Self Storage News

Placing items in a self storage unit does not mean that the items should be left there and forgotten because they are no longer on the owner's property. It is important for the owner to look after the stored items to be sure that they are maintained in the same condition as they were when placed in storage.

 The name of all of the items that are placed in a storage unit should be written down on an inventory sheet along with a general location of where each item is placed in the storage unit. The inventory sheet should be kept in the home with other important papers and a copy of it should be put in an easily accessible place somewhere inside the storage unit. This is done for several reasons. First of all, looking at the inventory sheet in the home can prevent the family from going to a store and purchasing something that they already have in their storage unit. Instead, they can make a quick trip to the storage unit to retrieve that item and the inventory list will tell them where it is located in the storage unit. Another reason that an inventory sheet is important for self storage renters is that it can be used to properly insure the stored items and make a claim if anything is stolen or damaged. Some self storage facilities might offer insurance packages, but they are likely to be bare minimum coverage. Proper insurance coverage can only be obtained from an insurance agent.

A self storage unit can be one of a variety of sizes and the renter pays according to the amount of space they need. To save money, some people might try to rent a small unit and stack their belongings from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. This does limit the amount of space that is needed for all of their possessions to be stored, but it also limits the accessibility that they have if they need to return to the storage unit to retrieve something. In addition, stacking everything like that can cause damage to some of the items and they will be useless to the owner when retrieved from storage. There are actually proper ways to conserve storage space while keeping everything in the self storage unit safe and accessible.

The easiest way is to pack as many things as possible into sturdy cardboard moving boxes that are close to the same size and labeled on the top and several sides. Boxes like this can be stacked well and the contents are known by the labels when someone needs to retrieve something from the storage unit. Of course, the heavier boxes should be placed at the bottom of stacks and the boxes should not be stacked higher than the person can easily reach without climbing on anything. In addition, although it may seem to waste space, it is advisable to leave a walking path between the rows of stored items. This prevents the need to crawl over things to reach something in the back, which could result in injury.

Many apartments have either no storage space outside of the apartment or a very small closet type storage room which is usually located in the basement of the building. For those families that have too many things to fit into their apartment closets or in their small storage room, the best option is to rent a self storage unit that is not far from the apartment building. This allows them to continue to keep everything handy without over crowding the living space in the apartment.

There are many different uses that an apartment resident can have for a self storage unit. It can be used for the storage of excess furniture that they may have if they moved from a larger place than the apartment where they currently live. It can also be used to store outdoor equipment during the seasons when they are not used. Examples of this would be to store put their bicycles in the self storage unit when the weather is very cold and snowy and to store their sleds and other colder whether seasonal items during the warmer months. 

Furniture made out of quality wood, such as cherry or walnut, along with furniture made from leather can be quite expensive if it needs to be replaced. That is why it is important that they be properly stored if the family does not have the space in their home or they need to move the furniture out while they are carpeting, painting, or in some other way redecorating their home. Simply placing these types of furniture in a garage or in a self storage unit is not enough to protect them. They need to be put somewhere that has a regulated climate so that they are in the same condition when the family decides that they are ready to return them to their living space.

Many self storage facilities offer special storage units where the climate is controlled. They have heat and air conditioning so that the temperature does not fluctuate drastically and the humidity level is often kept nearly constant by the use of a dehumidifier. It is best to ask the manager or one of the other staff members what type of climate controlled storage units they have and the sizes that they offer so that there is room for these furniture items and anything else that they need to store. 

One of the most important aspects of managing a self storage facility is keeping the grounds, office building, and storage buildings free of all types of insects and rodents. This is important because these pests can damage buildings and stored possessions as well as pose health risks to the staff and customers. In addition, the sight of rodents or something like a big wasp nest that is active may cause potential customers to rent a storage unit somewhere else and business would decline.

The first step that most self storage facility managers and staff take to control insects and rodents on the property is to restrict the storage of anything that might attract these creatures to the property. This includes the storage of such things as strongly scented items, perishable food items, plants or items made from plant materials, living animals or items made from animal parts. These restrictions may cause minor inconveniences for some customers, but it is the best way to deter pests from moving into the storage units. There senses can detect these things from a distance and they will come in search of something to eat or a cozy place to live.

My family and I love to take our boat out on Lake Kaweah whenever we can, but we do not like leaving all of our equipment and personal stuff on our boat. The lake is not close enough that we can check on our boat and belongings everyday without giving up time that we have set aside for other things. Instead, we looked around for a Visalia self storage that was close to the lake so that we could stop by on our way to or from an outing on our boat.

There were several facilities in the area and the sizes of the Visalia storage units that were available varied greatly. Some were as small as a closet, while others seemed to have nearly as much square footage as our house. We drove to several of the facilities in order to see some of the units first hand and to be sure that they were clean and well maintained. We also wanted to check on the type of security measures that each one had in place. If the security was not better than that of our boat at the dock on the lake then there was no sense in paying to store our things in a Visalia storage unit. 

Sometimes it is necessary to remove everything or large quantities of items from a home for a very short period of time such as a few days or a week. When this is the case, relocating the items to a nearby self storage facility is the perfect solution. For a minimal cost, everything is kept safe and secure while it is out of the house.

One of the reasons that someone may need to remove everything from rooms in their home is if they are remodeling, redecorating rooms, or doing something with the flooring in the home such as having all of the carpets cleaned or having new flooring installed. Although these things can be done with the furniture in the home, it will take much longer and could cost more because the workers would need to keep moving things out of their way to get their job done and sometimes there is not a really good place to move large pieces of furniture. 

For those people that have very little or no real storage space on their own property, renting a self storage unit is the ideal way to be able to keep possessions that are only used during certain seasons of the year. Using a conveniently located self storage unit leaves the space in the home for things that are currently in use and allows the people to have a less cluttered living space.

For those that celebrate Christmas in their homes, there can be quite a few holiday items to store for the rest of the year. The various Christmas items may include Christmas cards, wrapping paper, and special serving dishes or tableware along with an artificial tree, indoor and outdoor lights, and door wreaths. Nowadays, yards are often decorated with large, inflated holiday decorations. Placing all of these items in a self storage unit keeps them safe and accessible. If a decoration is forgotten when everything else is stored in the unit, someone can quickly and easily head to the storage facility to drop it off. 

Along with couches, refrigerators, and other appliances, mattresses and box springs are usually the largest pieces of furniture that are put into self storage units. Like everything else, these furniture items require that they be stored a particular way in order to protect them from damage. Finding anything in storage that is ruined and needs replacing is hard enough on the owner, but these bed pieces are usually something that is needed the same day that the furniture is moved out of the storage unit and replacing them can be expensive, especially on such short notice.

Before the mattresses and box springs are packed into the moving vehicle they should be cleaned as well as possible. Using a mixture of antibacterial cleaner and warm water to gently wipe over all of the surfaces will help prevent the growth of mildew and mold. It is important that the material of the mattresses and box springs are not made very wet when they are cleaned because they need to be completely dry before they are put into a storage unit. Otherwise, instead of deterring the growth of mold and mildew it could accelerate it. After all of the surfaces are cleaned and dried, the mattresses and box springs should be covered with mattress bags to help them stay clean while they are being moved and during the time that they are in the storage unit. These special bags can usually be purchased at the self storage office.

There are three different types of self storage spaces available to customers, but not all self storage facilities offer all three types. When renting a storage space, it is best to ask the staff what types of storage space they have at their facility.

The most common type of self storage space that comes to mind is the enclosed space that has the entrance directly to the outside. This type is often referred to as a drive up unit because the customer can usually drive their moving vehicle right up to the front of the storage unit for easy loading or unloading. These storage units are usually part of long, wide buildings. Each self storage unit is completely enclosed and accessed by a roll up door that is kept locked and the customer is the only one with access. This type of storage is used for just about anything, aside from things that are restricted for safety purposes, such as containers of fuel.