Renting a self storage unit for your belongings is not a complicated process, however, it's not a decision to be made lightly. There are a lot of important factors to take into consideration before making the final choice on where you will be storing your furniture and possessions. They are, after all, things that you have bought and paid for over your lifetime with your hard earned cash. Renting a storage unit somewhere with poor security, and incompetent staff members may end up being severely detrimental to the well-being of all the items that you are leaving in their care. Not only that, but bad planning, and merely cursory consideration of the unit you plan to also can lead to a bad experience. Choosing the right size, environment, and other important details are all things you'll have to think about before picking the right self storage facility.

These steps will help you properly prepare to rent a self storage unit both efficiently, easily, and safely.

Research And Preparation For Renting The Right Storage Unit

Is this really the company you want? You need to do a lot of research about which company has the best prices, best insurance, best quality, and what kind of unit you need. Determine the size, and shape of your self storage unit as well. The people running the facility will have a good idea of what will fit in there, and what won't so be sure to ask their advice if you have any inquiries to make about something you aren't quite sure will fit inside your storage rental unit. Buy a good solid lock for the door of the unit as well; don't rely on combination locks. Get something that requires a key. Many self storage facilities have retail areas where you can buy all the supplies you'll need, such as packing tape and foam, crates, zip ties, --for keeping poles, bed rails, etc., together, and boxes.

Getting It Together

Both metaphorically, and physically. If you love your clutter, then a storage unit is not the option for you; however, if you are ready to get the house looking neat and tidy, or if you're moving and want a place to put all the unnecessary things you own for a while, then this is the method you'll want to use. Next, you'll need to go through everything, and find what you want to store. Start with the basement, and gather everything you want to put in storage. Look in the garage, sheds, closets, and under beds, as well as anywhere else that you might have stuffed anything you don't want to store at home any more. Disassemble everything large, and put them together; bed rails need to be tethered together, as do ski poles, and anything like that.

Packing Everything & Loading The Unit

Now, you need to get everything together and put them all in labeled boxes. Be fastidious, and put everything related in boxes. Unless you are packing items that are all very large, you should instead mostly get small boxes; allow only for space that your items will actually be consuming. Small boxes will stack differently, and be easier to carry and get to later on. Put the large and cumbersome boxes back in the back of the storage unit. However, before you begin loading all the boxes and heavy items into the storage unit, consider condensation! Wooden pallets will keep boxes off the floor, and prevent the damp from soaking into the cardboard boxes. Next, put in all the items that you're certain you won't be needing to get to for some time. Stack them as such, heaviest on the bottom, and lightest at the top. Put the things you may need to get to in the front of the unit. Now, lock it up and go!