heated storage

[sbw1]

Most commercial storage or repair type buildings are not insulated all that well.
A close friend of about 50 years owns a 4 Bay auto repair shop that he rents out to a tenant now that he’s retired.
For the decades that he ran his business out of there he always kept it warm enough to work comfortably with some long johns and sweatshirts on in our cold winter months.
He would let me use one of the bays and lifts to do stuff on my cars when he wasn’t busy. It was always pretty comfortable to work.
A couple of times over the years he came to the shop on a Monday morning to find the heat shut down for one reason or another over the weekend. It was pretty cold in there.
I can obsess over these type things for sure, but my fear in a really cold climate would that the facility owner would come in on a January morning to find that the heat failed over the weekend and the temps in the big hollow uninsulated building had dropped down drastically.
I’d probably be overly cautious and at least do what I outlined above. Probably not necessary at all, but since I couldn’t use the boat anyway, I’d get myself worried about it enough to go through the motions.

Yes. It depends. I'm just saying we have a long history of the cold not being an issue. We even had a year when an extreme wind blew out an overhead door on a week end in January or February. The owners checked the business due to the extreme weather. My boat was in the direct line of a subzero winds. All hands on deck. They rigged a temporary door over the massive opening and cranked the heat. Door was fixed in 48 hours and no damage to any boats. Different owner could have produced a different result. It all depends. The pic of our boat in storage shows the conditions where we stored. Clean and reasonably well insulated.

 

[sbw1]

Here is one of the storage units within 10 minutes of where we stored.

 

[Woody]

I always worried about my boats in the winter. The 200BR and 270SD would fit in the garage but it was cold storage. I'd keep the 280DA at home to. It was mostly under a roof with about 10' of bow sticking out. That would be tarped and I'd shovel the snow off a few times each winter.

Didn't like that so I put up a 42' x 60' building for it and other stuff. I insulated the floor and intended to finish the interior myself so I could heat it. Never did that because a couple months after the building was put up we went looking at boats just for education and my wife made me get the 420DA. My boats have seen -35F, winterized right I didn't worry about freezing. It was the expansion/contraction I worried about and moisture being where it shouldn't be, then freezing. The only problems I've actually seen that I blame on it are cracked laminate on table and a mirror that would come loose on the 280's head door but don't really know that was the cause.

After reading about cabinetry laminate problems on some SR of my era, along with the fact my color laminate is no longer available I decided I had to have heated storage for it. Maybe not needed but I wanted to give my best shot to prevent problems.

My storage facility is not owned by any marina, it'll store anything, but was intended for boats. New buildings, hydonic heating, well insulated. A system monitors temp, heating system, it'll even holler at you if you leave a door open.

My first question when I started renting there was backup for power outages. In the worst conditions I don't think it would freeze inside for 4-5 days at least. They have two large generators available that can be brought in if needed so I'm pretty comfortable with it all and don't winterize the boat.

I'm 2.5hrs from the boat. The owner will give me a key so I can get in/out and allows me to stay right on the boat when I'm there. I have a small electric heater in the cabin that I use when I'm there. It's nice to be able to work on the boat during the winter although last winters list was not done because I didn't get there even once.

 

[RollerCoastr]

I like the 5 gallon pails idea better than leaving water in the tank. A winter is a long time for water to sit in a tank.
The other thing I would be concerned about is what would happen if the facility were to loose heat for some reason over the winter.

I wouldn't serve a glass of ice water from my taps come March, but I probably could. I keep my tank clean and cycled all summer. I put a small amount of bleach in before storage. "Heated" is still relatively cold, so I wouldn't be surprised if the water in my tank averaging 50º for the winter tested better than the what's in the average boater's tank in mid-July.

 

[Woody]

I wouldn't serve a glass of ice water from my taps come March, but I probably could. I keep my tank clean and cycled all summer. I put a small amount of bleach in before storage. "Heated" is still relatively cold, so I wouldn't be surprised if the water in my tank averaging 50º for the winter tested better than the what's in the average boater's tank in mid-July.

Between bleach treatments, each time I fill my tank I give it a maintenance dose of this

 

[firecadet613]

A good question to add may be, what's your LOA / Beam and price for indoor heated storage?

I'm roughly $2500 for indoor cold and was quoted $4900 for heated. Previous owners kept her in heated storage. 37'x12'. IN/MI state line.

 

[RollerCoastr]

Between bleach treatments, each time I fill my tank I give it a maintenance dose of this

Woody, do you have any evidence (anecdotal or otherwise) that it does what it claims to do?

As I mentioned, by spring the water in my tank appears to be free from growth just with a bleach treatment, but if anything it's the "plasticky" smell/taste that concerns me. That's an even bigger problem with dockside water hoses. If I could treat new hoses to block plastic from the water I'd buy all new hoses today.

 

[JVM225]

I think I might have to drug my wife and move her to a place where I can get indoor heated storage for my boat.........

 

[RollerCoastr]

I think I might have to drug my wife and move her to a place where I can get indoor heated storage for my boat.........

I have to say that my property taxes seem outrageous, until I compare them to Long Island!

 

[boatman37]

Is that the natural temperature in the underground storage? If so, you’re golden.

yes. 55* but very damp. I am on the waiting list to get in the climate controlled section at the same underground facility. It stays 65* in there and not so damp

 

[J.Wilt]

View attachment 75250 View attachment 75248 View attachment 75249
Here is one of the storage units within 10 minutes of where we stored.

Nice facility but just got a quote there at $10 per sq ft, think I’ll just stay at North Shore.

 

[firecadet613]

Nice facility but just got a quote there at $10 per sq ft, think I’ll just stay at North Shore.

What is north shore charging?

 

[sbw1]

Nice facility but just got a quote there at $10 per sq ft, think I’ll just stay at North Shore.

Prices are all over the ball park as the units are individually owned. And friends go in together. Yes. It is generally more expensive. We know of people who boat year round, and live on their boats over the week ends and work on boat projects together. Some of the units have full bathrooms with showers, and kitchens. Pretty cool set ups.

 

[sbw1]

What is north shore charging?

6.25 a square foot. My experience was they are not agressive about pulpits and swim platforms. 32 Opens are about 40 feet overall. They charged based on the 32 foot water line. Not all places do that. Also, you can schedule your lift time. I would show up at the appointed time and drive into the Travelhoist. Boat would be the inside a clean building an hour later. Techs are first rate. They can repair anything.

 

[firecadet613]

I'll have to keep that in mind. Love the Grand Haven area - a bit of a haul and fuel costs would burn up a lot of the savings.

I was quoted $10/ft for indoor heated, but am paying half that for indoor cold, including winterization, etc.

 

[Charlesoceanone]

I moving my boat out of Missouri next spring and the money I will be saving by not paying personal property taxes every year I can now afford inside heated. I’m excited!

 

[Stee6043]

Nice facility but just got a quote there at $10 per sq ft, think I’ll just stay at North Shore.

At that rate I'd expect a wash/wax to be included

 

[sbw1]

I'll have to keep that in mind. Love the Grand Haven area - a bit of a haul and fuel costs would burn up a lot of the savings.

I was quoted $10/ft for indoor heated, but am paying half that for indoor cold, including winterization, etc.

I've used NSM for many years. They are not cheap by any measure but the work is always well done. They attract boaters from Chicago and Wisconsin for winter storage. Grand Isle also has indoor heated storage although their building has recently had water on the floor due to high water. I believe their reputation for service is not as good as North Shore although I do not have any current experience with them. I did store there in 1986 under different owners and the service was ok.

 

[firecadet613]

View attachment 75281

I've used NSM for many years. They are not cheap by any measure but the work is always well done. They attract boaters from Chicago and Wisconsin for winter storage. Grand Isle also has indoor heated storage although their building has recently had water on the floor due to high water. I believe their reputation for service is not as good as North Shore although I do not have any current experience with them. I did store there in 1986 under different owners and the service was ok.

Thanks for the feedback. I've got a deposit down for indoor cold already, but the thought of working on the boat and waxing over the winter has me submitting an inquiry!

 

[Blueone]

At $10 a sqft…. That's $2,300 more than what we pay in my area using my boat as an example.... That's a significant amount of money to get work well done.