# Storage question



## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

We have literally run out of room. Every space is full.

Can we take our 5/6 gal. buckets of wheat berries/rice/beans/sugar/salt etc. and store these huge containers in a metal shed? Will the contents be all right? The shed has a wooden floor. 

I am not talking about the #10 size containers of stuff just the dry in large buckets.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I'd think the sugar and salt would be OK since temp fluctuations won't bother them. Rice and beans... hmmm. Do you have them in mylar or something inside the buckets?


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

yep everything is in mylar inside the buckets with oxygen absorbers.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

The temp swings concern me... Your contents sound like long-term storage items but I'm just afraid that it won't hold up well, especially to heat. What do you have for a bed frame? If you pull out the standard frame and put all your buckets under the box spring, you can fit a lot of buckets in there.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

Maybe a simple fan system to keep it from getting to hot ... The cold wouldn't be too bad.....?


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Sounds like you need to put in an old fashioned root cellar. Or bury some large rubbermaid garbage cans filled with your buckets.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

That is a dream of mine... Root Cellar... sigh


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

The bedframe is a good idea for a king size bed would be what?...40/42 maybe? We have over 100 buckets. With only 1 bed in the house that would work for a few but what the devil do I do with the rest.

the shed Thumper can hang a screen door on for ventilation because it has the side door to it plus the front garage style door and then maybe a fan built into one side?

We have just run out of room and more sitting in the floor needing to be put in buckets. Geez, my head hurts over this.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

I grew up on a farm; we raised wheat that was stored in large galvanized metal grain bins outside that got very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. None of the grain was ever damaged by temperature.

You MUST keep it dry (not rained on), and it needs small vents to be able to "breath". 
Y'all are being too cautious.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I agree with Linktex on this, at least for the most part. Pretty much all grain is stored in metal bins before it gets to the consumer, the sheer mass of the grain does help to reduce temperature fluctuations though. 
If we sell 3 year old wheat there is no difference to the buyers and no one down the chain knows. Oilseeds are a bit different, they tend to lose quality but not too much if seed coats are intact. Ground or rolled grains are very different, they WILL lose quality.
I would try to reduce temperature fluctuations and of course high temps and use what space I had.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Freyadog said:


> The bedframe is a good idea for a king size bed would be what?...40/42 maybe? We have over 100 buckets. With only 1 bed in the house that would work for a few but what the devil do I do with the rest.
> 
> the shed Thumper can hang a screen door on for ventilation because it has the side door to it plus the front garage style door and then maybe a fan built into one side?
> 
> We have just run out of room and more sitting in the floor needing to be put in buckets. Geez, my head hurts over this.


Some have posted pics of their setups, buckets under the bed, behind a sofa covered with fabric for a table, or in front as a coffee table covered with a piece of plywood and fabric. Or as an end table/nightstand with a small square or circular plywood covered with a table cloth. Just some ideas for inside the house.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

If you go with the bed idea you could stack two buckets on top of each other on either side of the bed with a piece of plywood on top. Drape with a cloth and you have 2 nightstands and 4 less buckets to find a place for.

EDIT
Lake Windsong beat me to it!


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

LOL, Grimm, we often think alike, usually you post first!


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

LincTex said:


> I grew up on a farm; we raised wheat that was stored in large galvanized metal grain bins outside that got very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. None of the grain was ever damaged by temperature.
> 
> You MUST keep it dry (not rained on), and it needs small vents to be able to "breath".
> Y'all are being too cautious.


If it's in mylar, inside sealed buckets, in a hot shed, does that count as "vented"?


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

ZoomZoom said:


> If it's in mylar, inside sealed buckets, in a hot shed, does that count as "vented"?


No, that would be "sealed"... the opposite of "vented". 

Mylar doesn't out-gas like polyethylene will, so I think it would be fine as long as you keep everything out of direct sunlight. I would also add a layer of sheetrock to the interior wall of the shed to help slow down temp changes as well.


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## MountainKing (Jul 26, 2012)

We too were looking for creative places to store stuff. We have a platform bed with a TempuPedic mattress (God I love that thing). While probably not the coolest (temperature) place to store stuff, it works. Bought buckets, Mylar bags, O2 packs and bagged up and sealed our own stuff. Rice, sugar, salt, some pastas. We have a ton of other buckets full of wheats, honey, etc.. 

I found that enough buckets would provide plenty of support for the bed platform.

MK


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