Storing guns in the basement?

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Looking to open up some room in the closet, but the only other place is the basement which runs from 60-80% humidity even running the dehumidifier during the day. Will one of those Golden rod warmers keep the rust away? Seems like warming things up would just make it worse....

[Grmps]

Bury them in an interior wall with a picture/mirror/? hiding the opening

[Geezer in NH]

Get a better dehumidifier

[PowPow]

It sounds to me like you've got a substantial amount of moisture down there.

Have you looked into the source of all of that moisture?
Do you maintain your gutters?
Do the spouts drain at a good enough pitch away from your foundation?
Do you have a good pitch for water run-off in general or can water come downhill towards your home's foundation?
Do you have any water entering your basement after storms?
Has your basement ever been flooded?
Do you have any areas where you have exposed dirt? My in-laws have that in their basement believe it or not, and it increased the humidity.

An easy thing to try would be a better dehumidifier and/or multiple units. However, the answer probably lies in the answers to the questions above. I had many of the same issues with my basement. It now runs between 35-43% depending on the weather.

[fast ronnie]

Sounds kind of iffy to me.

[lightman]

I would be worried about the high humidity.

[nicholst55]

Invest in a decent quality industrial dehumidifier. It IS an investment, because they're not cheap. Also, add an 'air mover,' a floor fan that circulates the air. That increases the efficiency of the dehumidifier significantly. Dri Eaz makes some excellent dehumidifiers, but they are not inexpensive.

[lefty o]

inside a safe or small enclosure, a goldenrod will do the job. they will not make the air circulate in a large area however.

[JSnover]

In any case I'd get down there and clean them a bit more often. That'll buy you some time to solve the problem.

[JimB..]

It’d be a disaster.

You could put them in silicone socks and then inside PVC pipe or large coolers. Add a few desiccant packets to each container. A plastic 55 gal drum might work, depends on how long the guns are obviously. You could also slap together a wood chest. Any of these could be put in the damp basement.

[Handloader109]

Eliminate the moisture. You gave way too much. Mine is bone dry.

[Grmps]

If the basement is that damp, I would be worried about your houses wood substructure.

[Paper Puncher]

The average monthly humidity in Morganton is about 76%. If like my son and you don't have air conditioning with the windows open all the time it's like trying to dehumidify the entire state (think heating a house with all the doors and windows open).
His solution was to build a small reloading room and put a dehumidifier in there. A friend had a similar problem storing tools in his pole barn. His solution was to build a cabinet/closet and use one of those tiny dehumidifiers.
The smaller the area you are trying to control the environment in the easier and cheaper it is to do it.
As JimB mentioned PVC tubing works really good with just a desiccant pack.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Thanks for all the thoughts. Keep them coming. The basement has a poured floor and block walls. We have A/C in the living space and keep everything closed up. There is no standing water or wetness that you can feel with your hands. A local friend with similar construction runs his dehumidifyer 24/7, I can hear ours at night and it bothers my sleep, so I put it on a timer to only run during the day, with it running the humidity drops into the high 50's then creeps up into the 70's over night. I did turn it off while we were on vacation as we have had several condensate pumps fail. Counting the basement, our house is 3 levels, and I think it acts like a chimney sucking air into the basement despite my efforts to seal everything up. It has also been a very wet summer. I haven't noticed any significant mold or rust on my tools but would hate to rust up my guns.

[MT Gianni]

At 60% humidity you start to see condensation on the walls. Get your numbers rechecked or get different venting.

[tinsnips]

Borrow a sling hygrometer[pshchrometer] that will tell the true amount of humidity you have in your house. Do not shut the ac off to the basement as ac unit is a large dehumidifier.

[marlin39a]

For a brief time in 1994, I was force to store my firearms in a basement in Massachusetts . I coated hem with Breakfree Collector. It worked fine for the few damp months.

[Hannibal]

50 percent humidity is about maximum for tool/firearm storage. I prefer to keep mine 40 - 45 percent.

First thing I would do is find out if your numbers are accurate. You are going to have a devil of a time keeping the moisture out with block walls. A dehumidifier is going to have to run 24/7 to keep the moisture down because it's going to be wicking moisture in 24/7.

You'll have to figure out how to leave your dehumidifier on constantly or I'd abandon this as unrealistic. As others have said, you still need to address the moisture level or you'll sustain structural damage over time.

Step one is still verify the humidity level.

[David2011]

At 60% humidity you start to see condensation on the walls. Get your numbers rechecked or get different venting.

Depends on the dew point as to when you will see condensation. If the walls or items in the room dip below the dew point the humidity will condense on the cool items.

I'm using a Goldenrod for the humid days but most of the year is 40% or lower here. It can get very high though, all the way to a foggy 100%. Most of the time freshly machined steel doesn't rust here. The story will change dramatically when we move to the Houston area in a few weeks.