What can I store in insulated, but unvented, under-eaves storage spaces?

July 31, 2015 10:51 AM

I just moved into a new house. I want to store things in the under-eaves storage areas. The spaces are insulated, but of course they aren't heated, vented, or cooled, so it gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Can I store fabric, or shoes, or anything made of paper in there? I had been planning on hanging a closet rod in one, to use as an off-season clothes closet, but now I'm rethinking it...
posted by chowflap to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Any clothing made with organic fiber I would suggest sealing in plastic to avoid moths. We also store Christmas ornaments, lights, whatnot there. Anything that will not suffer from thermal expansion and contraction (or other temperature-swing maladies) should be fine.
posted by nickggully at 11:04 AM on July 31, 2015

I'd only store things in closed, plastic tubs. Clothing and other organic materials will attract and harbor creepy crawlies. If the space is insulated well, it shouldn't get too extremely hot or cold up there.
posted by quince at 11:21 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]

Are you sure it is unvented? Undereave areas tend to be soffited and are essential to your home breathing properly. If you block that air circulation you can end up with a moldy attic which is a pretty epic self-inflicted homeowner disaster that can require hazmat style remediation and complete insulation replacement.
posted by srboisvert at 4:14 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: It does have soffits, but only at the very top of the house/roof.
posted by chowflap at 5:55 PM on July 31, 2015

I store luggage and off-season clothes there, the luggage just pitched in, the clothes sealed in tubs with anti-bug stuff.

Sometimes there are spiders on my luggage when I pull it out after a long time but I've been doing it 12 years and the luggage is fine.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:05 PM on July 31, 2015

Luggage storage works for us, too, but we don't have lovely leather baggage. Misc. fabric in a plastic tub has been fine. Also sleeping bags.

A Mexican baby Jesus that we got for our Christmas creche turned out to be made of wax; the melted baby was pretty traumatic.

(We're in the Pacific Northwest, so rarely get extremes of temperature ... it's 83 now and we're dying, dying. If you live with temps over a 100 I'd ask my neighbors about their experiences, including what kind of plastic stands up to extreme temps.)
posted by kestralwing at 10:13 PM on July 31, 2015

Do you own the house? Adding round vents to the eaves is a pretty trivial modification.
posted by amanda at 7:36 AM on August 1, 2015

Previously
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:38 AM on August 1, 2015