Self Storage News

American Self Storage

Get the latest self storage tips from the team at American Self Storage. We'll update you on how to not only get the best self storage unit for your needs, but also how to utilize your self storage unit properly. We know that you are looking for the best at a competitive price. Our on-site managers are here to assist you. Please let us know how we at American Self Storage can help!

presentsPeople with children know that sometimes it can be very hard to keep presents a secret until it is time for the children to receive them. Hiding the presents somewhere in the house will work when the children are quite young. However, as they get older and more curious, they might start to hunt for their presents when it is getting close to the special day. If they manage to find the presents, the surprise will be ruined.

One way to prevent this is to keep the presents somewhere besides in their own house or garage. If there are no relatives nearby that are able to store the presents, this can pose a challenge for the parents. A great solution is to rent a small self storage unit in which to store the presents. It is important to have a storage unit that is conveniently located so that it does not take long to get there. Usually self storage facilities are located near commercial areas as well residential areas. If there is no self storage facility close by either of those areas, the parents should be able to find one somewhere along the path between the place where they shop and their home. 

child playing with toysOur home never had much storage space and as our family grew it became very difficult to find a place for everything that we had for our kids. From the beginning, we knew that there was no sense in selling or giving away things, such as toddler toys when they were outgrown, because we were planning to have more children that would be using those toys when they were at the right age. Aside from the age appropriate toys, we also had the problem of seasonal outdoor toys accumulating. The seasons in our area are very distinct and do not fluctuate like the seasons in some areas of the country that might have both warm and cold days in the same week.

When we first looked into storing the toys off of our own property, we were not sure how well it was going to work. One thing we were concerned about was how accessible our things would be. We did not want to be extremely restricted as to what days and times we could take something out or return it to the storage unit. We had also heard that some storage facilities actually charged a fee each time that the person needed to access their own belongings. Of course, along with our own accessibility, we were also concerned as to how accessible our things might be to other people, including the staff of the facility. 

Stockton Self Storage FacilityIn recent years, people are coming up with more and more interesting and legitimate uses for Stockton self storage units. Aside from storing things such as excess residential belongings or years of archived business documents, some Stockton self storage facilities are finding that their customers are renting units for much more personal uses such as art and photography studios. As long as the customers follow all of the rules and regulations regarding the usage of the Stockton storage units, and the units can accommodate their specific needs, such as having electrical outlets, this concept can be quite beneficial to both the staff of the storage facility and the customer.

By renting a Stockton self storage unit, an artist or photographer can have a studio where they can work through long blocks of time without any interruptions. They will also be able to leave everything sitting out when they need to stop working and that way it will be ready when they return to their studio and they can easily pick up where they left off without losing the time needed to set things back up. This is ideal for those photographers and artists that simply do not have the space to leave everything out in their home or lack large blocks of uninterrupted time when they can work in their home studio. It is also beneficial to those that cannot afford the high payment of leasing a studio space in a regular building or do not want to be locked into a costly studio lease for an entire year or more if they have limited time to devote to their art or photography.

Sparks NV Self Storage FacilityIt is becoming quite common for Sparks, NV self storage units to be used as business locations instead of just places for individuals and families to store those items that they do not have space for on their own property or do not need on a daily basis. Of course, some large businesses, such as law offices may, use their Sparks, NV storage units to store archived documents, but the trend of renting a unit as a business location seems to be leaning toward small business owners or those people that simply want to try having their own business but have not done it due to lack of space in their home.

Although renting a storage unit to use as a business location is becoming common, it is still necessary to discuss the intended use of the unit with the manager of the Sparks, NV self storage facility where you would like to rent your unit. Every facility has their own rules about what is allowed to be stored or done in their units and there are also laws against the use of a Sparks, NV storage unit for the manufacturing or storage of anything illegal or that poses a potential danger to people or the property. In addition, you will need to be sure that your unit is equipped with adequate interior lighting and electrical outlets if you will need to plug in any type of equipment for your business. If you are going to be using a computer in your Sparks, NV self storage unit, you should be sure that the temperature inside is not going to cause damage to it. Some facilities offer climate controlled units to help with the problem of seasonal temperature extremes that may occur. 

StaMariaSelfStorageFacilityWe won a large RV in a contest, but we had never even given a thought to vacationing in an RV. We debated selling it in the classified ads, but decided to use it instead. Unfortunately, when it was delivered, we were surprised to find out that we would not be able to keep it parked on our street due to ordinances and we could not park it in our driveway because of the way it sloped down into our garage.

I remembered that I had seen RVs among all of the other vehicles that were stored on the grounds where we had our Santa Maria self storage unit. I called the manager to ask if they had a space large enough to store our RV and found out that they did. I knew that driving our new RV to the Santa Maria self storage facility was not going to be very difficult because most of the streets were not narrow, but I worried about maneuvering it around all of the buildings on the grounds. A few years ago, when we were comparing Santa Maria self storage units, we decided we liked the fact that this facility had an unoccupied unit close to the entrance to the facility. I had never driven toward the back of the property where the vehicle storage was located so I was not sure if the paths between the buildings of Santa Maria storage units were narrow or had sharp turns that would be difficult to manage with a large RV. I expressed my concerns to the facility manager and I was told that there was a separate entrance near the vehicle storage area to make it convenient for those customers that had large vehicles to store. 

Redding Self Storage FacilityManaging Redding self storage facility is very similar to managing other types of businesses except for the fact that I actually get to live on the property where I work. I really like the fact that there is no commute to my job. I have a nice apartment above the office of the storage facility. This allows me to always be available to keep a close watch on the company's Redding storage units as well as their outdoor storage area. If there is an emergency, I am able to respond much quicker than if I had to leave my home and drive to check on any problems in or around the Redding self storage units.

My staff and I assist all of our customers with all of the details involved in storing their belongings at our facility. I make sure that everyone on my team knows how to help the customers choose the correct size Redding storage unit to match the customer's needs. This is part of establishing a great relationship with our customers because they are satisfied and have a great experience while they have their belongings in our care. Whenever a new customer calls our self storage facility, I make sure that my staff members ask them what types of boxes they are using. I do this because I want to be sure that they do not end up accidentally damaging their belongings by using weak boxes such as those that are often picked up for free from supermarkets or other retailers. Our office has various sizes of heavy-duty cardboard moving boxes and other supplies that the customers might need while they are packing up their belongings to place them in a Redding self storage unit.

movingMoving to Red Bluff, California was a great idea for our family but we ran into an issue with the house that we had built for us. When we first arrived at our new house in Red Bluff, we discovered that the walls had been painted the wrong colors and they were colors that we did not want to keep, so we requested that they be repainted our chosen colors. Rather than move all of our furniture into our new home and have it be in the way of the painters, we decided that it would be more logical to place everything in a Red Bluff self storage unit until the painters were finished.

We called several Red Bluff self storage facilities to find out if there was one that had a unit available that was large enough for us to store everything. A manager of one of the facilities suggested that we simply rent one of their large parking spaces and leave everything locked in the truck rather than unload it all into an indoor Red Bluff storage unit and then have to load it all back up in a truck a few days later to take it to our new house. We checked with the truck rental company to find out the cost for keeping the rental truck a few extra days without putting any extra miles on it and it seems feasible. They told us that several of their other customers had rented Red Bluff storage units due to the fact that they had also had minor problems with the homes that were being built in the new community that we were moving into. 

fatherAs my father aged, it became more difficult for him to take care of his home by himself. He did not like the idea of having strangers come to help him do things so hiring a lawn service or cleaning company was out of the question. None of my siblings or I lived close enough that it was easy for us to go over there to help him do the yard work or clean the house, but we managed to take turns going to help him. Everything was going well, until he fell while trying to stand on a chair to change a light bulb. He said he did not think it was right to call one of us just to change the bulb, but it was the only light in the room and he wanted to be able to read. Luckily, he did not get seriously injured when he fell, but it gave all of us quite a scare.

As a family, we discussed finding a different living situation for him and finally came to the conclusion that it would be best for him to move into the spare room in our house so that someone would at least be close by if he needed something done. However, that left us with the problem of what to do with all of his furniture and belongings that he had collected over the years. We managed to sell some of the furniture, but there were some things that he was not willing to part with. We suggested that these things be placed in a self storage unit close to our home. That way he would still be able to have access to them and they would not be taking up any of the limited storage space that we had at our home. 

hiking and bikingHiking, climbing, and cycling around the mountain trails near Phoenix, Arizona is our favorite family pastime. As our family grew, so did the amount of equipment that we needed in order to enjoy our long family excursions into nature. It was not long before our home began to look quite cluttered. We decided that we needed to find a way to keep everything handy, without allowing it to overrun our home. That is when some of our friends suggested that we look into renting a Phoenix self storage unit.

Our friends told us that they rented a Phoenix storage unit when they moved into the area because their new home was not ready to be occupied. After settling into their new home, they switched to one of the smaller units at the same Phoenix self storage facility in order to have a convenient place to keep things that they did not use on a regular basis. They assured us that the access hours were very convenient so we would not need to worry about being unable to get our gear for a spur-of-the-moment family excursion into the mountains. 

remodeling toolsLiving in an Oroville apartment complex and being an independent remodeler might not sound like something that is feasible to do, but I found that renting an Oroville storage unit makes it easier. I did not like keeping my tools and equipment in the storage area that was located in the apartment building basement. Lugging everything up and down the stairs was difficult because much of it was heavy and awkward to carry. Besides that, I have hundreds of dollars worth of tools and equipment and I was worried that the basement storage area was not secure enough since the walls were wooden and they didn't reach from floor to ceiling. Storing everything in my truck wasn't very logical either. I didn't always need everything and I often needed room in my truck to pick up lumber or other supplies for the job I was working on that day.

I did some research and visited several Oroville self storage facilities to be sure that they could suit my needs. I was very impressed with the security measures that most of them have in place, like key code access gates to the property and security cameras strategically placed all over the property. I liked that the Oroville storage units were completely separated by walls and the only way to enter each one was through a roll up door, similar to a garage door. The managers told me that I would use my own lock on the door so even they would not have access to my things.

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