Are you taking a sabbatical? Or travelling abroad indefinitely and renting your home out? Or inherited a houseful of furniture with no place to store it? Once you have decided to hire a self storage unit to keep some or all of your belongings packed away safely, it could be for the long haul. Depending on the reason why you need the unit in the first place, it may mean you will not be seeing your stuff for the next few years.

If this is the case you need to be aware of the items that can successfully be stored for the long term without suffering as a result and those items that will not last the distance. Long term storage requires a substantial financial investment, so it is worth ensuring that your belongings emerge at the end of this storage in the same state as they were when you packed them away.

Before You Store

  • Choose the location of the facility where you wish to store. Do your research on the self storage facilities that are convenient for you, that are easy to access by road, and that will enable easy off-loading and loading.
  • A self storage unit will save your space at home as most of us do not have enough storage space for what is there, let alone any extra stuff. You may need to hire extra space if you have inherited furniture and other items that you have no space for in your current home. You need somewhere to keep them in the meantime as although you are planning to move within the next few years, you have no space for these items currently.
  • When you decide to commit to long term storage find out if your self storage facility will offer you a special deal financially on your long term storage. This could end up saving you a significant amount of money.
  • One of your priorities must be that your belongings are well taken care of and safe in the self storage unit. Check on the security arrangements of the facility. They must have as the minimum, monitored CCTV 24 hour security, secure fencing, and good lighting.

Decide What You Need to Store

This will determine the size of the self storage unit you need to hire. There is a very useful Space Calculator tool on our website that will help you calculate the size of unit that you will need. While sorting through your belongings, decide if there are items that you can sell, donate, or throw out so that you do not store any items unnecessarily as extra space means extra costs.

Packing Your Goods for Long Term Storage

The proof is in the packing! Keeping your items in great shape will depend on how well you pack them, no matter how long you expect them to be in your storage unit.

  • Any moisture is something that you will wish to eliminate as far as possible as mold and mildew can damage your belongings. Line your self storage unit with a tarp or place your boxes on pallets to enable air to circulate.
  • Invest in durable packing boxes. Flimsy cardboard boxes will not be strong enough. Beware of used cardboard boxes from your local grocery store as these may already be harbouring the eggs of insects that will hatch out in the dark conditions of a storage unit and these can destroy your clothing, papers, photographs, and even your wooden furniture. Plastic bins work well, and if they are the same size, you can save space by stacking them on top of each other.
  • Only pack clean, dry clothing as anything damp or dirty will not look or smell good after a year in storage! Same goes for any bedding, curtaining, and appliances. They all need to be clean and dry before storing. Leave the doors of your appliances ajar to allow airflow.
  • Never pack your clothing into plastic bags as they disintegrate over time and will dump the contents in your unit, creating a muddled mess.
    Wrapping items in plastic is also a bit of a risk as any moisture will be trapped and become moldy as no air can get in. Rather wrap items in paper which will allow the items to ‘breathe’.
  • Never pack any food items or perishables in your unit. These will become rotten and attract all kinds of vermin from rodents to cockroaches to ants. These are not critters that you need anywhere near your stored items.
  • Remember to label your boxes in detail as after a long time you will not remember where you put things.

If you are in any doubt as to whether it is permissible to store an item that you are not sure about, get a list of which items are permitted and which are a no-no.

How Hiring a Self Storage unit at Stop & Store Fareham Can Help with Long Term Storage

At Stop & Store Fareham we offer you a solution to the problem of what to do with that furniture and those belongings when you need access to long term storage. Whatever the reason for requiring long term storage, hiring a self storage unit at our facility will solve this problem.

  • Our storage facility is fully secured with monitored CCTV and intruder alarms, so you can rest assured that your belongings are safe from theft.
  • Our state-of-the-art operating system is simple and smart. Book and pay online and we send you your individual PIN code which enables you to access your storage unit immediately.
  • Our units vary in size from 12 sq ft to 200 sq ft, they are safe, dry, pest controlled and ideal for the purpose of storing any of your excess items.
  • No contract needs to be signed and you can hire storage space from 1 month to as long as you need, and if you move your goods in the middle of a month, you pay a pro rate.
  • So whether you need a short term or long-term rental to store your goods, we have the solution for you.

We are located in the Fareham Shopping Centre, in the heart of the town. Stop and Store is open 7 days a week from 8am to 8pm.

Tel: 01329 556174 

https://www.stopandstore.co.uk/