outside shed as food store/larder?

[moocher]

ive been pondering on posting here or food section apologies if wrong section.

basically its a brick built shed roughly 3 ft off house wall
has electric fitted,shelves 2 small ex kitchen cupboards in.
concrete floor
lockable wooden door.

now i know its not 100 % secure being outside

but my main problem is damp the drainage out side is awful and the back garden can get swampy

i had some old clothes as rag and some old walking boots inside and the boots went mouldy and rag was wet to touch.

could i store food inside.
i know tins will rust and jars with metal lids but what about plastic containers
if not i was thinking water at the very least

[KalPrep]

I've been thinking the same moocher. From what I can figure, the plastic food grade containers should be absolutely fine, especially if you store the actual food in Mylar bags inside the plastic containers. That's my plan anyway.

[Ogre]

Give any tinned food a coat of petroleum jelly. I strip off the paper labels and rubs it on by hand I does. Protects the tins and gives me ever so soft hands.

[skippy]

Get some chicken wire and put a double layer of it over any wooden sections of the structure up to about 2 ft off the ground ...this will stop mr Ratty from getting in and spoiling your preps. Mice will eat through paper or cardboard but rats will gnaw through plaster, plastic, tin foil, solid wood etc etc.

Skips

[Rosesandtea]

Maybe experiment with a bucket or two - don't move everything out there until you see what happens.

I would :
Put pallets down on the floor and make sure anything that was going to hold a bucket was up off the floor.
I'd have dry goods in mylar or plastic, in the buckets. I would put tins in opaque plastic storage buckets as well as treating as previous posters mentioned.

I'd put mouse and rat traps in several places.

And possibly put in one of those humidity extractors - like they use in boats - some chemical in a bag which collects then drains humidity into a bucket.

I'm thinking it sounds awfully wet - so that is why I suggest experimenting first.

[the-gnole]

What I would do is consider making the shed more storage friendly.

A few sheets of polystyrene and plasterboard, some 2" X 2" timber, screws and plugs will make a world of difference, a slab of polystyrene on the floor boarded over with some ply and a good external door will deal with any rising wetness.

Then bread crates to keep stuff in for a trial period, these have plenty of holes in for air circulation, which will be obtained through a couple of air vents in the door or airbricks through the wall.

[Rosesandtea]

What I would do is consider making the shed more storage friendly.

A few sheets of polystyrene and plasterboard, some 2" X 2" timber, screws and plugs will make a world of difference, a slab of polystyrene on the floor boarded over with some ply and a good external door will deal with any rising wetness.

Then bread crates to keep stuff in for a trial period, these have plenty of holes in for air circulation, which will be obtained through a couple of air vents in the door or airbricks through the wall.

Thanks for that - I'm not one for knowing anything about buildings (even sheds) so I hope I can keep these suggestions in mind as they are really practical and not hard, even for me. Well I wouldn't know how to do it all, but if I at least have the idea it's a start.

[moocher]

thanks people,
its a brick built shed with a lockable wooden door so pretty rodent safe
just spiders to deal with.
its roughly 6x4 ft.

[nickdutch]

Sort out why its wet first.
Then maybe treat the inside through using a dehumidifier for many days to dry the building out.
Paint many part of the brickwork with that stuff that waterproofs brickwork, make sure any felting in the roof is solid and hasn't perished. Check windows and any plastering on the windows for gaps, make sure the woodwork is in good repair and replace that.
Maybe create another waterproofing layer with a sheet of plastic (or lino!) on the floor sealed off with waterproof silicone sealant at the walls to make sure that its all nice and dry.

Your food is your survival and your money so you don't want it to go to waste at all.

Then think about those watertight plastic buckets and anything that can be sealed off in case your re-waterproofing don't work. This isn't a fun experiment after all, its hypothetical survival.

Seal off anything that you put in the buckets to make doubly sure.

After it has been treated ONLY store totally watertight foods. Tins (lubed up with vaseline like the poster above said )and the like, for the first few months and see how the dampness goes.

If the dampness returns, reassess the situation and work out how the damp could be getting in.

Just a few suggestions.
Over to you now.

[skippy]

its a brick built shed with a lockable wooden door so pretty rodent safe.

Dont you believe it .. we have solid wooden doors and the little B******** gnaw through the bottom corners to get through if they have a reason. Otherwise it sounds good .

Skips