Your first time renting a storage unit is bound to be an experience you approach with both excitement and a little uncertainly. Renting a storage unit is quite different from renting an apartment, and it's also quite different from stacking boxes in your own garage or basement. Most people make it through the experience just fine, but if you want to be extra confident and have a good experience, then take a look at the common mistakes below. They're mistakes you'll want to avoid!
Mistake #1: Renting too small of a unit.
When you sit down and see that a 10 x 10 unit rents for, say $50 a month, and a 10 x 20 unit rents for $65 a month, it's easy to shrug your shoulders and say "the smaller one will be big enough." But many times, it is not. Trying to squeeze everything into a too-small storage unit is a real pain, and you're likely to damage items in the process if they get crushed or if you stack too many heavy boxes on top of one another. When in doubt, go a size up.
Mistake #2: Wrapping things in newspaper.
It's free and readily available, and it works well for wrapping items when you move. But newspaper is not a good wrapping choice when you're putting items in storage. As weeks and months pass, the ink may leech out of the paper and onto your items, staining them. Use tissue paper or bubble wrap to wrap your items prior to storage.
Mistake #3: Cleaning things the day you put them into storage.
Yes, your appliances, bedding, and other items do need to be clean before you put them in storage. But cleaning them in the morning before you move them to storage, or even the day before, is not wise. The items might still be damp when you put them in storage, which will cause mold to grow. There's really no saving a moldy mattress or fridge. Clean your things about a day or two before you put them in storage so they have plenty of time to dry.
Mistake #4: Putting items inside in no particular order.
Haphazardly loading boxes into your storage unit, even if they are labeled boxes, is not a good idea. You don't want to have to pull 20 boxes out if you need to access one thing later on. Load your items in order of least to most likely needed. Put the things you might need soon close to the front.
Avoid the mistakes above, and you can have a great experience renting a storage unit. Good luck!
Share26 October 2020
Finding out you have to move again can bring on feelings of anxiety, panic and frustration. You may be tempted to put it off, packing and scrambling at the last minute, or waiting for your "help" to take a day off so they can help you pack. Then there's the friend or family member that always wants to help you by purging all of your stuff and dropping it curbside. Stop the insanity before it starts. Moving and storage companies understand the stress of moving and can help you get started before the move. Then they move all of your stuff without question and will not "purge" anything you do not want them to. It makes for a smoother, easier, less frustrating transition all around.
