Why should you consider a storage solutions for your household or business items? The reasons are various and you might need to look into a long term or short term space to keep your items in a safe place.
Downsizing or moving into a new place that is not ready, death of a parent leaving you with a full house of furniture. Whatever the reason you may need at one point to look at storage facilities and you need some advice on the choice of storage solutions.
The first point to consider is why do I need the space, if your items are of value, sentimentally or not, and you don’t want to chuck them then you will certainly need to find a place to keep them. When you are moving you know that a lot of items can be sold or given away to charity organisations. However, if this is not feasible then the last resource is the storage place.
The next point is to asses what will be stored and what space will be required. If you are storing papers and documents you may need special storage boxes with climate control, if you are storing a boat or wine bottles, the storage facilities requirements will not be the same.
The decision about the storage location needs also to take into consideration some constraint, as you may want the storage facilities to be easy accessible and this would need then to be close to your new moving location, or it can be close to where you are, because you are considering moving back in the future.
Make an inventory of the goods that need to be stored, as this will also help you to size the storage space required. Storage companies will help you to find the best storage space, by providing some standard sizing or even modular space in view of your specific requirements.
If you are using a moving company for your move, ask them if they have storage facilities and what kind of storage they have. Let them quote you for the move, the storage facility if they have some, and even to move your items to the storage facility if they can’t provide storage at your final destination.
If you have a storage facility be sure to know if you have access to your items, what are the opening times and what notice is required to have access to your storage box. Some storage have a 24/7 access through a key code, which is very convenient for businesses.
Before you choose a storage company do your research. You need to be sure you are storing your items into good hands. Be sure that the location is safe, you may want to check the criminal rate in that location : you don’t want to have a break-in on your hands and the storage company not taking any responsibilities for lack of security. You can call the local police station and ask if there was any problems or reports in the area where the storage company is located.
The estate agent or your landlord may also know of storage companies that are near by, just ask them. Another source of information is the chamber of commerce they will have members registered with them.
Make appointments to visit the companies and if you can’t go there do your research over the phone.