[TubaManMoore]

This may be stretching the General Halloween topic, but what kind of buildings do you all store your things in? I'm in the process of building a storage building and would like a bug free yet vented structure and thought you all may have examples and ideas!

 

[lisa48317]

You lost me at "bug-free" I had a pinecone infestation in my blowmolds last year, thanks to a **expletive** squirrel.

Headstones & cemetery sign are in the shed with the lawn mower. The coffin (also used for storage) & blowmolds are with the patio furniture in this add-on type shed that spans the back of our garage and is about 5 feet deep. Totes line one wall of the garage & the skeletons hang in the back corner. Oh, critter skeletons are in the tiny little loft in the shed with the lawn mower, too. More delicate things stay inside the house, due to temperature extremes here in Michigan.

Lowes / Home Depot have nice sized sheds that would be easy to have installed. I'm sure they could be insulated if you need that, too.

 

[X-Pired]

I have found it difficult to get a bug-free vented structure. Almost any hole bugs can get in.

The steel cargo shipping containers work great to keep bugs and pests out but they get hot inside. They are as bug and rodent proof as possible. Anything made of latex or heat sensitive materials need to be in a climate controlled environment and should not be placed in a shipping container. But the bang for the buck is huge for general Halloween storage.

 

[Madame Leota]

Anything that can take the heat goes into the attic, everything else gets stashed into any available closet space. I would dearly love some sort of extra storage that didn't require climbing into the attic but I don't think that will ever happen.

 

[FTWingRiders]

It's almost impossible to be "bug free".. but I try to keep the rodents and chewers out of my storage area. I bring most of it upstairs of my barn, but I'm hoping to build a separate shed soon closer to my Haunted woods to minimize carrying everything back and forth. Right now the larger props stay out there wrapped up in tarps.

 

[Therewolf]

All small and 'fragile' items are packed away nicely in tubs and stored down the basement. tombstones and some larger items are stored in the Shed. Coffin and some of the longer posts I have stashed away in a rack from the roof of my garage, and some of my largest items like Electric Chairs, Gallow, Stocks, fencing and my arch have to stay outside, either under the deck or behind the shed. Sometimes the weathered look ads to their appeal, sometimes I'm rebuilding pieces that didn't survive so well. I've looked into getting a storage unit, but haven't managed it yet. I've not really had any major issues with bugs or rodents (other than a few extra acorns). The outdoor items just need kept off the ground.

 

[Chewbacca]

I built a 10'x12' storage building to store my larger props and a lot of other stuff. It sits in a corner of the yard so that once the props are out I put a rear projection screen in the doorway and the building becomes the crypt for my graveyard. Storage and a ginormous prop at the same time.

 

[lilibat]

I just keep everything in the garage. When we own a house again my ideal is getting a shed or a couple sheds that I make look like crypts and are placed so the cemetary can crop up around them every year.

Well, If I don't do what I really want to do and cast all my favorite resins stones in concrete so they can be out year round.

 

[railroad_joe]

I built a 10x10x8 shed. I treat with bug motel traps and cedar chips, outside with mothballs (I only put two or three on each side).

 

[titleist1]

I built a gambrel shaped garage and the second floor houses the halloween stuff (along with other things) except for the fog machines which are in plastic totes in the basement of the house.

 

[ZombieRaider]

Structure 1 - 14X32 shed
Structure 2 - 10X12 with an 8X8 addition shed
Structure 3 - 8 1/2 X 24 tractor/trailer lowered to the ground
Structure 4 - (Same as structure 3) 6 foot gap between them
Structure 5 - 6X24 enclosure between structure 3 and 4
Structure 6 - 6X12 shed

Don't be envious of having that much storage room - The amount of work was too much for 1 person (me) to handle with the amount of props I was dealing with...Halloween was no longer fun but serious amount of time and work and lot's of stress....While Halloween stuff didn't take up all that room, it took up an embarrassing amount of it....I got rid of the majority of what I had, Structure 2 no longer exists (where our basement is now) and I'm giving structure 6 to my brother for some of his tools (100% empty).... Structure 4 is 90% empty, etc....Anyway what I learned is, you can store an unbelievable amount of stuff if your willing to pack stuff tight to the ceiling....No matter how much you think your not going to need something until you unpack the following year is completely wrong...Your going to need something that is buried deep within on the hottest day of the year and between rain storms you'll try to get it....You'll realize once you dig halfway in that it's in another building....Seriously though the tractor trailers are the worst for mice/snakes/insects, etc....I constantly keep mothballs and snake repellent spread on the floor in those areas to keep them out....Insects have the run of the space...It's unbelievably hot but it does provide shelter from the elements in a great way....Anything stored in this area is inside 55 gallon steel drums or tight fitting storage containers....The 6X12 shed is insulated with a solid steel door and drywalled inside....This (so far) has kept the mice and snakes out...Insects are still there but not nearly as bad as the trailers....The steel door seems to be sealed enough the snakes and mice can't slip through....The t111 on the exterior is starting to bow which I'm sure they can slip in that way but the drywall stops them from coming into the building if they do....The big building is the same way (steel doors and insulated but no drywall) no mice yet but I've recently been throwing mothballs in that area because I've noticed the t111 is starting to bow in places and I don't want them forming homes in there....The best area is a 8X16 boxed room I built inside the 14X32 insulated shed....It's a 2X4 built box with plywood exterior and drywall interior, insulated floor, walls, and ceiling with a steel exterior door but built inside the building! This houses my music room now so I wanted something very economical to heat and cool which it does very nicely....Just so you know, insects even get inside that room, not many but they still do somehow so I don't think your going to build something that is insect proof....ZR

 

[Boneybunch15]

Anything that can take the heat goes into the attic, everything else gets stashed into any available closet space. I would dearly love some sort of extra storage that didn't require climbing into the attic but I don't think that will ever happen.

Amen to that!!!! I wish I had someplace else to put my Halloween and Christmas collections. I am lucky however that I have a small attic that has access off one of the bedrooms, so I don't have to climb up a steep ladder in order to get my stuff up and down.
And speaking of squirrels, we recently put new outdoor furniture on our back patio. I found the perfect table cloth that matched the cushions of my chairs. Those squirrels decided to play chase on that cloth and tore it to shreds. I have never been so angry at such a cute animal in my life.

 

[tinafromidaho]

I built an 8X12 Storage shed, there are little vent spaces under the eaves.

 

[Vctrfrnknstn]

I built 3 mausoleums to hold all of Ravenwood Cemetery’s tombstones (approx. 300 at last count). Along with the PVC fence and gate, they stay up all year. I decorate them for Christmas, etc. when I get the urge. Everything more sensitive gets stashed in a loft in our garage.

 

[Ken F]

I have a 15 by 30 foot container in my back yard that holds everything from the full size horse drawn hearse to the 25 plus 8 foot sections of cemetery fence. Everything I build is designed for storage so the coffins are built to nest inside each other and other props can be broken down to conserve space. I also have 20 numbered storage crates in my cellar that store anything that can’t be stored outside. This includes all the electronics, cloth materials, or items sensitive to cold. I have a second container in my back yard ready to fill as I build bigger and bigger props . Luckily a fence and bushes have been helpful in hiding the containers year round so they don’t distract my view of the yard

 

[GodOfThunder]

Holy cow, Zombie Raider! That's some space there! WHOA

I have a big storage unit that I keep Halloween, Christmas and other sporting gear, hunting, generator, etc in. Needed something for a 17' aluminum canoe originally, haha... But after building my upgraded cemetery columns two seasons ago, there was no way I could have them in my garage, plus I like to keep my garage uncluttered. And I got sick and tired of schlepping my cemetery fencing up to the attic every year. Storage unit worth it.

I run by regularly to make sure everything's fine, but it's not climate controlled so I usually have to do some monster mud touch ups and such each year. I was worried when Harvey hit us last year but the storage place was OK (whew).