Shed for storing magazines!

by Colin
(Surrey)

Hi, I need to buy a shed for storing my large colection of magazines. Obviously I am worried about keeping them in good condition. I have seen advertised 'garden buildings' that come with built-in insulation (e.g. those made by Lifespace, Solus, Waveney) but compared to conventional sheds they are very expensive!

Is it necessary to buy something like this, or would adding insulation ourselves (fibreglass?) be good enough?

I hope you can offer me some helpful advice! Thanks in advance!

Comments for
Shed for storing magazines!

Average Rating

Click here to add your own comments

Rating

Storage shed for magazines
by: John - Admin

Hi Colin,
Thankyou for your question. Great advice by Greenboy. I am not an expert in paper storage but I would think that the key factors to think about are temperature, humidity and ventilation. The reason for temperature being important is that as the temperature drops and the 'dew point' is reached water will condense out on to cold surfaces which would probably include your magazines. Greenboys suggestion of insulation and a source of heat is a good way to combat this. Another possible route is to purchase a de-humidifier which lowers the moisture content in the air and so the posibility of condensation forming. I think that humidity control is an important factor in museums and libraries.

With regards to the shed structure the main thing I would have thought is that the shed is well insulated and as air tight as possible. This probably will push you towards the more expensive end of the range. Alternatively if you are at all practically minded building your own shed/storage building is a way of saving money. There is however a fairly large investment of physical labour and time involved.

I hope this of some help. I would be very interested to know the sloution that you adopt.

All the best.

John

Rating

Must read manga!
by: GreenBoy

Well before goign further you need to make some choices on how you want to use your shed.

Do you just want to store the magazines or do you also want to use it as a plce for reading them, cataloging etc?

If its pure storage i would say then you could go for any well constructed shed and insulate it with rockwall of expanded foam.. In a dition i would suggest if power is available to put in a black heat tubular heater - these are very low power and if combined with a frost stat will help stop the temperature dropping so condensation starts.

Ventilation is another aspect to consider as idealy you would have some sort of vent - but you may want to consider security so just having an auto opening window (as you see on greenhouses), you may want to put a vent axia type extractor in (again assuming power) with buit in humidity stat. to help keep things dry.

Drynes is CRITICAL - so ensure not only you buy a quality structure but also that you errect it properly.

If you are going to use it as a library as well as a store then it may be more advantageous to save up and go for something more akin to the Solus Leisure buildings which are insulated, and probably double glazed.

Hope this helps, but please feel free to post follow up qustions.

I am also sure John will have some great advice also.

Dave

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to How to build a shed