When I was growing up, our garage seemed to the catch all for items that were not often used.  We were able to keep the interior house somewhat clutter free, but the Garage was another story.   Little did we know that we were at best destroying many of the items that we were storing, and  worse putting the entire home in a hazardous situation.

A few of the common items that  we see many homeowners in Seattle Store in their garage are Pantry food,  paintings, old photos, propane tanks, old paint, old batteries, and solvents.  Isn't this what all of our parents had in their garage?   

** It's  common for us to see many homeowners in Seattle storing Propane Tanks, old car batteries, and solvents in their garage.  We all know that these are one of  the most explosive thing a homeowner can own, but for some reason we feel secure knowing they are in the garage. Propane tanks should always be stored outside and old batteries and solvents disposed of in a hazardous waste site. 

**Wood Furniture that is no longer in use - Due to the temperature fluctuation, wood furniture can warp, sliver, discolor and more.  Your homeowners policy will not respond to this type of loss.   If you want to preserve your wood furniture, keep it inside the house in a temperature controlled space,

**Paintings and photographs should never be stored in the garage because the temperature changes can easily diminish the quality of photographs and paintings.   Diminished value due to temperature changes, mold, and dampness is never covered on a homeowners policy, so you are setting yourself up to lose these items if you take a chance with them in a garage.

** Food pantry items and other items that maybe stored in cardboard boxes  . . . .  What were our parents thinking?  We actually want to eat food that has been stored in a place that has the possibility of rodents, spiders, etc in the same space.    Some habits never die, but this is one that has to go.   

Next time you clean out the garage. . look at what you have stored in a new way and ask yourself -   Am I preserving the value of items that I intend to keep and am most importantly  Is my family as safe as they can be?    You might be looking at your garage in a whole new light and it may actually be more organized that it's ever been!

toni [at] magnolia-insurance [dot] com