Are you struggling to find areas inside your home to store new furniture, boxes or other belongings? This is an all-too-common problem that nearly every homeowner will face at some point or another. You don’t want to throw away your old belongings, but at the same you don’t have enough space inside your home to keep them.
So, what’s the solution to predicament? Assuming you have access to an attic, there’s a whole new world of storage possibilities right at your fingertips. The vast openness of an attic is the perfect area to store old furniture and other items. However, there are a few things you should know before you begin stashing your old belongings here.
Attic Moisture Can Ruin Items
The biggest problem associated with attic storage is the potential for moisture damage. Even if there’s no visible water leaks or standing pools of water, high humidity levels in the attic can ruin your belongings. Moisture vapor will settle into fabric, promoting the growth of mold and mildew. Whether it’s clothes or furniture, mildew such as this will destroy your items, forcing you to toss them out.
Placing a dehumidifier in your attic may help temporarily, but it’s not a long-term solution to the problem. If you plan to store items in your attic for any serious length of time, you must eliminate the source of the humidify. You can read through our previous blog post for sources of moisture in the attic, but some of the most common causes include the following:
- Lack of ventilation
- Missing and/or damaged insulation
- Leaking roof
- Dryer or bathroom exhaust venting to the attic
- AC condensate drip pan overflowing
Check For Pests
But moisture isn’t the only danger to items stored in the attic. If rats, mice, raccoons, squirrels or other pests are inhabiting your attic, they may damage your belongings. Attic pests such as these frequently urinate and defecate on items stored in the attic — and in some cases they will chew them up to create bedding.
Before storing any items in your attic, inspect the area for signs of a pest infestation. Most types of infestations are easily to identify, as the pest will leave behind a trail of feces (note: mice feces is about the size of a grain of rice).
Contact the Attic Guys for more information on how to remove pests from your attic!
