Covered / unheated storage

[79XS11F]

My mother warned my wife before we got married. When I still lived at home, I had a 1970 Ford F250 that had a slightly warped exhaust manifold. So, my mother came in one day to find me sitting in the living room with newspaper across the floor, a nice heavy block of wood with sand paper on it and me sanding the manifold smooth. I was watchin the telly while I worked for some form of entertainment. SWMBO has kept a vigilant eye for such things our entire marriage.

I was the same way when i was younger and renting houses with my brothers and friends. the bikes came in the house for the winter. often times to be modified over the cold months.
Rob

[79XS11F]

More questions

OK, I reduced the height of the seasonal shelter so it would fit under the house's eve and right up to the garage door. I have 3 bikes in there now and they were covered with cotton sheets. This evening when I went out to seal the end of the shelter to the house I noticed that the sheets were DAMP. I removed them and will guess that in an outdoor storage situation their better off just left as is. So, should I run a small household fan in there all winter to keep air moving around? Set it to sweep across the air space?
Rob

[jwhughes3]

Light bulb

I would add a light bulb ...it might heat the enclosed space enough to keep condensation down...

John

[79XS11F]

I would add a light bulb ...it might heat the enclosed space enough to keep condensation down...

John

I don't think a 100 watt bulb would do it in a 10 X 17 X 8 air space. I am wondering if I should have covered the pavement with a tarp as well. That will be my next step.
Rob

[crazy steve]

I don't think a 100 watt bulb would do it in a 10 X 17 X 8 air space. I am wondering if I should have covered the pavement with a tarp as well. That will be my next step.
Rob

Rather than a tarp, maybe some plywood or OSB sheets laid on some furring strips...

[79XS11F]

Rather than a tarp, maybe some plywood or OSB sheets laid on some furring strips...

If I were to lay down any type of wood product on the ground it would still need to be protected from ground moisture so a tarp would still be needed to protect that wood from moisture. That being the case, once a tarp is down the issue would be addressed.
Rob

[Rasputin]

I have a 10 x 20 x 8 canopy type garage same as you have pictured or pretty much so. I laid 3/8's OSB on the floor and rolled the bikes in. The OSB was only there because I did not want the bikes falling over from the stands sinking into the gravel. I have used it a couple of years now with no heat, no bulbs , no attention etc. I have had no problem with rust or anything else using simple plain cold covered storage. Of course here in sunny Alberta we get few days where it gets warm enough to have higher humidity. Frozen air does not hurt bikes...lol.

[79XS11F]

I have a 10 x 20 x 8 canopy type garage same as you have pictured or pretty much so. I laid 3/8's OSB on the floor and rolled the bikes in. The OSB was only there because I did not want the bikes falling over from the stands sinking into the gravel. I have used it a couple of years now with no heat, no bulbs , no attention etc. I have had no problem with rust or anything else using simple plain cold covered storage. Of course here in sunny Alberta we get few days where it gets warm enough to have higher humidity. Frozen air does not hurt bikes...lol.

So far this year temperatures have not been nearly as cold as would be expected for this time of the year. It just concerns me when I find the cotton sheets damp. Given that the bikes that are out there are bikes that have not been started yet I may just spray them with WD40 and call it a day
Rob

[Rasputin]

As long as the canopy/tent is not sealed up well it should not get all that moist. Mine has snow blowing in under the edges a bit but nothing seems to get damp. It has been unusually mild here as well so I may be proved wrong. Not like that would be the first time for that either.

[79XS11F]

I was out there Christmas evening after dinner because the garage was the smoking area for guests and I saw that the bikes in the shelter are covered with FROST. That being the case i do not think I will be putting my finished bikes out there. There was also frozen moisture droplets on the ceiling.
Rob

[b.walker5]

So, should I run a small household fan in there all winter to keep air moving around? Set it to sweep across the air space?
Rob

It will definately help, as the secret to condensation control is air movement, however cross-flow air is what you want. Set up an air inlet at one end, an air exhaust at the other and set your fan to blow out the exhaust. That will drag air in the intake and replenish it all the time. You'll have a difficult time controlling it at sub zero (< 32 ) temperatures due to humidity levels but frost on it's own isnt going to hurt anything, as long as things dry out quickly when the temp warms up, and moving air will speed that up dramatically. Quickest way to heat air is to dry it out, and it takes much less energy to heat dry air than it does to heat damp air.

[79XS11F]

It will definately help, as the secret to condensation control is air movement, however cross-flow air is what you want. Set up an air inlet at one end, an air exhaust at the other and set your fan to blow out the exhaust. That will drag air in the intake and replenish it all the time. You'll have a difficult time controlling it at sub zero (< 32 ) temperatures due to humidity levels but frost on it's own isnt going to hurt anything, as long as things dry out quickly when the temp warms up, and moving air will speed that up dramatically. Quickest way to heat air is to dry it out, and it takes much less energy to heat dry air than it does to heat damp air.

In spite of what I have to call higher then normal temperatures there is so much water on the inside of the ceiling that when push it upward to remove snow it is like it is raining in there. I now am beginning to think that the tarp material is not waterproof.
Rob

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Boeshild

This is the best I have found, invented for Boeing jet parts. Spray it on and wash it off when ready to use the bike / part

http://boeshield.com/

Hi Rob,
looks like we're back to fizzing the bikes with the rust inhibitor of your choice, putting them on a tarp to reduce rising damp, covering them with el-cheapo bike covers spaced up with cardboard & with a 60Watt light bulb inside.
BTW, no basement is fully furnished until it has a bike as it's centrepiece.