I have a bunch of stuff in cardboard boxes [banker’s boxes] that I want to store in a basement whose floor might get wet during winter. To avoid floor contact, I want to elevate the boxes a few inches off the floor.
Looks like the best solution is to set the boxes on parallel boards [easier+cheaper than pallets].
I naively thought this was a simple choice–just grab a few 2-by-4s from a lumberyard and stick them on the floor. But I learned that:
2-by-4s do not measure 2-in by 4-in; they’re 1.5-in by 3.5-in. So for adequate elevation, I guess I should use 4-by-4 boards, which measure 3.5-in by 3.5-in.
Boards can be a variety of wood types and can have a variety of treatments for moisture resistance, bug/termite resistance, etc.
So what kind of 4-by-4 boards would be best for basement storage?
How many do you need? How long will you be storing the boxes in the basement? If the basement gets wet how deep is the water going to be?
You could get a pressure treated 2x4’s and turn them up on edge to give you 3.5" clearance. You might need to connect the two rails with a short piece of 2x4 on each end to keep them upright. Make a frame of sorts. If you need a lot of storage, this would be a lot cheaper than 4x4 posts but if you just need a couple, go with either pressure treated 4x4’s or composite decking posts which should also be available in 4x4 size. The composite won’t rot for sure.
Do you really need to store the boxes that high off the the floor? Are we talking about a bit of water on the floor or a flooded basement? I wouldn’t store anything important in a basement which might take on a few inches of water. Moisture and mold will destroy the boxes even if they don’t have direct contact with the water.
I store things in my basement on top of a subfloor product called Dricore. It’s 2’x2’ square interlocking panels with a plastic base and an OSB surface (similar to plywood). The plastic base keeps the OSB off of the floor so it doesn’t trap moisture. I get it at Home Depot. It’s around $5 per panel. I run a dehumidifier to keep humidity at 50% or below. This keeps cardboard from getting soggy and metal from rusting.
When I moved into my house I found that the previous owner had build some nice shelves out of normal 2x4s from Home Depot. Assuming your basement doesn’t get waist high water that sits there for days, it’ll be fine. They can survive a few inches of water for an hour or two and then being totally dry for the next two years.
Having said that, mine are full, I just put all my stuff in those plastic bins you can buy everywhere. I get a few inches of water from time to time so those are perfect.
Also, if you don’t care about looks, you can grab some milk crates and put stuff on there.
I’d be concerned that the water won’t dry in just a couple hours, especially if the OP puts down a bunch of wooden boards on the floor. Cardboard banker’s boxes strike me a really bad choice for storage in these conditions even if they don’t get directly wet. I guess it depends on how humid the basement is the rest of the time.
You can get cinderblocks that are six inches wide. So if you lay them on their sides, and then put plywood on top, the boxes will be more than six inches from the floor.
This is a better way to do it. If only 3 inches of elevation is needed bricks will work instead of cinder blocks. The problem with simply using boards is that moisture will condense on the bottom of the boxes. One day you’ll go to pick up a box and the bottom will stay down with all the contents while you pull up the sides.
I think it’s going to depend on the situation. Some people have water in their basement every time it rains AND it’s humid down there all the time.
OTOH, my basement is dry, but I’ve had about an inch of water in the basement a handful of times over the 9 years I’ve lived there. During REALLY REALLY heavy rains the water will show up and disappear over a few hours. The only things that stay wet are fabrics that are on the ground (rugs/carpets etc) or cardboard. The wood shelving I mentioned has survived it.
In a situation like this, regular old 2x4 will be fine (IMHO), but I’ve learned not to put anything on the floor that I’m not okay with getting wet, that’s why I keep things in plastic bins or keep things off the ground.
So, I guess a few questions for the OP are:
How deep does the water get?
Is the basement humid?
How fast does the water drain (almost instantly? A few hours? A day or two?)
How often does it happen? (Every year or two? Every time it rains?)
Like I said, there’s a big difference in how protected you need to be between “I get 3 inches of water every time it rains and it takes 3 days to dry out” and “I get a half in of water every once in a while and it drys out an hour or two later”.
Proper shelves are the best idea. My parents’ house has some that are made of 2x4s and boards nailed together to make permanent shelves, and then there are about forty feet of store shelving from when my brother worked at a convenience store that threw out its old shelving during a remodel. But you can get decent, sturdy shelving from Home Depot or Lowes that will hold a lot more than some 2x4s laid on the floor.
The problem with plastic (or metal) shelving is it gets expensive quickly. Plastic shelving would be the best idea. It goes up quick and it’s practically indestructible if you get something strong, but you’re looking at spending, say, $40 on something that’s going to hold 8 boxes. Possibly less if you can’t use the bottom shelf (or cost more if you have to buy plastic bins to put in the bottom shelf).
Having said that, plastic shelving would be the best route to deal with water.
Boards are going to wick up moisture and then the cardboard will too.
I had a mold mitigation company come clean up my basement before I had it painted and the guy freaked out about pallets and cardboard boxes in my basement. Even if they aren’t actively getting wet from water they are holding moisture from the air and creating a damp space. Not good.
When you put walls in basements you put a vapor barrier between the wood and the floors, even. To keep the wood from getting damp just from the difference in temperature.
If you insist on cardboard boxes, then I agree with those who say cinder blocks. Don’t put wood directly on the floor, and make sure you have plenty of clearance from water FOR THE WOOD.
I would also recommend plastic boxes but that can get expensive. Personally I have metal shelves, plastic boxes and a 24/7 dehumidifier. That’s really the optimal setup.
My solution and suggestion, though I asked and was given them by a neighborhood hardware store. Pickings might be slimmer than in the past because Pinterest is currently chock full of crafty things to do with reclaimed/recycled/repurposed pallets.
$40 will buy cheap plastic shelves 5 level high - each shelf is about 2 1/2" thick - no discoloration, no warp-age, no water damage,and you can cut the tubes which separate the shelves into bits as long as you’d like for elevation.
I’ve had a lot of people arrested over the years for stealing pallets from my store. Granted, they aren’t usually someone trying to take one or two and jam them into the trunk of their civic, it’s people putting all 60 of them into their pickup at 2 am.
But, still, if you want a pallet or two, just go in and ask. Some places will give them to you, some places will sell them to you for a few dollars.