If you need to rely on long-term storage due to space shortages at home, knowing what to look for is essential. After all, if you go into the process of finding a good storage unit without planning, you might find out too late that it does not fit your needs. To help you with this, we have prepared a list of things to consider when choosing a long-term storage unit!
How long will you be using the unit?
When choosing a long-term storage unit, the first thing to consider is how long you will need it. This will affect both the price and the condition of the storage unit ideal for your needs. If you only need the storage unit for a couple of months, you can be somewhat lenient with getting the best price. And you won’t need to worry too much about ventilation and ease of cleaning. However, if you expect to use it for a year or longer, these become important to ensure your items remain safe and in good condition. Of course, there are some things you can’t keep in a storage unit no matter what.
Will you be storing sensitive items?
The moving experts from allstatemoving.net warn that they often encounter items ruined by being stored improperly in their line of work. Examples of such things are musical instruments, furniture, or even sports equipment. All of these can be extremely sensitive to both temperature and humidity. This means that if you want them to remain in good condition, you need to rent a temperature-controlled storage unit. Without that feature, you might encounter warping, molding, rotting, or rusting of your belongings. Something which is often hard or impossible to fix. Not to mention the chance of items you are fond of or attached to getting ruined.
Will you be visiting the storage unit a lot?
Another thing to consider when choosing a long-term storage unit is the location. If you will be visiting the storage unit a lot, then it does not make sense to rent a place that is miles and miles away from your home. You would have to waste a lot of gas on travel, and it would be much less convenient to fetch items from it if you need them, too. In such a case, you would ideally rent a storage unit within fifteen or twenty minutes away from your home by foot.
Will you need easy access to everything or just particular items?
This particular aspect of what to consider when choosing a long-term storage unit will affect how you organize your unit. There are ways to organize your storage unit for frequent access, but they are often time-consuming to pull off when renting for the first time. To make it a bit easier on yourself, you would have to prioritize storage units with shelving. Admittedly, such storage units tend to be a bit more expensive. However, if the unit does not have them already, you would need to invest in shelves yourself, anyway, which can be even more costly.
How many things are you going to be storing?
There are storage organizing tips to maximize the space you can use. However, you can do only so much with limited space, even with them. Therefore, one of the most important things to think about when picking a storage unit is the size. There are typically three sizes of storage units, with increasing prices, of course. Small, medium, and large. Small units are typically the size of a bedroom. Medium storage units can comfortably house all the contents of a single-bedroom apartment. At the same time, large units can typically accommodate the contents of a four or five-bedroom home.
What are the operating hours of the storage facility?
Of course, if you are planning to visit your storage regularly, you need to consider the operating hours it runs on. Many people tend to visit their storage units before or after work since they tend to be located en route to their workplace, making pit stops convenient. And, since most storage facilities tend to work until sundown, operating hours are not a concern. However, if you had chosen to rent a storage unit further away from you, you might not be able to reasonably visit until late in the evening. So, it always pays to ask about working hours in advance!
Do the storage units have good security?
One of the most important aspects to consider when choosing a long-term storage unit is the security of the storage facilities. Some rely entirely on locks, with no officer patrols to keep an eye on things. If you are storing something valuable in your unit, this is obviously not the preferable situation for you. The storage units that have better security measures do, however, tend to be more expensive. So, if you are tempted to chance fate, make sure to look into storage insurance. It is an additional expense, but at least you will have recourses if the worst happens and your storage unit is broken into.
What are the prices?
Finally, you need to consider the cost of the storage unit you are interested in. It doesn’t matter how good its specs are if you cannot afford it. Unfortunately, this often means you will need to balance your wants, needs, and means. Unless you get lucky enough to find good storage units close to your home, you will almost definitely need to compromise on something.
Final advice
Now that you know what to consider when choosing a long-term storage unit, you should be ready to go looking for one. Just remember that, once you have it, you should regularly check in on your possessions. It would be tragic for mold or similar to develop due to not storing your things properly. But, if that happens, spotting it early would still let you save all your stuff with minimal damage!