The garage is used for all of the camping gear, and ATVs. While I never thought we would outgrow this house, without flooring the attic we are running out of room. I need to build a shop, but when I do it will not be climate controlled unless I add window units for when I am in there working in the summer. Another thought is buying a cheap RV. I have used them in the past for storage.