Preparing for Winter V

mardatha

My forecast for today is blustery showers, hail, thunder and sleet turning to snow later on tonight. :rotfl::rotfl:

fuddle

Mar does your house cope with the beating it gets? I live in a new build pretty high up and although we don't get your extremes often we do get harsh weather here and this house just isn't built for it. I often hear the rafters put on a mighty good musical!

mardatha

Yes, this is a good house. Was built around 1938. Worst that's happened was a huge gust of wind sooked the skylight out of the roof - landed in the back garden

westcoastscot

I mind that Mar - you had a job getting the housing association out to it if I recall and one of your kids came and covered the hole?
We have sleet here, and a howling gale - boat's off today but back out tomorrow. It's cold and wet!!!!
I really thought it was snowing this afternoon - i love snow - and youngest said he thinks I wear snow-coloured glasses :-)

Pooky

It was silly mild here today in Kent, doors and windows open and DH has been in a t-shirt. Was lovely to have the fresh air in the house but I do prefer the crisp cold mornings.

Picked up the most amazing patchwork bedspread from a local FB selling page, it's got a lovely weight to it and will be very nice on top of the duvet when it gets proper cold.

bargain_bagger

Hello

I'm looking for some advice. Hope I'm posting in the right place!
My parents have recently moved house. They are having to store quite a lot of stuff in their new garage. It's a fairly modern double garage, completely detached from the house, brick construction with tiled roof. It has an electricity supply - lighting and some sockets. They are looking for a cost effective way to keep the chill and any humidity out. We have some photos and things stored in plastic boxes and some other paper things/books etc on open shelves as well as spare household stuff, tools etc.
People have suggested oil-filled radiators, dehumudifiers.. but we don't know what would work best or if we need both and how much it would cost. My dad was trying to find out from his electricity supplier how much it would cost to install a economy 7 meter in the garage and the electricity rates but they have not been very forthcoming.
They are in Perth in Scotland so get plenty of chilly weather up there!

Thanks for any advice

pollys

I don't think I'd risk leaving anything made of fabric/paper in a garage over winter. Tools etc should be okay, we have a drill, sander, gardening equipment in our garage and it's always been okay. If it's of any value sentimental or otherwise I'd be making room in the house.

Polly

westcoastscot

Rather than heat the garage, have you thought about renting storage space over the winter until you get settled? Perth has quite a few self storage facilities, at least one of them is an indoor facility - might be less expensive and more efficient?

bargain_bagger

Thanks for your replies.
They have downsized massively and there's no accessible extra storage space in the house so they want to use the garage. They don't want to use rented storage space as they want the stuff readily accessible.
So we are just looking for a cost effective way to keep the garage above freezing temps and low humidity. We've now ordered a 2.5KW oil-filled radiator and will monitor the humidity before deciding whether to get a dehumidifier. Not sure what else to do. I'm trying to persuade my mum to move some stuff to the loft but it has a flimsy ladder so she is a bit phobic about going up there. My dad can't go up ladders any more.

[Deleted User]

I keep a lot of things in my detached garage, no heating, concrete floor covered in grey garage foam tiles. It is wooden construction with cedar cladding. Nothing seems to rust in there, although I do keep my precious wood carving tools in the house. Many things are kept in really useful boxes, I bulk bought at one time. Paper, fabrics etc do well in them

http://www.reallyusefulstorageboxes.co.uk/?gclid=CjwKEAiAjcDBBRCJxouz9fWHynwSJADaJg9BwxOLCTzbnEfC1JAy8K3xiD-3rBWFizseCLewRddsBxoCB83w_wcB

My shelves and racks are full of them, mostly the 18l ones. I have never had mould on anything