Storing Drums in a garage?

LJAC

Junior Member
My house is getting a bit chlostrophobic, I'm thinking about keeping the drums set up in the garage. I'd keep my cymbals in their bag in the house when not being played.

Has anyone had any problems keeping kits in the garage? With temperature changes/humidity changes etc? British weather isn't exactly kind...

Anyone got thermostatic heaters/dehumidifiers out there for this reason?
 
If your drums are wooden as most are, humidity is your worst enemy. You don't say where you are from, but extreme heat and cold can't be good, but humidity will kill the drums.
 
If your drums are wooden as most are, humidity is your worst enemy. You don't say where you are from, but extreme heat and cold can't be good, but humidity will kill the drums.

I'm from Lancaster in England... it's pretty consistently cold and wet not too sure about humidity, but it's probably significantly lower than in Florida
 
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If the garage is dry and the temp doesn't go above 110F there will be no problem.
By dry I mean that there is no standing water and mold. No rodents or insects either.
I suggest that you store them at least 4 feet from the floor in wooden crates that are lined with carpet padding. I stored a kit this way for about ten years and there were no problems.
I made the wooden boxes from furring strips and 1/4 inch plywood.
You can see the crates that I stored the kit in on the shelf above the tractor in this photo.
 

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I have mine setup in my garage in South Texas. During the summer, I just leave a gap at the bottom on the garage door.
 
I'm from Lancaster in England... it's pretty consistently cold and wet not too sure about humidity, but it's probably significantly lower than in Florida

In my mind, wet, is humid. But I'm not a meteorologist.
 
This might seem like a lot of work, but believe me I would do it if they were my drums.

1. Remove the heads, take a good paste wax and wax the bearing edges and the inside of the shells. This will help seal the wood from moisture.

2. While you have the heads off put a good coat of wax on the rims and the outside of the shells.

3. Take some good light machine weight oil and oil all of the tension rods.

I don't store mine in a garage but I do this anyway. I play quite a few outside gigs and in the summer and in the evening when there is a lot of fog, humidity I want my drums "invesrment" protected. John
 
I'm from Lancaster in England... it's pretty consistently cold and wet not too sure about humidity, but it's probably significantly lower than in Florida

I moved back from Lancaster in June last year. I used to live by the canal and I know what you mean about the wet. It's not humidity, it is seeping damp that tends to work its way into buildings - especially garages. The cellar in my old house was below the water table and used to be damp, as was the front bedroom of the house but that was because of the stone work (if you're interested, it was about a five minute walk from the cathedral, behind the car park that backs on to the alley with the University nightclub).

Lancaster is not a humid place, it's generally standing water. I would make sure that the drums are kept with waterproof sheeting around them at all times (a tarpaulin would do it). Although it is not humid, a dehumidifier would be a good idea to absorb some of the water. Keeping a close eye on things is probably the best bet, and some sort of gentle heating would help.

Incidentally, I miss Lancaster very much. I really enjoyed my time there.
 
Thanks guys for the advice, the Drums are still in the back bedroom... I'll be swapping out all the batter heads ahead of a recording session on the 25th May, so I'll get the lugs greased up. Might as well have the resonants off too. I've used petroleum jelly on the bearing edges before, but never paste wax... Which brands do you use? is it water or solvent based?

Any advice for my chrome over brass snare drum? (I could just keep it in the house with the cymbals I suppose)

43 degrees C isn't going to happen in England... it got up to 38.5 in Kent in 2003 according to the Met office...

RE humidity: In simple terms, wet is water, humidity is water vapour... water will evaporate more readily in low humidity, and water vapour is more likely to condense to water in high humidity, but wet doesn't necessarily indicate high humidity.


Incidentally, I miss Lancaster very much. I really enjoyed my time there.


It's looking like I might have to move out of Lancaster this summer, depending on my girlfriend's job... I'll miss it too, moved here when I was a student, and haven't left for good reason. Mind you, rent here's high for what you get, so maybe I'll get a place with an extra bedroom and the kit can stay indoors...
 
FWIW, I keep a lacquered set of DW's uncased, in my truck when I'm not using them. Hot in summer, cold in winter. They have lived there for over a year now. Before that they lived in my unheated garage since 2008 to 2011. No issues whatsoever. They even stay in tune.
 
FWIW, I keep a lacquered set of DW's uncased, in my truck when I'm not using them. Hot in summer, cold in winter. They have lived there for over a year now. Before that they lived in my unheated garage since 2008 to 2011. No issues whatsoever. They even stay in tune.

Wow. I would be scared to leave anything made of wood in my car here. How hot does it get there in the summer time? If you leave your cell phone in the car does the screen go black? Just wondering. I have a iPhone that will go off and tell you its overheated in the summer if you leave it in the car.
 
Yea I'm not recommending it. I do it out of sheer laziness. It's easier for me to keep them there, plus I never forget anything. It can get 90 degrees F plus in summer here, so in the van it's over 100 easily. And in the winter it gets cold too, so I get the extremes here. I just like to put that out there that I haven't seen any ill effects whatsoever. I think a wrap would fare worse actually. It could separate. Lacquer might check, but it hasn't happened to my kit. I think the checking happens when the temp changes too quickly, but am no authority on the matter.
 
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Well this is what I find when I type Humidity into Roget's Thesaurus:

clamminess, dampness, dankness, dew, dewiness, evaporation, fogginess, heaviness, humectation, humidness, moistness, moisture, mugginess, oppressiveness, sogginess, steam, steaminess, stickiness, sultriness, sweatiness, swelter, thickness, vaporization, wet, wetness

If you want to call your basement damp, that's cool. To me moisture, is wet, is humid, is trouble but they're your drums. Rock on.
 
I know for a fact that Pearl Drums Reference kits had major problems with the shell's lacquer cracking and spider webbing due to temperature extremes or fluctuations. This was about two or three years ago, I don't know if they ever got this problem resolved.

In the heat of summer or cold of winter, I try to get my drums to their destination as fast as possible without leaving them sit in the van for any extended period of time. I never had any problems with wrapped or lacquer kits, although I've seen many wrapped drums where the wrap was distorted and bubbly looking due to high temperatures in cars.

Dennis
 
My Maple Custom Absolutes are always in their SKB cases when not being used. Often times those cases are sitting in my van for days between gigs and rehearsals. I live in Nebraska where it can get down below 0°F in the winter and up above 100°F during the summer and I gig all year round. My drums show almost no sign of wear and sound as good as the day I bought them over ten years ago. I'm way more concerned about my van disappearing in the middle of the night than the elements taking their toll.
 
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