Preparing your shed for the winter months can help keep your tools, equipment, and shed itself in good condition. Plus, winterizing your shed can make it a more comfortable place to spend time during the cold weather. Look at a few winterization tips for your shed, garage, or barn to make sure you’re ready before the snow flies!
Seven Tips for Winterizing Your Shed
- Sweep Out the Debris. Give your shed a thorough sweep to remove the dead insects, leaves, dirt, twigs, and other debris. Be sure to move the tools and other items out of the corners to reach every inch of the floor. Sweeping debris out of your shed removes the material mice, squirrels, and other rodents may use to build a winter home in your structure.
- Apply Weather Stripping. Close the door of your shed and run your fingers around its border. Do you feel air leaking through? If so, get some weather stripping and apply it around your door. This is an easy DIY project that takes less than 30 minutes. Be sure to check your windows for leaks around the edges and apply weather stripping if needed. Preventing air and moisture from entering your shed or garage can prevent mildew from forming and tools from rusting. Plus, it’s more pleasant to work in your shed without the cold breezes blowing in on you.
- Check the Bottom Seal on the Garage Door. You can keep freezing air from blowing into your garage by replacing the bottom seal on the garage door. This seal can become worn and begin to crack or tear away. Give the seal a visual inspection, then close the door and put your hand near its base to see if any air is coming through. The process of replacing the bottom seal is easy, and you can find a replacement at any hardware store.
- Remove Debris Around the Exterior of the Structure. Take a walk around your shed, garage, or barn to look for piles of sticks, leaves, grass clippings, or fallen logs that are close to the exterior walls. If you find any of this type of debris, remove it. Depending on how much debris you find, this task could take you 30 minutes to an hour. Removing this debris discourages squirrels, mice, insects, and other pests from building homes near your shed and possibly gaining access to the structure.
- Clean and Organize Gardening Equipment and Tools. Taking some time this month to clean and organize rakes, hoses, shovels, spades, and other similar items means they will be ready to use in the springtime. Unhook your garden hose from the outdoor spigot and empty the water out of it. Then, coil it and hang it in on a wall hook inside your shed. Get a spray bottle of water, a bottle of mild soap, a sponge, and a rag to clean your rakes, shovels, and spades. Make sure they are completely dry before neatly arranging them in a corner. Cover the tools with a tarp to prevent dust from settling on them.
- Clear Out Old, Unwanted Items. If you have items such as dried-out cans of paint, broken or rusted tools, empty containers, or outdated seed packets, dispose of them to make more room in your shed or garage. Use the newly cleared space to start a project to work on over the winter.
- Store Organic Items. If you have soil, mulch, seeds, or other organic items in your shed or garage, put them in waterproof bags for the winter. This can prevent mildew, mold, and other damage that would ruin the contents. Plus, I would store any dog food, horse grain, or other food you have in metal garbage cans with lids. This makes it practically impossible for mice and other rodents to get into your pet’s food supply.
Good luck as you prepare your shed for winter! Thanks for reading. – Alan
