JohnnyDaBull

Last week I lost about 1/3 of my collection due to water damage . So my question is could anyone point me in the direction of some good dvd storage? I have mostly boxed sets so I don't know what would be good. I wanted to get like a nice trunk, but can't find one under 100 bucks. I really just need a decent shelf that is not directly touching the ground.

hindolio

how about wall shelving? they could be affordable and can adjust to your needs by placement, number of shelves, and expandability.

JohnnyDaBull

I thought about that, but I literally have no space for that.

Boba Fett

Do you have existing bookshelves with books? If so, throw away the books.

JeffTheAlpaca

I bought those blue rubbermaid plastic storage crates you can get at Target and I store most of my new and unopened dvds in those storage totes inside the house.

danwiz

How did you LOSE about 1/3 of your collection to water damage? Did you have a flood or what happened? I don't think just water should destroy a DVD - seems like you should just be able to rinse it off, dry it and it would play just fine. Of course the cover art would be gone, but that is easily replaceable. I mean, people boil skipping and other problem DVDs with no ill effects, so I am at a loss to know how you lost 1/3 of your collection?! I suppose if the DVDs were underwater for maybe 24 hours that water might begin to get into the layers? Maybe?

TheKing

Couldn't you just buy a rack and not use the bottom shelf? Might not look like you're getting your money's worth, but the collection would be safer. There's also metal shelving solutions that don't have their lowest shelf on the ground.

JohnnyDaBull

I got a new air conditioner and it had a crack under it, which started leaking. It bascially just ruined all of my dvd movies. The artwork is completely ruined and they smelled like mildew. The amount it would cost to buy replacement cases and the cost of printing out new artwork would not be worth it.

JohnnyDaBull

I'm thinkin that's what I'm going to have to do.

JamesDFarrow

Just be careful if you leave the bottom shelf or two empty. It will make the case top heavy (centre of gravity).

I did it once. Took all my DVDs out of a bookcase to dust. Starting putting them back starting at the top shelf. Got 3 shelves done and the damn thing starting tipping forward (floor not completely level I gather). Almost a disaster. Won't try that again.

James

SethDLH

Anchor it to the wall.

JamesDFarrow

Or put something really heavy on the bottom shelf.

(like a mother-in-law - LOL!)

James

Brian T

I switched to totes for everything ages ago when I got realized walls and shelves festooned with DVDs are a visual distraction no matter the home environment. There are nicer ones than the one pictured above, however. Rubbermaid has some ideal latchtops (very important when moving them around)—30qt, I believe, which may or may not still be on the market—that allow discs to be stacked, spine up, three rows deep and two rows wide. The walls of the totes are typically angled, but they're not indented like the one pictured above, so the discs stack evenly. I believe this is the one, only mine were in blue (not fond of the clear ones as they end up being visual distractions, too):

mike07

But that's gotta be a pain when your looking through them to find something to watch. Great for storage if you don't plan to watch any of them, but if that's the case, why own them all?

As for the OP, are the discs ruined? If not, trash the cases+ruined cover art and just buy one of those DVD/CD disc binders. You should be able to find one that holds up to / at least 300 discs. And you could keep them all on one shelf, near the ceiling if you wanted.

How can you have space for a bookshelf but no space for wall shelving? Or don't you put your bookshelves against the wall?

JohnnyDaBull

I can't put it were the shelf was at because I don't want the same thing to happen again.

hindolio

?

you can prolly find wall shelving components at home depot or the like. all the space you need is a wall, like where your bookshelf used to be? im referring to something like this:



i guess im just a fan of this setup

Brian T

Not at all. Sometimes it makes it easier, since I don't have to look at an entire wall coated in plastic and eyeball-grating color spines and possibly change my mind or not be able to make it up at all. The only work involved is opening the lid on a tote and (sometimes) moving a few discs around to get the one I need (I tend to keep related items together - boxed sets in one, animation in another, mainstream stuff in a couple more). Granted, that's not as easy as walking up to a wall or shelf, but I guess I just don't like walls and shelves crammed with DVDs, or much of anything else for that matter. I'm hardly going for the "better homes and gardens" look, but I think a massive display of plastic gathering dust while I wait potentially years to watch certain titles just doesn't make sense . . . for me. Plus, were I ever to suffer water damage like the OP, I know at least my discs are more likely to be protected, and when I move, they're ready to go, stackable on a handcart with no packing of cardboard boxes that could, potentially, get smashed up in transit.

And why own them all, you ask? Because like everyone here, I want to watch them when I want to watch them, but that's not constantly, thus I have no qualms about keeping them out of sight, out of mind -- but still accessible -- for long periods of time, and perhaps a little safer than the next fella. Mind you, if an earthquake happens in Toronto and my building collapses, well, then I'm shit outta luck.

On top of all this, my core DVD collection is largely complete, so adding stuff to the totes only happens sporadically, and only once I've got a big enough stack of newbies to make it worthwile -- which doesn't happen very fast these days, frankly. I've been buying dozens and dozens of titles I always wanted to see (but was never sure I wanted to own) from these $1 and $3 Big Lots bargain racks, and honestly, the vast majority of them end up on the Amazon.ca Marketplace, where they sell rather quickly (and at a handsome profit) to fellow Canadians who've never really had the selection available to our American cousins.

Trevor

Blank cases are about 15 cents, and maybe a quarter to print the artwork.

Or just put the discs in binders or spindles for now. No reason to toss them, they should all play fine.

Viper187

I really wish I could get to that point of feeling complete. I've only got about 20 more tapes to upgrade to DVD, but I have a long list of current releases to pick up whenever they go on sale; plus, I'm getting backlogged on TV shows. The urge to upgrade crappy DVD releases to Blu is what's really slowing my progress though.

On the topic of the totes... I have some of the shallow ones that are just deep enough to hold 1 level of DVDs, spines up. I think they're sort of made to fit under the bed, but I stack them. I use them to store all the fugly snapper cases and specialty packaging that I don't want in my cabinets. Having a stack of those to shuffle through wouldn't be much fun for finding a DVD to watch though. I also use them to store old VHS tapes I need to rid myself of. I used to keep one of those long wrapping paper totes under the bed full of my WWF tapes. I got rid of all those though.

hal9000

I went the binder route over a year and a half ago... and haven't looked back. The physical "space" saved is awesome. I lost interest years ago at starring at all those DVD cases collecting dust and taking up so much space. Right now I have 10 binders; 7 binders that hold 300 DVD's and 3 binders that hold 400 DVD's. I left a few spaces in each binder for additional DVD's but since I stopped buying the DVD format almost entirely (Blu only from here on out) I really haven't added any new discs in over a year.

However, I do keep my Blu's that I purchase in their original cases... I barely have 50 but I'm purchasing movies at a drastically slower pace compared to my DVD buying binge days.

jjcool

This. Blank cases are dirt cheap, and the cost to print a new cover is pennies. Consider this an opportunity to condense part of the collection into thinpak cases.

I am sorry this happend to you OP. If what happened to you, happened to my collection, I would be devastated.

Brian T

I've contemplated this so many times. I get the impression that everyone that does it keeps the cases and sleeves in storage, though. If I was going to do it, I think I'd want to get rid of ALL that detritus and just have the binders. Is this what you did? I also have to consider resale value if I ditch the cases, which presumably drops to zero, and even though my collection is more or less complete, I'm not above selling bits and pieces of it that I might be happy to have as downloads—or even stream once in a while—in the future, so that's where I'm a bit hesitant to trade totes for binders.


Like many folks here, I have more "to watch" titles than I care to count (Big Lots, online sales and general price reductions all 'round do not help the situation). Though most of 'em end up getting sold, those are the stacks I'm working through for the short term, largely just to get rid of them or, in rare cases, add them to my permanent collection. It's rare when I even bother to dig something out from "the library" so when I do, granted, I might have to lift and move a tote or two to get at the one I'm interested in, but again, this isn't a constant occurance. I'd rather do a little grunt work then have to dust them all off on a regular basis or stare at them, sitting there, doing nothing for me on a wall or shelf, just in case I feel like watching one every now and then.

Frankly, I see contemplate a future of downloading/streaming more and more every day, BUT I just don't think those technologies (and the "ownership" haze that surrounds them) are reliable enough at this point for consideration by a cinema nut who still likes having 24/7 access to stuff that I own. Time will tell . . .

Trevor

Looks like you want to possibly sell many titles in the future, and therefore save the cases for resale value, but create space. You could always use binders or spindles or thinner packs but keep the original cases offsite. I'm sure that you have a friend or family member that has a basement or attic or garage or closet space.