This might seem like a strange article coming from a mini storage company. After all, if our customers packed their belongings improperly, they would need larger storage units, meaning more money for us. But that’s just not the way we do things at Blue Mound 287 Self Storage in Fort Worth. We believe providing the best customer service possible is more important than renting a 5’x10’ storage unit instead of a 5’x5’. Call us at 817-439-1380 for more helpful information about self storage.
Now, let’s learn ow to pack properly for a mini storage unit.
An important fact to remember
Before we learn to pack properly, it’s important to understand the dimensions of a storage unit. As posted on a storage company website, storage units come in varying sizes, from the smallest, 5’x5’, to the largest, 20’x30’. In-between those two extremes are 10’x10’, 10’x15’, 10’x20’, 10’s25’, 10’x30’, and 15’x30’. Please not that these are the measurements of the horizontal floor space inside a mini storage unit. It does not take into account the vertical space within the storage unit, which is usually eight feet in height. With that in mind, a 5’x5’ unit, which is twenty-five square feet in size, is actually 120 cubic feet in size, and this means considerably more things can be stored there if the vertical space is utilized.
Use strong boxes/containers
In order to utilize that vertical space, it is important to store items in strong cardboard boxes or in plastic tote containers. A strong lid means that more weight can be stacked on top of that strong lid. Plastic tote containers are so strong, in fact, that it is possible to stack five or six of them on top of one another and thus take advantage of that vertical storage space.
Storage large items somewhere else
However, proper packing and proper stacking techniques are unimportant when we are talking about large furniture and bulky items like bicycles. Because of their unusual shape, when stored they actually waste much of the available storage space. It is for that reason that we recommend the larger items you need to store be stored somewhere else where you won’t have to pay for that wasted space, somewhere like a relative’s or friend’s garage.
Measure, measure, and measure again
One thing you will rarely see people do, but which we recommend, is that you measure all of the storage items before you rent a mini storage unit. Make a diagram which shows all items stacked properly. This is a tedious exercise, for sure, but it will give you much more accuracy when you are trying to determine what size storage unit to rent.
We have other storage tips and we suggest you call us for them, but the ones mentioned in this article will go a long way towards helping you to pack and store efficiently.
A word about Blue Mound 287 Self Storage
How do you know a good self storage facility? The one which has been doing business in your area for a long, long time. They are the ones which provide secure self storage at a fair price, a place like Blue Mound 287 Self Storage, locally owned and operated in the Fort Worth area.