Successful Storage
If you’re thinking of using a storage company, you need to be careful. Storage can be a great advantage, whether you’re moving house, making space or even looking for a warehouse solution for your small business! Committing your precious possessions or inventory, and of course money to a storage company that can’t do the job you need them to is not just a waste, it’s dangerous.
Equally if you don’t pack your possessions carefully and safely, you risk damage to them while they’re locked away, and as the fault is entirely yours, there’s no recourse to any kind of insurance or redress.
Today we’re presenting a short guide to storing successfully. If you feel inspired to get some stuff stored yourself, click here for more details.
Finding the Right Company
Always get quotes before you sign on the dotted line. If you go with the first storage company to make you an offer you won’t know what’s a fair rate for the industry in your area, and whether it’s a good deal, or you’re paying over the odds.
Ringing round a shortlist of three or four companies give you a chance to ‘range find’ and make sure you know how much is a reasonable amount before you commit.
If you visit in person rather than call, it also gives you the chance to check the security measures at the facilities yourself and decide which one you feel most comfortable with.
Check the Fine Print
Before you sign, check the fine print. Different companies have different restrictions, and you might find you can’t actually store what you were planning to there. For example, if you planning to turn your storage unit into a remote wine cellar, you may find several won’t allow you to keep food or drink on the premises. Talk through your needs to make sure you’re in the right place.
Packing Safely
If you can use solid plastic crates, rather than cardboard boxes, it’s worth the extra expensive. These won’t perish and will form a much better seal between your goods and the outside world.
Make sure everything is clean and dry before you pack them away – dust your books, and check for dampness or mould. A single damp patch on the cover of a book might look innocuous when you’re packing but left alone in the dark it could blossom into damp and mould that runs through your entire boxed up library!