10 Things Not to Leave in Your Unheated Cottage or Shed Over Winter

When space is limited in your home or cottage and things aren’t being used as frequently as they once were, you may be looking for places to safely tuck these items away. If you’ve got an outdoor shed, garage, cottage or barn with room to spare, that particular space may seem like the simplest solution to store things year-round, right?

Before piling your Great Aunt Bertha’s antique furniture in the shed -- along with old yearbooks and photo albums, leftover home improvement materials, and extra hand tools -- be sure to check out this list of 10 things you should never leave in your unheated space over the winter.

• Canned goods. Metal cans can expand during freezing, allowing small pockets of air and bacteria inside your canned food when it thaws again. This can be super harmful and pose a potential risk to you and your family. So instead of leaving your canned goods in the cold over the winter, bring them home with you at Thanksgiving when you close up your cottage or drop them off at your local food bank before the chilly weather arrives.

• Medicine and prescriptions. If your cottage’s first aid kit includes any liquid form of over-the-counter meds, be sure to take these home before the winter weather creeps in. If medicines freeze, they become less effective. Same goes for prescription medications, creams and lotions - take them home and use before the expiry date.

• Expensive electronics. Since LCD's are liquid crystal devices that can freeze in extremely low temperatures, any TVs, computers, laptops or other electronic devices with an LCD screen should be kept in a temperature-controlled space when the weather drops.

• Musical instruments. Whether you only use your guitar to sing Kumbaya around the campfire a couple times a year, or put on a full family singalong every weekend in the summer, you will want to protect your musical instruments in a temperature-controlled space over the winter. Condensation can ruin the finish, materials can separate, and string tension can be affected by extreme cold.

• Furniture. If you want to save that antique piece of furniture for your kids, don’t leave it stored in an unheated space. Antique and leather furniture do not fare well without climate control since leather can crack, wood can warp, and finishes can deteriorate in extreme winter temperatures. These are best stored at room temperature.

• Paint. Many people have stored cans of touch-up paint in their shed or basement year-round with no issue. Lately, however, with many companies using less volatile compounds in their paint, you may find your stored paint quality becoming unstable and separated when stored in an unheated space. Latex paints can separate when they undergo multiple freeze-thaw cycles, resulting in shoddy paint performance. As well, if you store oil based paint in an unheated cottage or shed over the colder months, you may come back to find condensation in the can which will alter the performance of your paint.

• Cleaning products. Trust me when I say you don’t want your dishwashing detergent bottles to freeze over the winter. They often break open after the spring thaw and leave you coming back to a huge mess. Better safe than sorry! Box them up and bring them home.

• Tools. How many of us store our tools in the shed, barn, or shop out back? Many of us, I’m guessing. Although most hand tools won’t suffer damage from being stored in a chilly winter climate, all metal tools can rust and plastic handles can become brittle. Power tools with cordless batteries or electric motors don’t operate well when cold -- so be sure to warm them up slightly before use if they are left in your unheated shed. If worried about potential damage to your expensive tools, be sure to clean them off, lubricate them if necessary, and find a spot to store them indoors.
  
  

• Canned pop and alcoholic or fizzy drinks. Ever put a carbonated drink can in the freezer to quick chill, only to forget about it and be left with a frozen, frothy explosion in your freezer to clean up after? Leaving soft drinks, beer and wine in a cold shed or unheated cottage can produce the same effect. Spare yourself the mess and bring them home to enjoy over the holidays.

• Paper items and books. Pages curling, photos fading and sticking together…Moisture can severely damage your precious photos, documents and books. Be sure to protect these treasures by always storing them in airtight plastic containers with silica packs, or by bringing them somewhere safe indoors.

Looking for the perfect home, hunt cabin or winter cottage? Rob Heming at Realty Executives on the Bay specializes in tourism accommodation, recreational and multi-residential properties, as well as fine homes and waterfront cottages.