Is there a problem storing paper or cardboard in the garage?
 

I once saw a post where the individual stated that you should not store paper or cardboard in the garage. Can people tell if that is a real problem and if so why.

We will be moving to TV in March and wish to know what to look out for. We would rather learn from others experiences rather than finding out the hard way.

If you have any other words of advice for two (soon to be) newbies, I would appreciate it! Thanks all!!!

Silverfish like cardboard.

It’s not just a Florida thing. I was a teacher in Ohio. The maintenance worker told me to store everything in plastic tubs. Cockroaches love the glue in cardboard boxes. I did that and never had a bug.
Store staple in your pantry in glass jars.
Sell everything in your home state…don’t move northern furniture south. It is too dark, heavy and generally doesn’t fit the Florida lifestyle. Bring your minimalist self…
Just don’t shop City Furniture

I have had items in cardboard boxes in my garage for over a decade with no problems. It is true that cockroaches AKA palmetto bugs will munch on paper/glue but that is true for those that get into your home as well as those in your garage.

But what do I know, I even have some dark furniture which fits my Florida lifestyle just fine.

True. Cockroaches love cardboard boxes. We've learned that.

Paper and cardboard products seem to deteriorate faster in the garage, I suspect the high humidity is the problem.

You can store cardboard and paper in the garage, as long as it's contained. You can buy long plastic bins that stack and even some that have wheels to roll under a bed. Just make sure the covers are air-tight.

As for northern furniture, don't listen to people who tell you how to decorate your own home. You're the one who has to live in it, not them. If you like dark furniture and have some really nice pieces, bring'em. My house is mostly antique furniture, mostly wood, mostly dark, with a few lighter oak pieces for contrast. What I need to do, is paint the walls white. Whatever idiot designer in The Villages thinks "beige" is a good wall color needs to be shot.

For sure don't shop at City Furniture ! ! But might add, to the advice. Many will advise not to bring your furniture, and for some, excellent advice. But remember, YOU may differ greatly from others. Some things to consider: you may not be an individual who is into the latest trends or has a need to adopt the predominate "style"of the area you move to. Many can't wait to shop for "coastal" furniture, but have no idea how dis-interesting it can get to see that all your friends and neighbors have relatively the same furniture; much of it from the same limited number of close stores. For others, that "Florida look" they have always desired after years of vacationing in Florida condos, may be exactly what they want. One thing for sure, if you have genuine wood (solid oak, pecan, walnut, etc.) furniture made in the Carolina's with exceptional details (dove tail joints, no staples, etc.), you already know you will never be able to purchase such workmanship again no matter what you are willing to pay. And one more tip, although not made in the USA, large, dark, "heavy" look/design furniture is found in Florida. Granted, in the conclaves of the wealthy in south Florida, as well as the wealthier communities around Orlando. The coastal/beach/resort style, which I personally like, is much more popular in the villages and beach resorts, than in many other communities. The bottom line is, only YOU can analyze what makes you comfortable. Some want their new homes to have the "feel of home" they left behind. Some look forward to leaving the forever. Think it over carefully.

Yes - great place for roaches to establish a home and family

Another piece of advice would be to bring some cold weather clothing like turtle necks, hats, gloves and coat. TV does get some cold, even freezing weather. It's not too frequent, but you'll be happy to be able to bundle up when necessary. Also be mindful of picking landscaping choices that fit our temperature ranges, or be ready to cover them up during hard freezes if you want to save plants that are not hardy.
Enjoy your move to retirement heaven!

Having worked in the paper industry for years, corrugated boxes will naturally deteriorate over time no matter what the environment, but rather more quickly in higher heat. It may be a new fact to most, but chemical reactions in paper continue to occur long after the paper leaves the paper making machine. It is a natural phenomenon. As paper, particularly corrugated paper products age, the fluted medium is the first to degrade because of its chemical characteristics. This causes the paper to dramatically lose strength and give the appearance of crumbling. The crumbling exposes more of the starch-based adhesive which holds the layers of paper together. It is the starch adhesive that various insects thrive on.

I love being able to get such valuable advice from everyone. It is so kind!

We still have so much still to do and it is very stressful. Selling our home in CT and wrapping up our jobs here. I know we are making a good choice to come to TV but still sometimes worries sneak in there. I found comfort and gladness in hearing your comment, "Enjoy your move to retirement heaven!" It is people like you who gave us the courage and hope to move there.

I can't even imagine being retired after working so hard to get to this place in my life and doing all that we needed to do this past year. From constant work to finally getting to relax seems like only a dream at the moment! : )

Thank you for your kind words!

One last thing. I see that people get THank you's that get tracked? How does one give a "Thank you" officially (so it gets counted)?

The concern about cardboard/paper containers used in one's garage isn't in regards to insects or pests. Rather, the rationale can easily be found in the ARC manual as of the 2021 16.3 revision, page 227 paragraph 3. It states that the proper application of this rule is based on 2 things. The house approach orientation to the street (being either parallel or angular). And, your overall garage organization factor (scale of 1 to 5 with 4 and 5 being preferred and most organized). Cardboard/paper storage vessels are permitted for use when your house's orientation is angular, and your factor is in the preferred range, but you also must not have the garage overhead door open in excess of 2 hours per day. Hope this helps. (only joking....roaches are the concern)

Cardboard Boxes
 

Always best to store things in plastic bins. Bugs do like the glue, that includes ants.

The one thing I’ve seen from the many houses we looked at when buying ours and the numerous estate sales is people tend to bring or buy furniture that is too large for these style houses. Many houses we’ve seen just look cluttered.

Cardboard absorbs the humidity and breaks down.

Cardboard is combustible and could burst into flames with no apparent accelerant. In addition, roaches like the glue used to hold cardboard boxes together so it’s like ringing the dinner bell for them. Since your garage can get pretty humid, cardboard and paper can get soggy. Mice and other pests can make nests with both. The bottom line is get plastic storage bins and if you need to store any kind of papers or cardboard put them in the containers.

Termites like cardboard and paper Had a listing once, the lady had bookshelves with books. Termites ate through books and into the wall.

I’m in a new house and during the a/c orientation, the installer told us the BEST place to keep paper is in the room with the a/c equipment. He said the equipment sucks out humidity and the paper keeps very well.

Covering plants. The reality is it is the result of planting the wrong plants-ie plants that need to be covered. Feeling tied to your home because we might get a freeze? That is an indication of wrong plant choices. I would not take them out. When the weather kills them replace with a wiser choice.

Heat. The rate of chemical reactions double with every 10 degrees (18 Fahrenheit) rise is temperature. Garages are hot.

You can and many do go nuts looking for things to worry about. Storage is at a shortage. Our home is larger than some others and yet is sorely miss my basement.
Your garage is not temperature controlled-air conditioned. Hot-this is Florida. It is hot and humid in the summer. Bugs-this is Florida. Solution to cockroaches, we have several varieties solution they call them palmetto bugs and water bugs a word control of cockroaches. There are bugs EVERYWHERE. New York cocker roaches are far larger and will eat a Florida cocker roach for a snack. Same is true for rats.

I've never run comparative results but, I have tons of tools. Some have value, many are irreplaceable, value is of course in the eye of the beholder. I make sure to rub them with oil before putting them away. Testimonial. I have a limited number of cardboard boxes in my garage. Nothing special, typical cardboard corrugated boxes.
They've been there for roughly 10 years. They are fine. No bugs.

Cardboard does absorb everything. I bought an item at a yard sale & owner was thoughtful enough to have saved its storage box. Unfortunately the cardboard was covered in lizard poop (can't seem to keep lizards out of garages here), so the box went in the trash. Better to use a plastic storage box that can be surface cleaned if necessary.

Storing Cardboard and Papers in Garage
 

Apparently deteriorating cardboard attracts roaches. I had a small cardboard box on a shelf that became a roach nursery. They like cellulous. Best to use plastic containers instead.

I have NEVER seen a roach or a rodent in our house in ten years of living here and we sometimes leave some crumbs in the kitchen. The pesticide people come at least twice a year. Long ago, when I lived in a rental apartment complex in Miami, I did see roaches sometimes and they can get bigger than northern roaches ( 2 and 3 inches and will fly right into your face sometimes). Not normally a problem in The Villages.
..........Florida does have more insects in general than up-north. At a museum, I have seen Florida beetles as big as 2 feet long. have NEVER seen anything that big in person. In Miami, I once saw a small beetle with 2 glowing spots on its back that looked like 2 tiny headlights. And that is true and I was NOT smoking anything. I have always wanted to ask an insect biologist about what could possibly be the evolutionary advantage of an insect having glow spots on its back? Seems like it would be more often eaten or smashed because of glowing.
......Also because Florida has a lot of insects, what I refer to as chameleons often come into your house and die and shrivel up, they are everywhere. They should be the official Florida living creature.
........Florida is unique in many ways!

I have been known to get "thank you's" for NOT posting, maybe that's just me.

Finding then ordering furniture
 

It was mentioned that you may not want to bring your furniture with you. Other considerations would be how picky you are about what you like or want. You may not
be able to find anything you like or it may take a while. How quickly you can shop and find the furniture while unpacking and getting settled is another issue. When we were moving here, once the neighbors found the furniture and ordered it, there was a 4-6 month wait.

Yes, speaking of ants. Florida has FIRE ants and they can do a number on you if you step on their ant hills. As you live in Florida for years and years you develop somewhat of an immunity to them. But, when you 1st move here, just one bite can possibly (varies with different people) swell up your foot. There are various hardware store products that you can put on their hills (they are most active in the summer). But, hot soapy water will control their activity pretty well. They can't be eliminated, just controlled.

Been here 24 years and have stored cardboard in garage and attic all that time with absolutely no problems. I also brought down my dark, Amish made dining room table and chairs and they look great in my home. In fact, all of our wooden furniture is dark.
There is no way I would part with these, so use your own likes to determine how you want to decorate. There are many ways you can accent the dark furniture to make it look good in your home.

For me, going minimalist has improved my life. I moved from a 1888 home just over 12ksf to a courtyard villa. Didn't matter if I wanted dark furniture or not, I couldn't bring everything down with me. I can tell you now, after the trauma of giving away 35 years of collecting, I feel much freer (is that a word?). We all need to go through this downsize at our own pace. I'm thankful to be around and able to do it. Have fun and welcome.

Your Response
 

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I'm so happy for you. i grew up in & lived in Ct until 2017, then moved here. I can tell you now, you won't ever regret it, & will wish you had done it years earlier. Congrats & best of luck on the final move!! :coolsmiley:

When our home in Sarasota was being built, we paid to have tubes run through all of the walls with the end of the tubes being accessible from the outside wall. Pest control would come and spend time pushing pesticide into those hoses, supposedly treating all of the internal spaces. Looking back on this, I find it kind of hard to believe. There really is no way to prove it, short of tearing open a wall (which I am considering as I write this to solve my curiosity.

OK, I thought of some other Florida advice. The Florida sun is MUCH stronger than people from up-north are accustomed to. It can HURT you both quickly and slowly. In March make sure that you do NOT try to get a suntan too quickly. Go to the pool either from 8 AM to 9 AM or after 4 PM until you acclimatize to the Florida SUN. And put on a sun BLOCKER, NOT some sun intensifier like Coppertone oil. And long term, if you have freckles or light skin you WILL get skin cancer spots that need removal - if you do not put a sun blocker on the backs of your hands and the tops of your ears. And it would NOT hurt to put a blocker on your face and the tops of your forearms and shoulders.
.......Get a copy of the Rec News at any Rec center and choose what club or activity that you would like to try - there are mega-many things to do. You can learn a lot about TV Land by reading this forum. Personally, I would NOT rent a large U-Haul or get a moving company - unless there was some heavy furniture that had some kind of special, spiritual meaning to you. Otherwise, it is just USED furniture and there are plenty of used furniture stores here. Lots of people, philosophically, come here to create a "new you". The less "baggage" you bring with you the NEWER new you will create for yourself.

We had a home in Bradenton 12 years ago and found a FEW roaches inside from time to time. I never heard about that approach to roach prevention. I would have to seriously question altering wall integrity to defeat roaches. I would think that would mean that the roaches are winning.
........PS..... Is Captain Kosmocos still there?

We love City Furniture.

I have some cardboard boxes in the garage, not a problem. But I would not store them in the attic.

At the bottom of every post, you'll see a "Thumbs Up" button. Click on that and it gives a "Thank You" to that poster...

How rude! My walls are Kilim Beige by Sherwin-Williams and they are a nice, soft neutral.

There's a problem with storing cardboard boxes in a friend's garage when the boxes just seem to disappear, or maybe the cockroaches ate the boxes. Don't leave your boxes in any other garage but your own!
Best of luck with your move! You will love it here!

I know in DE it is very bad to store papers in your garage, even if you lock the garage door.