Self Storage News

When a family or individual wants or needs to store everything that is in their home, including the window drapes, they are often confused as to the best way to pack everything up and keep it from getting damaged during the move or while it is in the self storage unit. Talking to a staff member at the chosen self storage rental facility can be very helpful. For example, they can inform the customer of the best way to store items such as blankets and drapes so that they come out of storage in the same condition that they were in when they went into the storage unit.

First of all they will let the customer know that one of the most important steps for storing these type of cloth items is to be sure that they are thoroughly cleaned and dried before they are packed up for storage. This may involve taking some of them to a dry cleaner or having a special service come into the home to clean the drapes while they are still hanging up on the window rods. If the items are not thoroughly cleaned and dried, mold, mildew, stains, and even vermin may become a problem while they are in storage.

People may find it can sometimes be difficult to store large wall decorations such as paintings, wall mirrors, and framed pictures in a self storage unit without something getting damaged either during the move to or from storage or while someone is simply retrieving another item from the storage unit. These items are both difficult to carry due to their size and they are fragile, but they can be managed when certain preparatory steps are taken.

Moving companies use certain packing materials to help prevent damage when they move paintings, mirrors, and other wall decorations. There are specialized cardboard moving boxes that are made for protecting these items. These days such boxes can actually be found for sale at most self storage facilities. If the facility does not have the proper size boxes, the staff will be happy to direct their storage rental customers to a retailer where the boxes can be purchased because they want to be sure that the customer is has a good experience using their storage unit.

Clothes are one of the first things that people notice when they meet someone new. Clothing that shows obvious signs of improper care do not make a good impression. Therefore, it is important to take good care of clothing and especially clothing that is being stored for several months or longer, such as seasonal clothing.

Before placing any articles of clothing in a self storage unit, they need to be thoroughly cleaned and dried. All types of starch and fabric finish should be avoided to have the stored clothes in their best condition when they are removed from storage. Often the cleaning can be taken care of in the home, but some garments will need the special care of a dry cleaner. Although the dry cleaned garments are on hangers with paper covers when they are returned to the owner, it is best to hang them on different hangers because the paper could decay over time and the garments may develop rust stains or other stains from the hangers.

To reduce costs, many businesses cut down on their office space. Unfortunately, this means that they have less room on site for the storage of various business papers that are not currently being used, but cannot be destroyed. These papers may need to be stored for extended periods of time for various reasons, including tax purposes or laws that govern that type of business. Some types of businesses in various parts of the world may actually be required to keep documents for as long as forty years and that can add up to quite a bit of stored paperwork. A solution to this lack of space is to use a self storage unit for off site archiving of the business paperwork.

Business papers, as well as personal documents, should not simply be packed in cardboard boxes and sent to storage. They need special care when being placed in a self storage unit. If special care is not taken to preserve them, then they could end up being illegible or damaged beyond use by the time they are retrieved from the storage unit. If the damaged papers are needed at a later date, the business could have legal issues. 

The first step when archiving business paperwork, documents, and files is to make sure that the self storage unit has a controlled climate. This means that the temperature and the humidity level are kept at a constant. Of course these units will cost a little more than the regular storage units, but it is a necessity to preserve the paperwork.

It is often difficult for people to find quality boxes of the proper size when packing up belongings for placement in a storage unit. People used to go to their local supermarket to get free cardboard boxes, but the boxes were often in poor condition. Getting free boxes from the supermarket is rarely an option now because those companies break down their boxes almost as soon as they are finished unpacking them to conserve on space. This is especially true of boxes that were used for shipping food because the scent of the food could attract vermin to the store location. Food boxes are not boxes that would be good for using in a self storage unit for the same reason.

As a solution to the box problem, many self storage facilities will sell inexpensive moving boxes to their customers and even, sometimes, to the general public. These boxes are new and made of sturdy cardboard. They are usually stored flat so that large quantities are easily kept on hand. After purchasing the boxes, the customer simply needs to open them up and thoroughly secure the flaps on the bottom before beginning to fill a box with their possessions.

Storage rental facilities will usually be sure that their self storage units are routinely checked and swept out so that they are presentable to their potential customers and essentially ready to be used right away. They also routinely do preventative care to keep away any vermin that might try to inhabit the storage units. Many customers will simply move their belongings in without any other preparation for the storage unit. This is acceptable and usually presents no future problems, but doing a few more quick and simple things will help keep the belongings safer.

Although it is usually not a problem with the management it is best to check with them before adding more protection against bugs that might crawl into the storage unit. Some customers will ask if they can thoroughly spray the unit with their own can of bug spray before they bring any of their belongings to their self storage unit.

When an individual or family has to put all of their possessions into a storage unit, one of the more difficult types of things to pack into boxes are the kitchen utensils. This group of items includes both the serving utensils and those that are used when eating. Even if the utensils are only going to be in a self storage unit for a short amount of time, they should be packed in a way that keeps them safe from damage and ensures the safety of the people handling them.

Before any of these items go into a packing box, they need to be thoroughly cleaned and dried so that mold, mildew, and vermin are not a problem in the storage unit. Stacking the eating utensils neatly in a divided tray will give them some protection. The excess space around the utensils should be filled to keep them in place. This can easily be done by putting a clean towel over the tray and gently tucking it down into the open areas around the utensils. Finally, sliding the entire tray into a sturdy plastic bag with a zipper will ensure that the utensils stay in place when the tray is put into a cardboard box.

Damaged or dirty walls and worn out carpet in an office can give a bad impression to clientele as well as make the workplace dreary and uninspiring for the employees. Many companies do remodeling every few years in order to correct these problems and others that come up. Often this involves the office shutting down for a week and the employees having time off from work. It also means that the furniture and everything in the office needs to be removed so that the remodeling company has room to do their work quickly and uninhibited. If the furniture were left in the office during the remodeling, the remodelers would most likely have to spend time constantly moving things out of their way which would increase the cost of labor.

Since there is usually not enough storage space on the grounds for everything to be put out of the way during remodeling, the office manager usually decides to rent a nearby self-storage unit to contain all of the furniture and documents that are in the office. Depending on the temperature range in the area and the amount of time that the remodeling will take, the office manager might decide to rent a storage unit that has a controlled temperature in order to protect computers and other sensitive equipment from temperature extremes. During the time that the office is being remodeled, the items from the office are still accessible to the office manager or other designated personnel. If there is a need for something to be retrieved before the remodeling is completed, such as a time-sensitive document, then the office manager does not have to wait to get it from the storage unit.

After years of living in our home, we decided that we did not like the appearance of the carpets. Some of the carpets were starting to show signs of paths being worn in them from all of the foot traffic. We considered replacing the carpet on our own, but that would mean moving the furniture around by ourselves. Since neither of us had experience doing this type of work, it was also likely to take us a long time and that meant living in a semi functional house until we were finished.

Instead, we decided to look into having professionals replace the old carpeting. However, there was still the problem of what we were going to do with the furniture that was sure to be in their way. It would cost us more money if the workers had to continually move the furniture out of their way in order to continue working on the flooring. One of the remodeling companies suggested that we move all of our furniture into a self storage unit and spend a day or two with relatives while the interior of our house was being worked on. That way they could bring in a larger crew of people and work on all of the rooms at the same time so that it would be finished quicker. It was a great suggestion so I made some calls and found out that the nearby self storage facility had the perfect sized storage unit at a very affordable price. In addition, since we would not need the unit for the full month, we would be refunded part of our money when we emptied the storage unit. 

Over the years, it seems that every household tends to accumulate more possessions than the space in their home can adequately store. However, sorting through everything and de-cluttering the home is often continually put off because it is considered to be such an ordeal to manage. One of the best times to sort through possessions is when the family has decided to do some minor or major remodeling in their home. The reason for this is the fact that remodeling projects in a home usually involve moving some of the furniture and other possessions out of the way until the remodeling is completed. Major renovations might even involve removing all of the furniture for several days or even weeks.

About a month before the remodeling project is scheduled to begin, the family should make plans for where the furniture and possessions will be kept. The ideal place is a nearby self storage facility because that will allow the family to still have access to their possessions while the renovations on the house are being completed. Small items, such as those that are in kitchen cabinets or on the shelves in closets, will need to be placed in sturdy cardboard storage boxes. This will make them easier to move to and from the self storage unit. As each item is handled, the family members should determine if it is really worth keeping or if it would be better off recycled or tossed in the trash. To make this job much easier, it is advisable to have a container for recyclable items and a bag for trash nearby while packing possessions into the cardboard storage boxes. Getting rid of broken toys, outgrown clothes, and other unnecessary items, means that there will be fewer things to pack into the storage boxes, which adds up to the family saving money by being able to rent a smaller self storage unit than they would need if everything in the home were put in storage.